Sony bets heavily on high dynamic range

Sony's enhanced 4K HDR system offers a comprehensive workflow for live 4K and HDR content production.

Sony announced at NAB 2016 today five major additions to its range for 4K and high dynamic range (HDR) production for content and live production.

New additions to the range include a new 8x high-speed 4K system camera, the HDC-4800, three new switchers, the XVS-6000, XVS-7000 and XVS-8000, and a new client monitor, the PVM-X550. Further enhancements have also been made to the feature set of the HDC-4300 camera system, introduced at NAB last year as the world's first camera to use 2/3″ 4K image sensors, support HDR, and fully support a wide variety of existing products and production workflows. Sony will showcase these new 4K HDR solutions at its booth at NAB 2016.

Sony has been at the forefront of 4K and HDR technologies for many years: the HDR-capable F55 and F65 cameras have been used to capture images using 16-bit RAW data capture, 14-stop latitude and excellent color performance. In the last year, Sony has introduced the revolutionary Trimaster OLED reference monitor THE BVM-X300.

Sony's involvement in a number of major HDR productions, both film and live, has already captured the imagination of the broadcast industry. Successful high-level 4K and HDR testing has been carried out with HDC-4300 and PMW-F55 cameras at a large number of live events, national and international football matches and, recently, at the opening ceremony of the Holy Door in the Vatican. The CineAlta F65 and F55 cameras have been used in several film productions shot in 4K and HDR, including the Netflix original series Marco Polo and the Amazon original series Mozart in the Jungle.

This January, the 2016 Sony Open in Hawaii, a PGA Tour event, was recorded and broadcast in HD on the Golf Channel using Sony HDR solutions. The Sony HDC-4300 was used to capture all the action on the 17th hole in 4K resolution, while simultaneously recording 4K HDR images to separate servers as part of Sony's ongoing research into HDR production. Sony F55 cameras were also used to record segments in the field for production in 4K and HDR, which were later converted to HD for the main broadcast.

Currently, Sony has strengthened its 4K HDR solution by adding the following products HDC-4800 (an 8x high-speed 4K system camera for live production), BPU-4500 and BPU-4000 (baseband processing unit for HDC-4300), PVM-X550 (55″ Trimaster EL 4K OLED monitor), XVS-6000, XVS-7000 and XVS-8000 (multi-format mixers supporting HDR signals).

This expanded gamut provides a wide BT.2020 color space and suits applications using HDR for both cinematography and live broadcasting.

Also announced at NAB, the PVM-X550 is the world's first Quad View OLED monitor, allowing you to use individual custom screen settings across four different HD views.