Sony is looking to focus on rich content creation, management and imaging ‘Beyond HD’ at NAB. It will also major on high-end digital imaging including the rumoured debut of a 4K camera. At the show Sony wants to reinforce the message that it is opening up the creative possibilities of 35mm shooting with its new NXCAM camcorder featuring a Super-35mm large format CMOS sensor shipping this summer, as well as the already available and cheaper PMW-F3 35mm XDCAM camcorder, intended for independent movies, promos and commercials. “The F3 has helped Sony regain enormous momentum in high end imaging and to regain the market share lost to Red Digital and DSLRs,” said Olivier Bovis, Sony Europe’s general manager for Content Creation. “In fact we are struggling to fulfill the demand in orders for the F3.” Production of the unit has been ramped up following over 200 pre-orders from the UK alone. OLED screens are also on the firm’s agenda, among them 17- and 25-inch Grade 1 monitors, which are part of a new Trimaster EL (electro-luminescence) series, available from May. “This range effectively supercedes the BVM LCD series,” Bovis insisted. “OLED technology brings Sony back into the Golden Age of monitors.” Sony previously launched the £2800 7.4-inch PVM-740 display for on location use but the 17″ (BVM-E170) and 25″ (BVM-E250) are for professional mastering monitoring. Standard inputs include 3G/HD/SD-SDI; HDMI and a DisplayPort input. Other features include: HD frame capture, pixel zoom and P&P (Side by Side, Butterfly, Wipe, Blending).
Sony promises hyper-accurate colour reproduction and ‘perfect’ image quality without motion blur due to the OLED’s fast response time. The monitors are just 148mm in depth but they don’t come cheap: the BVM-E250 will be around £24,000 and the E170 £10,000 if the Japanese list price is anything to go by. All of this will be wrapped up in Sony’s traditionally giant exhibit. “NAB remains the biggest show in terms of Sony’s ability to reach the US market,” Bovis said. Stand C11001
