Sony aims past HD

As Sony’s Naomi Climer pointed out at the start of yet another packed Sony press conference, it’s been anything but just another year for the manufacturer. Memories of the Japanese tsunami are still strong within the company, but it’s showcasing its depth and resilience with a typically bravura performance at IBC.

We’ll have more detail on all the sport broadcast related announcements later on, but for the moment here’s the Sony press release that provides an overview of all that the company is announcing at the show.

F65
After a prototype was revealed at NAB 2011, Sony’s next-generation CineAlta motion picture camera will be available to buy at the end of 2011 for €38,000. With an 8K image sensor and 20 megapixels, the F65 offers higher image fidelity than any other camera on the market, giving directors the freedom to produce images exactly how they were intended.

4K workflow
Sony has announced its commitment to develop a complete 4K workflow for the production market, from acquisition to editing and production. In order to help the adoption of end-to-end 4K workflows, Sony revealed a series of new solutions including theSR-PC4 data transfer unit. Sony is adopting an open strategy of providing Software Development Kits to third party manufacturers to integrate F65 RAW workflows into their line-up of production and post-production tools. Finally, Sony announced the creation of an elite group of new and existing prestige partners that will support Sony’s F65 customers across Europe, offering world-class training and consultancy around 4K workflows and production.

CineAlta logo
To symbolise Sony’s Believe Beyond HD vision, Sony has rebranded its CineAlta logo. The logo represents a milestone for the company, an expression of the transition Sony is making from HD to the next level of cinematography, that goes far beyond HD.

HDC-2500 camera
The HDC-2500 is the first professional live production camera in the world equipped with a carbon fibre chassis – making it incredibly strong. In addition, the HDC-2500 is equipped with a 3G 1080/50p fibre transmission system as standard.

XDCAM XMPilot
The XMPilot is a ground breaking software application that enables media professionals to dramatically reduce the amount of time and money that is spent in production. By managing and tracking metadata before, during and after a shoot, the XMPilot allows you to make considerable savings on the total cost of production.

SxS PRO memory card
Sony is expanding its SxS PRO memory card range with a new generation which offers twice as fast writing speed than previous models. The new cards (SxS PRO 64GB, SBP-64A) can read and write data at up to 1.2Gbps, making a huge difference to the way professional users capture and digest video content. In addition, Sony has developed a new Professional Hard Disk offering, the PHU-220R, which has been designed to give our XDCAM users 220GB of full continuous recording.

Media Backbone Conductor, Version 1.2
This major update to MBC draws the media platform and workflow engine together into one display screen for the very first time, providing users with greater visibility and control.

35mm
A year ago Sony wasn’t a big player in the 35mm market. However, thanks to cameras like the F65, PMW-F3 and the affordable NEX-FS100, Sony has gone from being absent in the market, to the number one large sensor camera manufacturer in the world.

PMW-TD300
First announced at NAB 2011, the PMW-TD300 is a mid-to-entry level 3D camcorder that uses the XDCAM EX codec. It has the world’s first 3.5 inch glassless 3D LCD screen for picture evaluation. The PMW-TD300 will be available in Europe from November.

OLED
Sony is strengthening its industry leading Trimaster EL OLED monitor line-up with the new BVM-F range. The BVM-F series consists of the 17” BVM-F170 and the 25” BVM-F250. The BVM-F range offers incredible performance in Full HD, thanks to Sony’s powerful 12-bit Professional Display Engine.

Data Augmented Video
Sony Professional’s latest innovation in sports production technology, launched at IBC this year, is Data Augmented Video. Video content is enhanced by graphical information sourced from sports data tools, enabling production and coaches to use this information to highlight specific events or characteristics of a game. Sony’s new platform enables this to be achieved live with the inclusion of data enhanced video clips within an event replay sequence.