Sony reveals new high-end 8K sensor Digital Cinema camera, 3D camcorders at NAB 2011

[mikkowilson]

Sony reveals new high-end 8K sensor Digital Cinema camera, 3D camcorders at NAB 2011

http://nab.mikkowilson.com/2011/index.php?resize=1&image=IMG_1768.JPG&screenwidth=1280

LAS VEGAS, NV; - Sony held it's NAB Press conference at 2:30pm Sunday at Las Vegas Convention Center.

First Sony touched briefly on the effects of the March Earthquake in Japan, where the company is based.
Sony employees reportedly escaped relatively unscathed; however HDCAM-SR tape, which is made in Sendai, Japan, production was halted. Sony expects to have production back online early this Summer.

The company reported new partnerships across many areas of broadcast production; including a new HD (and 3D-ready) production facility for Austin City Limits, and expanded adoption of their XDNEWS & HDXchange newsrooms management solutions. Plans were also announced for the first 3D broadcasts of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships to theaters this coming Summer.

3D Demo footage was shown from a slew of productions, including material for newly launched 24/7 "3NET" channel that went on air February 13th as a partnership between Sony, Discovery and IMAX. ESPN-3D was also highlighted with a 3D demo reel; and then in what can only be described as well orchestrated timing, live 3D coverage of the 2011 Golf Masters Championship from Augusta, Georgia, was shown briefly on the main screen. After the press conference, the live coverage was resumed to the joy of a portion of the attendees.

http://nab.mikkowilson.com/2011/index.php?resize=1&image=IMG_1710.JPG&screenwidth=1280

Big product announcements were primarily in cameras.

Sony now joins the 3D camera market with their first 2 professional 3D camcorders. The PMW-TD300 shoulder mounted, and the HXR-NX3D1 "hand-held" models. Specifications for the cameras are available on Sony's NAB Website: http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/BroadcastandBusiness/minisites/NAB2011/nab2011exhibithighlights_acquisition.shtml

http://nab.mikkowilson.com/2011/index.php?resize=1&image=IMG_1713.JPG&screenwidth=1280

On the 2D front was Sony's new F65 camera; displayed on stage for the first time. The 4K high end production camera has 8K sensors and records a 16-bit RAW signal to the new SRMASTER hybrid tape and solid state format. 1TB Flash Memory cartridges were also out for show.

http://nab.mikkowilson.com/2011/index.php?resize=1&image=IMG_1771.JPG&screenwidth=1280

Sony also unveiled a new "TRIMASTER EL" line of production monitors based on OLED technology: PVM-740 - A compact portable 7" unit; and larger 17" and 25" units as both "Master" and "Professional" models: BVM-E170 & BVM-E250 and PVM-1741 & PVM-2541, respectively.

http://nab.mikkowilson.com/2011/index.php?resize=1&image=IMG_1724.JPG&screenwidth=1280


- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

First up; Earthquake effects.

Production of HDCAM-SR tape expected to resume this summer.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

Large growth for Sony in spots production solutions.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

Austin City Limits now being produced in a new state of the art Sony made facility. "Delivering a better product to our audiences".
New facility is ready to be upgraded to 3D.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

XDNEWS & HDXchange newsrooms management solutions in use at stations across the country.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

3NET 3D channel went live on February 13th as a partnership between Discovery, Sony, and IMAX as the first 24/7 3D Network.

Showing some 3D demo footage on "home" sized TV monitors at the sides of the auditorium.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

ESPN 3D Demo running on the big screen. Lots of impressive 3D sports footage.
ESPN 3D is also going 24/7, with Sony as their primary technology sponsor.

"Just like being there, but no problems with parking."

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

Sony now showing a LIVE 3D demo of the Golf Masters going on right now.
Disappointment from audience when it fades out back to the presentation.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

Professional 3D cameras from Sony announced:
PMW-TD300 - Shoulder mounted
HXR-NX3D1 - Handheld

No further details mentioned.

- Mikko

[mik303]

A lot of Tiger Woods fans out there are anxious to see him win today.

[mikkowilson]

Wimbledon 2011 Championships to be broadcast live in 3D to theaters around the globe.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

New Sony recording format: "SRMASTER"
Hybrid Tape & Solid state system.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

New"TRIMASTER EL" line of production monitors based on OLED technology.

PVM-740 - Portable 7"
BVM-E170 & BVM-E250 - "Master" Quality 17" & 25"
PVM-1741 & PVM-2541 - "Professional" Quality 17" & 25"

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

Announcement of new high end Digital Cinema camera from Sony: F-65
4K camera with 8K sensor, 16-bit RAW output.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

Sony Press conference is over.

Sony showing Golf Masters in 3D on the big screen as people flock past to check out the F65.

- Mikko

[mikkowilson]

Photos of the new F65 are now uploading live from the Sony event to: http://nab.mikkowilson.com/2011/

http://nab.mikkowilson.com/2011/index.php?resize=1&image=IMG_1768.JPG&screenwidth=1280

- Mikko

[Steve Castle]

Video:
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/video/channels-cinealta/video-cinealta_f65_the_arrival_behind_scenes/

The Japanese Press release:
http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press/201104/11-045/index.html

Some interesting points:

16 Bit Raw; which means that this camera has a 16-bit ADC (analog-to-digital converters). Pretty impressive, being that 16-bit ADCs were usually reserved for cameras like the Hasselblad/Phase One. dSLRs usually top out at 14-bit ADC.

Optional Rotary Disc Shutter; the camera is suppose to have no rolling shutter artifacts

8k Sensor; The new F65 sensor is reported to have 20MP resolution and send 16-bit raw data at speed of 20Gbps. The optical array area is 24.7 x 13.1 mm, diagonal is 28 mm. . (http://image-sensors-world.blogspot.com/2011/04/sony-clearvid-lands-in-digital-cinema.html) Rotated bayer which better utilizes sensor space. That CFA arrangement isn't new, as Sony has used the same arrangement in their ClearVid sensors. Sony is calling this CFA "Double Bayer" (http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/product/4kcinematographycamcorders/f65/features) it seems.

What is new is how pixels are processed. Its technology that Sony has demonstrated at the 2011 ISSCC a little over a month back (http://image-sensors-world.blogspot.com/2010/11/isscc-2011-abstracts-published.html#uds-search-results). The sensor has completely new ADCs that aren't column parallel based on up-down counters that Sony usually uses. Basically they can construct RGB color information without interpolation because they can sample multiple adjacent photosites simultaneously compared to photosites just being in a column. This is likely done (based on the ISSCC conference) at the analog signal BEFORE it gets converted by the ADC into digital pixels (before it becomes RAW). Each pixel coming off the ADC will have full color information. This means that the 16-bit RAW file will be 4k rather than an unmanageable 8k (20 megapixels), this is crucial being that 16-bit RAW file will already be massive.

http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo13/steve_castle/110411_F65.jpg
"Double Bayer" CFA for Sensor.
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo13/steve_castle/SonyF65CFA.jpg
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo13/steve_castle/SonyF65Sensor.jpg

[Lee Saxon]

16 Bit Raw; which means that this camera has a 16-bit ADC (analog-to-digital converters). Pretty impressive, being that 16-bit ADCs were usually reserved for cameras like the Hasselblad/Phase One. dSLRs usually top out at 14-bit ADC.

And even that is often just marketing as the data coming off the sensor isn't actually 16/14-bit. Sorta like the new "10-bit P-IPS" LCD panels that are actually just 8-bit H-IPS panels with 10-bit LUTs.

I'm sure given the price point that the F65 will ACTUALLY be 16-bit. What I'm more curious about is whether it will actually be RAW or if what Sony actually means is "uncompressed."

[Steve Castle]

And even that is often just marketing as the data coming off the sensor isn't actually 16/14-bit. Sorta like the new "10-bit P-IPS" LCD panels that are actually just 8-bit H-IPS panels with 10-bit LUTs.

I'm sure given the price point that the F65 will ACTUALLY be 16-bit. What I'm more curious about is whether it will actually be RAW or if what Sony actually means is "uncompressed."

It should be RAW by definition that it'll be data coming directly off the ADC of the sensor. However, this camera's RAW will not be a traditional bayered image, as this camera doesn't require debayering.

Each raw pixel coming off this sensor will be panchromatic (meaning that it contains red, green, blue data) and not the traditional RGGB data from a bayer pixel. The benefit of this is that real analog signal from an RGGB photosite array will form a panchromatic pixel, rather than converting each color signal in the CFA into a digital bayer image that then must be interpolated.

The downside is that it doesn't have the advantage of the traditional bayer sensor of inflating the overall resolution. Which is why the raw resolution will be 4k, not 8k. However, given that 16-bit 4K is already 19Gbps worth of data, outright resolution would be irrelevant.

[Steve Castle]

More pics:

Sony will sell the 8K sensor head separately from the F65, wrapped in carbon fiber no less. This F65 T-head can be rearranged for 3D applications.

http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo13/steve_castle/zoo10458.jpghttp://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo13/steve_castle/zoo10432.jpg

[Rick Burnett]

So can you use that head standalone?

[Steve Castle]

So can you use that head standalone?

You'll obviously need to still monitor and record whatever comes off the sensor, not to mention a lot of other things, its designed to be detachable so it can be rearranged for 3D, steadicam work, vehicle mountings, etc. I'm guessing its designed to insure configurability of the camera with different setups that will be announced in the future. I mean it would be horribly cumbersome to make a 3D rig of the whole F65 if the sensor was not detachable.

[androbot2084]

I don't know if I like the Sony 3D camcorders. Its always interlace 1080i or 24 frames per second. I like Panasonic 3D because it dual progressive 720p60 which makes a much better cinematic experience.

[cheapass]

I don't know if I like the Sony 3D camcorders. Its always interlace 1080i or 24 frames per second. I like Panasonic 3D because it dual progressive 720p60 which makes a much better cinematic experience.

You've clearly been reading Jim Cameron's blog.