CANON USA REACHES NEW HEIGHTS WITH BIG MOVING PICTURES

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS ANNUAL CONVENTION (NAB) LAS VEGAS, NV, April 14, 2008 – The spectacular sight of high-speed precision aerobatic maneuvers by jet fighter planes is a thrilling experience enjoyed by fans of air shows. In between aircraft performances, Big Moving Pictures (BMP), an event-based mobile television network, entertains crowds with live and taped HD video captured with Canon HD lenses on Panasonic ENG cameras and exhibited on giant outdoor LED display screens.

Relaying camera video to BMP’s production trailer and then to the outdoor displays, however, poses a special challenge. The high-energy radars on jet fighter planes prevents the use of RF and the dense crowds at air shows often make running fiber optic cables across the tarmac impractical. BMP solved this challenge by using the Canobeam DT-150 HD optical beam transceiver from Canon U.S.A., Inc. The Canobeam DT-150 provides wireless uncompressed bi-directional 1.5 Gbps transmission of embedded digital video, audio, and control signals on a single HD-SDI or SD-SDI stream with no delay at a range of up to one kilometer.

“Just five years ago, it would have been either prohibitively expensive or impossible to do the type of productions we’re now performing,” said David Knight, chief executive officer of BMP. “The Canobeam is one of the primary technologies that we’ve taken advantage of at our company. Finding this system, a high-speed wireless data transceiver implemented in a thoroughly reliable product, is a major asset to BMP. It saves us time and money, but more importantly it allows us to operate in RF-hostile environments without any requirements for frequency coordination.”

“The Canobeam DT-150 HD video transceiver is engineered to transmit uncompressed digital HD video and audio across gaps where other signal-relay methods are impractical,” explained Gordon Tubbs, director, Broadcast and Communications division, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “As with Canon’s entire Canobeam family, the DT-150 HD sets up quickly and uses a line-of-sight beam of infrared light to reliably transmit digital information. The Canobeam DT-150 HD video transceiver enables producers to establish camera positions that would otherwise be impossible. The picture quality is full, uncompressed HDTV, which producers in sports, special events, and even news are increasingly being called upon to deliver. We’re continually impressed by the new and innovative ways that the Canobeam DT-150 HD is being used in different areas of the television industry.”

Because many air shows take place at military bases, there are extremely strict limitations on RF signals of any kind, Knight explained. “But now that we’ve begun using the Canobeam, we are able to assure the bases that there is no possibility for interference,” he added. “In many cases the base’s frequency coordinator calls us to ask which frequencies we’re operating on. They’re always surprised when we respond that we don’t need any – we’re using Canobeam’s Free Space Optics!”

The Canobeam DT-150 HD video transceiver is the newest member of Canon’s acclaimed series of point-to-point free space optics transceivers that use infrared light to bridge gaps in high-bandwidth transmission situations. The Canobeam DT-150 HD video transceiver can relay embedded HD-SDI and SD-SDI video from multiple cameras or other HD/SD video sources, along with embedded return video and audio to the camera operator, camera-control signals, and even robotic camera-control data. The Canobeam DT-150 HD transceiver has a range of up to one kilometer and – like all Canobeam DT-100 series products – features Canon’s exclusive Auto Tracking feature to maintain beam alignment despite vibration due to wind, rain or unsteady platforms. All Canobeam transceivers are protocol-independent (like fiber), and feature Small Form Pluggable (SFP) fiber-interface connections as well as Canobeam's DT-MNG-100 Management Board, which enables users to monitor the status of Canobeam transceivers via simple network management protocol (SNMP) or Telnet (for monitoring and setting). In addition, diagnostic logs can be stored in a PC via FTP (for log data transmission).

BMP uses its Canobeam DT-150 HD video transceivers to complete two vital signal paths, which can be as long as 2/3 of a mile through the open air. The first Canobeam set links the production trailer to BMP’s ground-based cameras (BMP also thrills air show crowds with views from live in-cockpit cameras), while the second Canobeam link connects the production trailer to the wide LED screens for the crowds to see. “Both links are important, but the connection from trailer to screen is especially critical,” said Knight. “If you lose that screen, it’s just a big black thing with nothing on it. The Canobeam transceivers have proved to be totally dependable, and once they’re switched on we’ve had no need to adjust them again. Furthermore, the reductions in size and weight that the newest Canobeam models provide meant we needed one less crew member to set them up, which translates into a savings in labor and transportation costs.

“BMP has all the elements of a television network, with screens instead of transmitters,” Knight continued. “We’ve also been invited to broadcast and Webcast these shows, and every time we get such a request it ups the ante on our viability in a high-RF saturated environment. Canobeam’s Free Space Optics resilience in these conditions really makes it stand out. We’ve always been very happy with Canon as a vendor, and with Canobeam we know we can just show up, rehearse, and focus on delivering a great production.”

To see the Canon news release on this go to

http://www.usa.canon.com/html/industrial_bctv/pressrelease_20080414_canobeam150hd2.shtml

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranking third overall in the U.S. in 2007†, with global revenues of $39.3 billion, is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America and is on the 2007 BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands." To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/pressroom.

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†IFI Patent Intelligence Press Release, January 2008

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