“The Barber of Seville”, the first opera to be filmed with Sony's 4K high dynamic range technology

The Roman production company DBW Communication has acquired Sony's new 4K capture and recording systems: four HDC-4300 cameras and two PWS-4400 servers.

After recording the first real 4K HDR test in the 2015 Italian Cup final between Juventus and Lazio, Sony y DBW Communication have achieved another important technological first, this time in the context of opera music.

Gioacchino Rossini's masterpiece, the comic opera The Barber of Seville, is already the first opera in the world to be recorded in the 4K high dynamic range (HDR) format. The production took place last July at the Teatro Regio in Turin, one of the largest and most historic opera houses in Italy and one of the most important in the world. To record, Sony PMW-F55 cameras were used in live mode, located at eight filming points and equipped with Prime 4K lenses, the same ones used by director Jacques Audiard in his most recent film. Dheepan, which won the Palme d'Or at the last Cannes Film Festival.

Always up to date with the latest technologies for the audiovisual sector, DBW Communication has also recently purchased four new Sony HDC-4300 system cameras with the first 2/3″ (3-chip) native 4K image sensors. DBW can now have a 4K machine inventory of 14 units, which can be used in live mode thanks to the CA-4000 4K system adapter with fiber transmission and the BPU-4000 baseband processing unit. DBW has also acquired two Sony PWS-4400 servers, the flagship of the new generation of 4K/HD live production solutions, offering the ability to record images in HFR and HDR.

By reproducing a wider dynamic range of brightness levels, HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology intensifies contrast and accentuates images down to the subtlest tones, from detailed shadows and blacks to brighter whites and colors. HDR images therefore offer viewers the opportunity to enjoy richer tones, attention to detail and penetrating highlights with unprecedented depth and definition.

For opera in particular, HDR technology allows content producers to work with the maximum potential in terms of linguistic and aesthetic functions, thus improving all aspects of the scene, such as lighting, scenery and costumes.

Recording an opera in HDR means giving viewers the opportunity to experience total immersion in what they are seeing, as if they were part of the scene. Sony is developing support for HDR content across its product portfolio to give viewers the opportunity to experience total immersion with any content.

Stefano Rebechi, CEO of DBW Communication, acknowledges being very satisfied with “this new production, which we have created in collaboration with RAI Com”.

Stefano Rebechi, CEO of DBW Communication, highlights that “after recording the first sporting event, the 2015 Italian Cup final, in HDR, the production of The Barber of Seville constitutes another important world first for DBW Communication.”

Finally, Benito Manlio Mari of Sony Professional Europe, highlights that “the possibility of capturing images, even beyond the spectrum of the human eye, with excellent levels of brightness and color information opens a new frontier in the artistic field to new possibilities of expression.”