Meduza ready to ship Titan

Meduza Sales will begin shipping the Titan 3D HD camera for 3D TV from April writes Adrian Pennington

However plans to deliver its bigger brother, the MK1 which captures two 4K images, are on hold pending development of the sensor.

The Mark 1 was unveiled in prototype form last April at trade show NAB but delays in development is one the reason why Meduza devised the Titan. “We weren’t prepared to wait for a 4K chip,” said CEO Chris Cary. “We’d invented the [Titan] camera and we realise that the real demand and pressure for a camera like this is in TV. The concept behind the Titan is to help reduce the cost of 3D production.

“What we need to do is to stimulate the production of mainstream prime time programming,” he adds. “I think studio shows such as chat shows with Graham Norton or Jonathan Ross are the kinds of programme that are not being thought of for 3D but which are much simpler to produce and can be fantastic to watch in 3D.”

To that end Cary partnering with Thomas M. Hohenacker, founder of Telcast – which marketed one of the only 3D-TV viewing systems prior to the recent arrival of digital stereographic broadcasts. Together they aim to offer production and technology expertise to broadcasters and producers. “If you make just speciality 3D programming it will not be enough to drive consumer demand. Broadcasters need programming to fill a schedule rather than just special events on demand,” says Cary.
“The Titan is small enough to enable shooting of studio shows or sports in contained environments (like boxing) in parallel with 2D. You could strap it to any studio camera and have it run from the same production.”

Featuring two 1080p CMOS sensors, Titan is capable of a full range of frame rates, from 24 fps to 120 fps (TBC) in 10 bit, and has fully motorised inter-axial (from 38mm up to 110mm) and convergence.  Convergence is accurate to 1/1000 of a degree and the inter-axial to 1 micron.  Meduza can also provide motors for Iris and focus control. Part of the body will be crafted from titanium to weigh just 5KG. The camera can output both 2K and 1080P.

Cary says there is “advanced interest” in the product though no orders. “Everybody wants to test it first.  We have a commitment to build 40 cameras ready to go from April." he says.

“There was no use bringing to market the Mark 1 unless we have a good 4K chip,” he adds. “The one we expected to have still hasn’t arrived but we expect another to deliver in the first part of 2012. The great thing is that when we receive it, it will take us 6-10 weeks to implement into the Mark 1.”

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