Sony enhances professional monitors to support 4K and HDR production

At IBC 2017, Sony is announcing 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. Optimized 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 customized 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 in Asia Pacific 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

For more information on Sony’s offering at IBC, click here or visit stand 13.A10, RAI Amsterdam from 15 to 19 September.