Sony live in 4K, HDR and IP… “beyond definition”

At NAB 2017, Sony presents new products, updates to current solutions and a range of workflows that meet the changing needs of customers.

Sony is highlighting in Las Vegas innovations in imaging, high dynamic range (HDR), IP and media solutions that enable the creation of dynamic content and increase workflow efficiency for a variety of applications and productions.

Among the new features, XDCAM Air, a cloud-based ENG subscription service, draws attention. This comprehensive ENG workflow platform links field assets with station infrastructure enabling speed in the air. From recording to post-production, XDCAM Air harnesses the power of cloud computing and XDCAM.

With XDCAM Air, camera operators and news crews now have the ability to work faster and more efficiently, focusing on the story at hand, with the Camera directly integrated into the workflow.

Version 1.0, launching in June, will offer smart features such as live streaming, XDCAM mobile compatibility and metadata workflow. XDCAM Pocket is an XDCAM Air mobile application that can turn a smartphone into a small ENG camera by transmitting a quality live stream over the mobile device's LTE network using the Quality of Service (QoS) streaming mode.

XDCAM Air will be interoperable with most relevant systems, both from Sony and third parties. Sony will continue to develop the features and workflows for XDCAM Air, with new versions designed to support content management, better device control and editing integration with NLE.

Media Backbone

Media Backbone Hive now coordinates all phases of the trusted, proven and familiar news workflow trusted by thousands of broadcasters. Powerful yet intuitive applications are offered for planning, ingesting, browsing, editing, publishing, playback, storage and management. Its impressive technical achievement earned IABM's prestigious Peter Wayne Award for Design and Innovation.

At NAB, Sony announced that RTV Oost, a Dutch regional broadcaster, has selected Media Backbone Hive to simplify and future-proof its news operations, becoming the first European regional broadcaster to introduce Sony's end-to-end media production solution.

The new Media Backbone NavigatorX provides easier, faster and more efficient asset and workflow management. It is designed to fit multiple modern workflow environments, allowing users to manage assets in different formats, with flexible workflow automation, storage and production options.

In terms of recording media, Sony is exhibiting at its stand the second generation of its Optical Disc Archive (ODA) technology for secure long-term storage based on Sony's proven optical disc format, whose useful life has been estimated at 100 years, and is designed to obtain a capacity of 3.3 TB in a single cartridge.

Optical Disc Archive's acceptance has been growing steadily, counting among its new clients the Christian Broadcasting Network, Embassy Row, Golf Channel, National Film Board of Canada, The Voice, and Wells Fargo. Developers and suppliers can incorporate second generation Optical Disc Archive into their own compatible products, with Sony always ready to provide technical support to facilitate product development. Optical Disc Archive's latest partner products include: NLTek for Avid Interplay, QStar Archive Manager, SGL FlashNet, StorageDNA DNAfusion, Object Matrix and XenData.

Monitors

In monitors, Sony highlights a new range of OLED and LCD HD. At the same time, the version 2 firmware update of its current series allows new improvements for its application on set, cinematography, broadcast and graphics, such as the new ITU-R BT.2020 and Adobe RGB color spaces, among others. Applicable models are OLED HD Trimaster EL (PVM-A250/A170) and LCD HD production monitors (LMD-A240/A220/A170).

The DVF-EL200 is a high-quality full HD (1920x1080) OLED viewfinder for the F55 and F5 that offers easy focusing and framing. With almost twice the brightness of Sony's DVF-EL100 and improved usability, the viewfinder is durable and rugged and can be quickly and easily attached to the CBK-55AT viewfinder for use with the F5 and F55 cameras. It includes an improved eye sensor for greater sensitivity and better positioning along with improvements in setting peaking, contrast and brightness levels.

NAB also debuts the SxS and AXS memory card reader (AXS-AR1) that uses a Thunderbolt 2 interface. The Thunderbolt 2 connector also allows daisy-chain operation. This new reader is Sony's first card reader with a card slot that can be used for both AXS A-series memory cards and SxS memory cards. This versatile reader supports simultaneous recording workflows, i.e. RAW (or X-OCN) and XAVC (or MPEG50) files recorded with F55/F5 and AXS-R7. The new AXS-AR1 offers ultra-fast transfer speeds that reduce time on set or during ingest of recorded material.

Those who visit the Sony stand these days will be able to discover the new UMC-S3CA ultra-high sensitivity 4K interchangeable lens video camera with a full frame sensor. Supporting Genlock allows users to operate multiple cameras synchronously and expands the range of camera applications, such as recording from different points or its use in Virtual Reality. Its small size and light weight make the Camera easy to install on cranes and sliders, making it ideal for use in collisions to capture exciting images from different height angles.

Finally, Sony has improved its previous HDDs, the redesigned 1TB and 2TB transport units include an attached ultra-durable USB Type-A cable and a Type-C port, ideal as a field memory card backup. The new bus-powered HDDs come pre-formatted in exFAT, are highly resistant to dust, splashes and shocks, and come packaged with a sturdy library case for additional content protection during shipping or storage. High-speed data transfer has also increased to 138MB/s (read/write) making storage or backup operations even more efficient.

Access to the NAB 2017 SPECIAL in Panorama