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Our History

Company
Products
Company
’70s
1971.10

Established in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan by founder Keizo Kiyohara.

1974.4

FOR-A Corporation of America was established in California.

Products
1971

VTG-32 (Video Timer)
World’s first production timer.

1977

FVW-900 (Video Writer)
Freehand on-screen drawing system via light pen.

Company
’80s
1985.9

R&D Center was opened in Sakura City, Chiba (Japan) for new product development and to expand manufacturing facilities.

1988.4

FOR-A Corporation of Canada was established in Toronto.

1989.9

Sakura R&D Center expansion was completed.

Products
1981

FA-410P (Time Base Corrector)
Considered the best time base corrector on the market.

1986

MF-2000 (Digital Video Effects)
First digital video effects manipulation unit produced.

Company
’90s
1991.10

R&D Center opened in Sapporo City, Hokkaido (Japan).

1994.3

PC board assembly factory opened at Sakura R&D Center.

1995.4

FOR-A (UK) Limited was established in London (England).

1996.4

FOR-A Italia S.r.l. was established in Milan (Italy).

1998.3

Headquarters moved to Ebisu in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (Japan).

1999.4

24/7 FOR-A service call center established for Japanese market.

Products
1993

VWS-100 (Character Generator)
Successor model VWS-300 selected for official production display use at Nagano Olympic Games.

1997

digiWarp (Virtual Studio System)
Virtual studio system product addition to lineup.

1999

DCC-700H (Digital Color Corrector)
One of our first HD products produced at the start of digital broadcasting.

Company
’00s
2000.1

ISO certification of Sakura R&D Center was successfully completed.

2001.7

New headquarters building was completed in Ebisu in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (Japan).

2004.10

FOR-A Corporation of Korea was established in Seoul.

2005.7

ISO 14001 certification of Sakura R&D Center was successfully completed.

2006.3

Adoption of solar power generation at Sakura R&D Center.

2007.5

FOR-A MFG Center opened in Sakura City, Chiba (Japan).

2008.4

FOR-A Latin America was established in Florida.

2008.4

FOR-A China Limited was established in Beijing.

2008.11

ISO 27001 certification of administrative headquarter and engineering headquarter was successfully completed.

2009.10

FOR-A IBE Company Limited was established in Tokyo, Japan.

Products
2001

HVS-3000 (2M/E Digital Video Switchers)
SD and HD versions developed simultaneously. Debuted to acclaim at IBC 2001.

2003

HVS-1000HS (HD/SD 1M/E Video Switcher)
Announcement of compact video switcher supporting both HD and SD.

2006

FA-9000 (HD/SD Frame Synchronizer)
Won the "STAR Award" of the TV Technology USA magazine.

2006

FRC-7000 (HD Frame Rate Converter)
Won the "STAR Award" of the TV Technology Europe magazine.

2007

MediaConcierge® (Media Management System)
Comprehensive content management systems with file base.

2008

HVS-5000 Series / HVS-300HS (Digital Video Switcher)
large-sized model, to Portable model, Further expansion of the lineup.

2009

FRC-8000 (Framerate Converter)
Won the "Best of IBC 2009" of the TVB Europe magazine.

Company
’10s
2011.4

FOR-A YEM Eletex Company Limited was established in Tokyo, Japan.

2011.6

FOR-A Middle East-Africa Office established in Dubai (UAE).

2011.10

Katsuaki Kiyohara appointed President and Representative Director.

2012.11

Transferred all shares of Visual Graphics Inc. and acquired shares of TM Research Co., Ltd., establishing both as associated companies of the FOR-A Group.

2013.5

FOR-A Europe S.r.l. established in Milan (Italy).

2013.9

Acquired shares of and established Flovel Co., Ltd., as an associated company of the FOR-A Group.

2014.1

FOR-A YEM Eletex Honored with 2013 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award presented by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) for the development, standardization and productization of the HD serial digital interface.

2014.8

Acquired shares of and established Agiv (India) Private Limited, as an associated company of the FOR-A Group.

2017.1

FOR-A honored with 2016 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award for its work on "Live Production Technology Beyond HD to Achieve Non-Interpolated Video for Instant Replay".

2017.1

Established FOR-A South East Asia Office in Hong Kong.

2017.8

Launched InSync Technology Products Ltd, a joint venture with InSync Technology (UK).

2018.1

Established Matsuyama Office (Japan).

2019.1

Made a strategic Investment in Variant Systems Group (USA).

Products
2010

LTR-100HS (LTO-5 Video Archiving Recorder)
Won the "PICK HIT Award" of the Broadcast Engineering magazine.

2011

VFC-7000 "Flash EYE" (HD Variable Frame Rate Camera)
Won the "STAR Award" of the TV Technology USA magazine.

2012

World's first high-speed camera capable of filming at 4K resolution introduced.
Won the "Best of IBC", "STAR Award(NAB)", "BIRTV Award", "MPTE Award" and "Government Video Salute".

2014

FA-505 Multi Channel Signal Processor introduced with up/down/cross-conversion and HDR & WCG support as well as FA-1010 features.

2015

HVS-2000 Flagship 7M/E Video Production Switcher released supporting 4K resolution.

2016

Initiatives for 12G-SDI and Video over IP
Various 12G-SDI and video-over-IP products were announced at Inter BEE, highlighting the company’s balanced approach to next-generation video production, including baseband, file-based, graphics, and IP technologies.

2018.9

SOM-100 (integrated SDI/IP control and monitoring software)
Software solution for integrated control and monitoring in mixed SDI (baseband) and IP video environments.

2019.3

USF-10IP Series (IP Gateway)
Video-over-IP module for video and audio signal conversion between IP formats and between IP and SDI. Ideal for building a mixed baseband/IP system.

Company
’20s
2020.3

Affiliated company Flovel Co., Ltd. honored with the 2019 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award for its early efforts in the development of ultra-high sensitivity cameras and their contributions to the market.

Products
2020.3

MFR-4100/6100 (Routing Switcher)
Support from SD-SDI to 12G-SDI. Designed for solid performance and fault tolerance as a core system component.