Canon's Compact Digisuper 22xs HDTV Lenses Provide Studio Performance For Portable Cameras

From Creative Cow

(LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., September 18, 2006) As increasing numbers of television viewers purchase high definition (HD) TVs, broadcasters are responding by upgrading their facilities for HDTV program production and broadcasting. Cox Broadcasting's WFTV, the ABC affiliate in Orlando, recently purchased three Canon DIGISUPER 22xs Compact HD Studio Lenses (model XJ22x7.3B IE-D) for their news studio. The Canon DIGISUPER 22xs Compact HD Studio Lens is an entirely new lens category that allows users to configure more cost-effective HD studio camera systems.

"WFTV is transitioning to HDTV for its studio newscasts," notes Sterling Davis, vice president of engineering at Cox Broadcasting. "In a market that's heavily cabled with HD capacity, Orlando's WFTV is the first of Cox's stations to begin the transition to HDTV and has received many positive emails and phone calls about its HDTV telecasts."

"The age of HDTV has arrived, and Canon has designed the DIGISUPER 22xs Compact HD Studio Lens for those stations that wish to use portable HD cameras in the studio," explains Gordon Tubbs, assistant director of the Broadcast and Communications division at Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. "The DIGISUPER 22xs Compact HD Studio Lens provides top-quality ‘box lens' optical performance in a form factor sized appropriately to portable HD cameras configured for studio operation. The DIGISUPER 22xs Compact HD Studio Lens exceeds the image quality of any portable HD lens at a very economical price point. It's the best of both worlds."

The DIGISUPER 22xs Compact HD Studio Lens is a high-end optical system squarely based upon classic studio lens design principles but carefully constrained to a physical size and weight commensurate with that of contemporary portable production cameras (which typically weigh in at about 15 lbs.). A wide 105mm input optical port and novel new optical design has produced a high sensitivity, high contrast, and optimized uniformity of brightness across the image plane that is truly impressive for such a compact lens. Weighing in at 13.4 lbs., the lens is only a third the weight of a typical HD studio box lens. The DIGISUPER 22xs Compact HD Studio Lens is ideal for broadcasters and producers who require a high-performance but cost-effective, compact HD studio lens-camera package that can be supported on a modest-size pedestal or sturdy tripod system. Such a low-weight combination is also ideal for robotic system applications.

WFTV's purchase of three DIGISUPER 22xs Compact HD Studio Lenses is part of the station's historic transition to HD broadcasting, which also included construction of a redesigned newsroom set and the purchase of new HD cameras and HD news and weather graphics systems. WFTV began broadcasting in HD in June and is the first Cox station to transition to HDTV.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. The company is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America and is rated #35 on the BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands." Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent holder of technology, ranking second overall in the U.S. in 2005, with global revenues of $31.8 billion. For more information, visit http://www.usa.canon.com/