Sony Debuts New 24P High Definition Production System Twenty-Four Other Manufacturers To Support 24P With Products
Sony Electronics Inc. showcased all of the primary elements of its 24 frame progressive high-definition production system at National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conention in Las Vegas on this past week. This represents the much-awaited showing of a system first described by Sony at the ITS Forum in July 1997. It was then that Sony announced its commitment to develop a full digital HD system, tentatively called ""E-Cinema,"" to support 24 frame progressive HD production and post-production for moviemaking and episodic television production. ""The announcement by the broadcast networks at last yearís NAB that they would support disparate DTV transmission formats immediately sparked a broad industry discussion on how the production community would service all of these formats,"" said Mike Vitelli, Executive Vice President of Sony Electronicsí Broadcast and Professional Company. ""The post-production community was immediately engaged in seeking solutions that would be both cost-effective and technically acceptable to all broadcasters. ""We quickly discovered a constructive synergy between our own evolving system thinking and Laser Pacificís innovation in the realm of a 24 frame digital ësuper-masterí format, from which all DTV distribution masters would be digitally derived,"" Vitelli added. Sony prioritized rolling out the 24P post-production portion of the total planned system now to support all of the ATSC formats that will be used for the fall season of DTV this year. Core elements of this system include Sonyís FVS-1000 ""Vialta"" HD telecine, HDW-F500 VTR, BVE-9100 editor, HDS-F7000 series HD switchers, HDME-F7000 digital effects, BVM-D-series of multi-format monitors, a multi-format converter, and a range of HD peripheral products. ""Sony is collaborating with Laser Pacific in a specific system design of the first 24P post-production system to be installed at Laser Pacific,"" said Anthony Gargano, Senior vice President of Communication Systems for Sony Electronicsí Broadcast and Professional Company. ""We have worked together in reaching out to a broad range of manufacturers, each of whom brings key elements to implement a fully-functional 24P post production system."" These manufacturers (many of whom will introduce their own 24P related products at NABë99) include: Avid Technology, Inc. Chyron Corporation da Vinci Systems, Inc. Digital Vision Discreet Logic Evertz Microsystems Ltd Faroudja, Inc. Graham-Patten Systems, Inc. Leader Electronics Corp. Leitch Technology Corp. N VISION Mathematical Technologies Inc. Panavision Philips Pluto Technologies International, Inc. POST IMPRESSIONS (Systems) Inc. Quantel Sierra Design Labs, Inc. SGI Shibasoku Corp., Inc. Snell & Wilcox Inc. Sony/Tektronix Corp. SyntheSys Research YEM Inc. A central system design of the Sony 24P production system is the ability to switch the entire system operation between 24 frame progressive HD and the parallel 60Hz interlaced format specified in SMPTE 274M (standards). This allows one HD post production suite to service all aspects of 1920x1080 HD origination. Further, in recognition of the new ITU international consensus on the 1920x1080 digital HD format for HD program origination and international program exchange, the 24P system is also being designed with the capability to switch to 50Hz interlaced operation. In the fall of 1999, Sony will deliver the first working prototypes of the production end of the 24P system to Lucasfilm, including a 24P HD camcorder and studio camera systems (both ""hard"" and ""soft""). These will be married to the new cinematography lenses presently under development by Panavision, and carefully planned tests will pave the way to full utilization of the 24P production system on the new, upcoming Star Wars movies that begin production in the spring of 2000. The 24P acquisition system will be brought to the marketplace in the spring of 2000 and will be offered for sale to all film camera manufacturers, film and video rental facilities, major studios, and independent production facilities.