Audio Video News

Excuses, excuses. Television executives like to say that upgrading certain shows to high-def not only costs mountains of cash, but would be inconvenient for certain types of programming. Such as shows, where, you know, a behemoth high-def camera would take up too much room or intimidate actors.

At a National Association of Broadcasters conference this month, however, Toshiba Imaging will show off a tiny HD broadcasting camera that, as Toshiba says, "is highly suitable for reality TV, specialty broadcast, sports, news, commercials, and many other high definition video imaging applications."

So there! Get on it, network executives. The IK-HD1 3CCD HDTV Camera has your name all over it.

The camera head itself is 1.6-inches square and weighs 2.3 ounces. It shoots at a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 and thirty frames per second. Hmm, this camera is so small that guests, contestants, and other unwitting TV participants might not even realize its there. The "HD cameras are obtrusive" excuse is gone. Now for the pricing excuse: Toshiba, how much did you say this camera will cost? Oh, you didn't say. -Rachel Rosmarin

Toshiba