At IBC 2017, Sony announced new firmware updates to its professional monitors. The
new updates achieve wider dynamic range and a wider colour gamut, ensuring that
they are ready for 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR) productions.
Drawing on decades of broadcast and live production expertise, Sony’s range of
professional monitors is designed to assist professional content creatives to work
more efficiently and realise maximum returns on any production budget. With the
rapid increase in 4K and HDR cinematography and broadcast, the urgent need for
equivalent picture evaluation equipment drives Sony to enhance its leading
professional monitors to meet these industry demands.
The latest firmware updates applies to High Brightness Mode of PVM-X550 4K
TRIMASTER EL™ OLED picture monitor, and to version 2.0 for PVM-A series
TRIMASTER EL™ OLED Full HD picture monitor (PVM-A250, PVM-A170) and LMD-A
series LCD Full HD picture monitors (LMD-A240, LMD-A220, LMD-A170). With the
enhancement, the monitors are capable of achieving superb colour reproduction
utilizing as a reference monitor for Sony’s award-winning 4K TRIMASTER EL™ OLED
master monitor, BVM-X300.
High Brightness Mode for PVM-X550
Since its debut in 2016, the PVM-X550 delivers the reliable image reproduction and
picture quality, making it an ideal choice for motion picture and live productions in 4K.
The new firmware provides existing PVM-X550 users with the High Brightness Mode
that delivers wider dynamic range in order to reproduce more realistic colours.
Optimised for 4K colour grading, the new mode achieves over 180% in HDR Peak
Luminance as compared to the current PVM-X550. Notably, the accuracy of brightness
and saturation is carefully controlled by the in-built signal processing that provides a
12-bit output signal, specifically designed by Sony for OLED and used in its BVM series
and the PVM-X550, ensuring stunning black reproduction. High Brightness Mode also
applies to the unique quad view mode. It enables customised individual settings of
Electro-Optical Transfer Functions (EOTF), colour gamut with the wider HDR
brightness on each quadrant.
Version 2.0 Firmware Update for PVM-A and LMD-A series
Slim, lightweight and robust, the PVM-A and LMD-A series are cost-efficient and are
ideal for a variety of applications including 4K production, shopping channels, field and
graphics applications, as well as OB trucks.
The Version 2.0 firmware update equips the high-grade picture monitors with a wider
colour gamut for accurate colour reproduction for the constantly evolving demands in
4K, cinematography and graphics applications. The update supports the ITU-R
BT.2020 colour space and accepts one of Quad-link 2SI 3G-SDI signals. It also offers
DCI-P3, S-Gamut3 / S-Gamut3.cine and Adobe RGB settings to utilise its wide colour
gamut alongside proper EOTFs such as 2.6 gamma alongside S-Log3 (SDR) and S-
Log2 (SDR).
In addition, the Version 2.0 update enhanced field application features with four new
camera shooting/live events support functions. They include the sync-free side-by-
side where users can monitor two pictures without synchronisation; false colour that
checks the exposure level of a camera at a glance from a distance; audio muting that
assist users to start shooting quickly; and flexible area markers anywhere on the
screen for unique screen layout such as instantly differentiate between a product and
its commercial data for shopping channels.
The firmware updates will be available from the following dates:
• High Brightness Mode for PVM-X550 First quarter of 2018 onwards
• Version 2.0 for PVM-A and LMD-A series September 2017 onwards
