NAB Show: Hitachi Kokusai To Feature Z-HD6500 HD Camera Package With CCU

Hitachi Kokusai will highlight a new live production package at NAB Show in Las Vegas (April 14-17), Booth C4516, that bundles its Z-HD6500 HD camera with its CU-HD550 camera control unit. The package “is priced for broadcast and production budgets of all sizes, providing customers with the industry’s best cost-to-performance value available for live content acquisition,” the company says.

Supporting multiple HD formats to 1080p, the Z-HD6500 camera’s design reduces the costs and system complexity for content creators while incorporating the latest technical innovations from Hitachi. Its visual quality is enhanced through three 2/3-inch CMOS image sensors with a global shutter to enable the immaculate, crystal-clear capture of BT.2020 color gamut compliant video. The global shutter technology reduces unwelcome artifacts such as banding and flicker that may occur when capturing video in houses of worship, event centers, and broadcast studios with LED lighting and large LED displays.

The Z-HD6500 also delivers exceptional sensitivity for HD production, the company says. The F10 sensitivity of 59.94 frames per second (fps) enables high-quality acquisition in reduced lighting, while a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 62dB delivers super-quiet images. The camera’s design enables “superior color reproduction, while its HD workflow enables seamless multi-format productions and supports both High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Standard Dynamic Range (SDR).”

Hitachi Kokusai’s CU-HD550 camera control unit was re-developed as a companion for the Z-HD6500, enabling smooth and reliable remote control of key camera functions while maintaining image quality and consistency. The CU-HD550 can output HDR or SDR and provides camera operators with two return video feeds for live monitoring. The CU-HD550 displays that feed on the Z-HD6500’s viewfinder, which is enabled through the CCU’s built-in cross-converter and frame synchronizer.

The Z-HD6500, now shipping, was formally introduced at NAB Show 2023 to bring affordable multi-format HD production to a wider range of content creators. Discussions with customers and Hitachi Kokusai dealers on the floor inspired the Hitachi Kokusai team to create a complete professional camera system package that was truly priced to sell.

Kenneth Cyr, Hitachi Kokusai national sales manager, said: “Our longtime customers consistently return to Hitachi cameras because of the price-to-performance ratio and the strong technical support that they receive both through Hitachi Kokusai and our channel partners. We are excited to offer our customers an exceptional camera solution for varied live production environments that offers consistently flawless performance, vibrant and lifelike colors, and remote control capabilities that allow camera operators to concentrate on framing professional shots.”