Sony HDC-5500 4K HDR Dreichipper with Global Shutter // NAB 2019
[23:10 Sun,7.April 2019 by Rudi Schmidts]
The new HDC-5500 system camera from Sony sounds interesting in many respects: As "Worlds First 2/3" 4K HDR GS 3-CMOS System 4K HDR Flagship Camera", however, you first have to take a closer look at what is revolutionary new here.
The HDC-5500, developed for broadcast applications, is designed as a three dimensional camera, i.e. as in good old professional broadcast models, there is a separate 2/3-inch sensor for each colour channel, in front of which the incoming light from the optics is split into the three basic colours by a prism. Typical (aliasing) problems caused by the 1:1 debayering of a sensor with Bayer Pattern are avoided by the relatively complex prism/triplip combination. This also allows relatively large sensors at 4K resolution, which can then deliver a true 4:4:4 signal. And this 4:4:4 signal can of course also be fed out of the camera head uncompressed (a 19-inch 3U Half Rack Size Camera Control Unit (CCU) is available for connection, which enables SMPTE ST2110/NMOS IS-04/05 as IP signal, 12G-SDI or even dual 4K baseband streams via fiber/glass fiber).
Rarely enough. But the "Worlds First" might refer mainly to the two letters "GS", which stand for Global Shutter. So the camera is able to read the entire image area without "skew" bars. Especially for sports broadcasts, this should be a positive additional benefit for fast pans.
As a future-proof 4K solution, HDR should of course not be missing from the system specifications, which is also supported by the camera. With a dynamic range of 62dB (which corresponds to about 10.3 f-stops according to Graf number) the HDC-5500 delivers a remarkable dynamic range for a 4K broadcast model with relatively small sensors and global shutter. But is it really possible to feed HDR content with 10 f-stops?
The license model is also worth mentioning: 4K and HD-HFR functions can be unlocked via additional licenses. These can, however, "float" freely between cameras, i.e. the buyer can deactivate and activate them himself and thus freely distribute them between his models.
The Sony HDC-5500 is to be delivered as early as May 2019. Prices were not fixed before the press release.
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