White Paper 034 Addendum 57: Tests and Settings on a Thomson/GV LDK8000 Elite

Alan Roberts

Abstract

A short assessment was made on a sample of the LDK8000 ‘Elite’ (a demonstration model), a multi-standard HDTV camera, tested with a Canon HJ22x7.4 HD lens.

It is a novel camera in many respects, having 3 ⅔" CCD sensors of 1920x4320 pixels, and made under the Grass Valley name by Thomson. There is a mechanical shutter, obscuring the sensors during the readout process (frame transfer). It shares many features with the Thomson Viper camera.

Physically, it resembles many other system cameras, the familiar digibeta size and layout. It has good connectivity, and operates at 1080-, 720- and SDTV standards. The 4320 lines of the sensors are not available directly, they are summed as necessary on-chip to drive the image resolution for the selected format. Much of the content of this document is taken directly from that manual since there was insufficient time to test many of the innovatory features.

Power consumption is 44 watts and it weighs 5.5kg, both typical for a system camera. However, the power management and cooling system keep the camera cool to the touch, and acceptably quiet acoustically. The camera has both neutral and colour-temperature filter wheels. The camera can be connected to its CCU via Triax or optical-fibre, using appropriate adaptors.

The LDK8000 Elite Enterprise version operates at 1080i and 720p resolutions, at 50 and 59.94Hz. The Elite Worldcam version operates at 1080p (23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 50 and 59.94Hz), 1080i (50, 59.94Hz), and 720p (23.98, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.94Hz). A sister camera, the LDK4000 Elite, is available in fixed resolution (1080i or 720p) but switchable between 50 and 59.94Hz. The menu structure and contents for all these versions is identical. The version tested was the 8000 Elite Worldcam, but the results should apply to all the other versions, where relevant.

Sensitivity is claimed to be F/10 for 200 lux illumination at 90% reflectance, a little lower than is normal for system cameras. Noise level is claimed to be -60dB, and two stops of over-exposure

Download White Paper 034 Addendum 57: Tests and Settings on a Thomson/GV LDK8000 Elite

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