As usual, Sony occupied one of IBC’s larger free stands, taking up most of Hall 10. This “superbooth’ encapsulated the information overload of the exhibition as a whole.
There was so much on offer – from the Media Life Cycle storage and media management system, the CBK-55BK add-on kit for one-person documentary shoots on the F55 and F5 cameras, to a new range of action cameras, to the Sony-Hawkeye solution for small scale sport production, to the IP Live AV-over-IP interface system, and on and on – that one scarcely knew where to start.
Among all this, however, a number of items stood out for us:
PXW-FS7 4K XDCAM
This highly portable camera is the first 4K XDCAM ever to feature a Super35 CMOS sensor. It is capable of shooting in 4K Quad Full HD and super slow-motion Full HD. Lightweight and extremely easy to handle, the FS7 has been designed with makers of documentaries, music videos, online content and corporate videos in mind.
The camera includes the super sensitive, 11.6 million-pixel Super 35 “Exmor’ CMOS sensor, which offers shallow depth of field, a high signal-to-noise ratio and impressive low light performance.
The FS7 supports most of the major recording formats, including XAVC Intra, Long GOP, MPEG HD422 and Apple ProRes 422.
As far as lenses are concerned, the FS7 is fitted with the A-Mount system, which features Silent Focus technology and Electrical Iris Control. The FS7K variant comes with an E-mount FE PZ 28-135mm F4 G OSS.
The two biggest selling points of the camera are the “Exmor’ CMOS, which captures gorgeous images, and the unit’s ergonomic design, which makes it perfect for run- and-gun shooting. Testing it out on the booth floor, one is tempted to borrow a phrase one would normally see in a motoring review – the FS7 really does “handle like a dream’.
Media Lifecycle Service
This end-to-end media management solution offers media asset owners digitisation, archiving, distribution and monetisation all under one roof. The solution is divided into three service areas, which can either be used in conjunction, or in combination with other hardware and software.
They are:
• Digitisation, which includes Sony’s optical disc archive technology, offers the ability to preserve and restore assets, as well as advanced indexing and metadata.
• Managed storage and secure cloud-based archive management.
• Distribution and monetisation creates e-commerce opportunities, new revenue streams and audience engagement opportunities.
Says Adam Fry, Head of AV Media Solutions, Sony Professional Solutions Europe: “Each stage of the service supported by MLS is complex and a significant undertaking in its own right; having a partner who understands the challenges and can guide them through the entire value chain to monetisation, will provide peace of mind and a competitive edge.’
IP Live alliance
Sony has collaborated with ten of the world’s leading broadcasters to create a new interface for the delivery of content over IP.
The Networked Media Interface packetises video, audio and metadata, enabling real-time transmission between video-production products via standard network infrastructures. This technology will further enhance Sony’s IP Live Production system by increasing efficiency and reducing cost for the broadcasting of live studio and sports production.
Anticipating clients’ needs for the delivery of 4K content, which may become a major requirement at some point in the near future, Sony announced its work in progress – Low Latency Video Codec (LLVC) technology, which supports video compression for 4K 60p transmission over 10 Gbps Ethernet.
Sony walked away from IBC 2014 with a number of prizes. Its giant stand won IBC’s award for Best Larger Free Stand Design, while News Shooter named the FS7 its Best DSLR Camera. Audio Media decided that the UWP-D and SMAD-3 wireless microphones that Sony were exhibiting were the best of the entire show. Fifa TV, the online platform for the broadcasting of the football World Cup action earlier in 2014 – with which Sony collaborated extensively – won IBC’s Judges’ Prize for 2014 Brazil World Cup and the International Honour of Excellence award.
