Sony Broadcast Seminar 2009 highlights

New budget-conscious alternatives of HD and SD compatible cameras from Sony are helping TV stations, production houses and content creators to meet the operating challenges of HD live production in the Asia Pacific region.

Participants of the 2009 Broadcast Seminar organized by Sony heard how the new HSC-300 and HXC-100 cameras and MVS-6000 switcher are the production tools of choice for TV broadcast and live event content creation.

“Created based on the proven performance of Sony’s HDC Series studio cameras and MVS Series switchers, they fulfill the needs of different market segments across the Asia Pacific region,” said Paul Maroni, assistant general manager, Head of Live Production Marketing, Business and Professional Products Asia Pacific (BPPA).

“The new multi-format cameras inherit the outstanding picture quality of Sony’s existing HDC system cameras, while offering enhanced operational flexibility and system versatility, enabling our customers to sharpen their competitive edge under the high pressure production environment,” Maroni added.

“It is not just about providing the right solution, but it is offering the right solution at the right price and budget, without compromise,” said Maroni who presented a session titled ‘Migrating from SD to HD – An informed choice is the only choice’.

The seminar was attended by more than 200 industry players from the Asia Pacific region. It was held at Megu Hall, Singapore Flyer from 16-17 June 2009. Conducted by top industry experts from Sony, the two-day seminar gave insights into the latest developments in the fast changing world of broadcast and content creation.

Attendees were also given an insight into Sony’s file-based workflow solutions by Jacky Chung, assistant project manager, BPPA in the File Based Workflow Workshop.

“As the world’s most popular file based production solution, it is key for decision markers in the industry to understand how important ‘Metadata’ is in the networked world as well as how to utilise it and realise its true potential,” said Chung.

“At Sony, our file based solutions are poised to take our customers through the whole process from acquisition to archive, making it one of the most comprehensive solutions in the market.”

Shedding light into the world of stereoscopic 3D, Phil Nottle, technology manager, BPPA presented a session called 3D Stereoscopy – From Glass to Glasses.

“Today, 3D stereoscopy is mainly used in more mature markets such as USA. The industry is now seeing an increasing awareness of the need to move 3D stereoscopy into the home cinema market in order to achieve increased revenue for the home video market,” said Nottle.

“Sony is foreseeing the global uptake of 3D stereoscopy in the cinema industry and has developed our capabilities to take the customers from production to distribution in this field … it is a technology that may materialise in the future and we would like to share its latest developments and the corresponding solutions with our Asian partners,” he added.

Apart from seminars, Sony presented a comprehensive exhibition showcasing the full range of high-definition broadcast and production technologies in key aspects of broadcast and content creation representing Sony’s solutions to the needs of broadcasting in Asia.

The exhibition featured ‘live’ production, HD entry level solutions, XDCAM solution, 3D display solution, codec comparison as well as pro audio solution.

The ‘live’ production section showcased new products such as HXC-100, HSC-300 and the MVS-6000 switcher which present affordable entry-level solutions to assist emerging markets with their production needs.

In the HD entry-level solutions arena, a selection of portable and cutting-edge cameras such as HVR-Z5 and HXR-MC1P were presented. The HVR-Z5 is a fixed lens camcorder that features excellent performance under low light conditions, over cranking and a broad zoom range.

The HXR-MC1P is a new full high-definition compact point-of-view (POV) camera and solid-state recorder combination.

With the use of solid-state recording onto Memory Stick PRO Duo media using AVCHD compression, the HXR-MC1P can record up to six hours of high-definition content onto a 16GB Memory Stick media.

Among the XD CAM solutions is the PDW-F800 which features enhanced functions such as Slow & Quick Motion that makes it ideal for cinema and TV drama productions, as well as ENG applications.

The PDW-F1600 is suitable for in-house and field operations. Its deck is capable of file-based recording with inserts/assemble editing capability. The PDW-F1600 can be used as a recorder in a linear editing system.