UK-based production company and technology supplier Broadcast RF (www.broadcastrf.com) used the new Sony TD300 3-D camcorder as a radio camera for the recent live broadest of the Four Nations Rugby League games at Wembley Stadium. It is the first time the Sony TD300 camera has been used as a wireless camera in a live sports production.
The Sony TD300 camera has been garnering rave reviews because it has the look and feel (and weight) of a typical 2-D camera, making it easy to handle for handheld applications. It can easily be used as a shoulder camera or on a Steadicam. While the interaxial distance between the two "eyes" is fixed, the convergence can be controlled either from the camera or remotely, the minimum convergence distance is 1.2m.
The TD300 camera has an individual HD-SDI output for each eye, so both left and right eye are available in full HD resolution rather than merged into a single side-by-side output.
Broadcast RF's 3-D wireless transmission system is designed to sustain 3-D picture quality and full remote control for the TD300 camera as well as all major stereoscopic rigs (e.g., those from 3ality Technica and P+S Teknik). Compared to a 2-D HD wireless camera, the video data rate is doubled in the 3-D system to assure the picture quality for each HD-SDI camera output. The video from each eye, the left and the right, is similar to a 2-D HD link.
Their wireless camera control system allows for various 3D and camera parameters to be controlled remotely from the OB truck. This gives the stereographer full control of the 3-D settings (such as convergence for Sony TD300) while the vision engineer has access to all the camera's paint functions using the manufacturer's control panel — in this case the Sony RCP1500.