Since NAB last year, all the talk in video has been 4K. In fact, go into any electronics store and 4K TVs are mounted front and center. That said, the amount of 4K content available for those TV sets is very limited. Unfortunately, while it concept of 4K sounds good, it still doesn't have much practical application in live production yet, especially in churches. Many churches made the jump to HD recently enough that they aren't ready to make the capital investment necessary to make the jump to 4K. In a brilliant move to assist in future proofing, Hitachi released the SK-UHD4000. While a 4K camera is nothing new, this camera is uniquely designed to encourage rapid integration by utilizing current infrastructures.
In technical ministry today, future-proofing is stock and trade. Planning infrastructure to support the next upgrade is difficult at best, but with cameras like the Hitachi SK-UHD4000, it is more achievable. This camera does a great job being the bridge that moves you from your current system into your next system by utilizing as much of your current technology investment as possible. For example the SK-UHD4000 is equipped with a standard B4 bayonet mount, meaning your current 2/3-inch broadcast lenses will work without any sort of attenuating adapter like the ones in single-sensor 4K cameras. This is a very important feature in the church market where camera positions tend to be farther away, requiring a larger initial investment in the lens. Amortizing those ENG or studio lenses through the next upgrade gives you the ability to use them much longer and makes them a much more sound investment.
A two camera tight and wide shot could be accomplished with just one shot from the SK-UHD4000.
Also the SK-UHD4000 outputs 2K and 4K signals simultaneously, letting you put it in your current system now, and start archiving in 4k. Also, when it comes to working in your current 2K system, the SK-UHD4000 offers a very interesting option for HD output. It supports a super-sampled version of the 4K image or a pan and scanned version. Because the super-sampled output is a scaled version of a higher resolution image combined with the Hitachi RLAC [Real-time Lens Aberration Correction] system, which eliminates most lenses' lateral chromatic aberrations, the image is higher quality than a standard HD image.
For those not familiar with that term, pan and scan is a fancy way of saying selectively cropped. It means you can select any 2K portion of the entire 4K raster. The really interesting thing, if I am reading the spec sheet correctly, is that it outputs both of those 2K signals simultaneously. I find this very interesting because it means that it is possible to conceivably get to camera shots from a single camera. Also churches like mine, which have multisite locations and use a two camera tight and wide shot for the multisite feeds, could accomplish that same scenario with just one shot from the SK-UHD4000.
Top all this off with the fact that the SK-UHD4000 can also employ existing SMPTE-304/311 Hybrid fiber cable or standard SDI cables could save money on your infrastructure. For instance if you upgraded from a five-cable RGBHV system to a single cable HD-SDI system, all those spare cables you have might be perfect for a 4k system in the future.
So my first impression of the SK-UHD4000 can be summed up by saying I feel it's future-proof, or at least foreseeable future-proof. Hitachi really has my attention with this camera and I look forward to seeing what industry thinks of it when it's really put through its paces. Honestly, this is the first piece of 4K equipment that I have really been interested in, because 4K always seems to be to still be a long way off, but this camera makes me start thinking about it right now.
[Editor's Note: Hitachi won't reveal pricing information at this time. For a demonstration and price quotation, please contact: Kenneth.Cyr@hitachikokusai.us]
