As TV manufacturers and broadcasters gear up to deliver 4K video to people’s living rooms, there still aren’t many options for regular folk who want to shoot super high resolution footage of their own. Sony wants to lead that charge with a new camcorder that will make 4K simple, manageable, and most of all (relatively) affordable. With, of course, some compromises.
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We assure you, the camera above is not Sony’s HDR-AX200. While it shares a similar body, this is the new FDR-AX1 that leaked this morning — a fixed lens 4K videocamera for prosumers, priced at a cool $4,500. Although JVC beat Sony to the market with its $5,000 kit, Sony’s vying to have the upper hand with the tech inside its take, namely by using its XAVC S format. It works by capturing video in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Long GOP and audio in linear PCM, which all gets saved in an “MP4 wrapper.” To handle the massive amount of data throughput from its 4k/60p stream, the camcorder records to QXD cards (two slots are onboard) which, until now, haven’t had much use outside of Nikon’s D4. A 64GB card will net you two hours of 4K video, while downscaling to 1080/60p adds an extra hour on top of that.
Video gets captured by a 1/2.3-type Exmor R CMOS sensor and a 20x optical zoom (31.5-630mm) G lens, which comes equipped with a trio of ND filters and Optical SteadyShot. As you’d expect, there are a plethora of manual controls, powered stereo XLR inputs, a 3.2-inch display and a viewfinder on back. It’s worth noting that while the AX1 won’t be HDMI 2.0 compliant at first, Sony’s planning a firmware update down the line to enable it. Until that occurs, it’ll only be able to transfer HDMI video over to Sony’s existing 4K TVs. We’re also told that the camcorder will work with SD cards for shooting in HD.
If you don’t care for the flexibility of interchangeable lenses or need something more affordable than the likes of a RED Scarlet, the FDR-AX1 can be yours this October. Sweetening the deal just a little more, Sony will also throw in a 32GB XQD card and a full copy of Vegas Pro 12 to ensure you can get started out of the box. Check out our eyes-on gallery with the prototype seen above in the meantime. %Gallery-slideshow79389% %Gallery-slideshow79406%
Filed under: Cameras, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Source: Sony
Sure, Sony’s set to unveil a whole host of new gadgets at its IFA press conference in a few hours, but it looks like B&H Photo has jumped the gun by revealing a trio of camcorders from the Japanese giant. The headliner of the pack is the FDR-AX1, which records 4K video (3,840 x 2,160) at 60 fps. A back-illuminated 8.3-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor is responsible for the cam’s imaging prowess, and independent zoom, focus and iris rings make this consumer-level kit feel more like a pro device. When it comes to audio, the FDR-AX1 leans on its built-in microphone that captures 2-channel Linear PCM, but it also totes a pair of XLR audio inputs for external mics.
Sony’s HDR-AS30V ruggedized action camera was also outed, and it records 1080p footage at 60 fps, with a 720p slow-motion mode at 120 fps. For folks who place a heavy-emphasis on sound, the outfit’s HDR-MV1 “music camcorder” packs a 120-degree X/Y microphone array, an external microphone input, headphone jack and records audio in 44.1kHz/16-bit LPCM or 48kHz/128kbps AAC. As for video, however, the shooter makes a slight compromise by taking 1080p footage at 30fps. Although the retailer mentions that the three shooters are now available, they’ve yet to show up on their storefront and don’t have price tags attached to them. For the impending release of more details (and our inevitable hands-on with the hardware), keep hitting F5 on our IFA 2013 hub.
Via: PRWeb
Source: B&H Photo
Only just after it leaked out, the folks at HDMI Licensing are announcing HDMI 2.0 officially. Arriving just in time for the wide rollout of a new generation of Ultra HDTVs, it adds a few key capabilities to the connection standard. With a bandwidth capacity of up to 18Gbps, it has enough room to carry 3,840 x 2,160 resolution video at up to 60fps. It also has support for up to 32 audio channels, “dynamic auto lipsync” and additional CEC extensions. The connector itself is unchanged, which is good for backwards compatibility but may disappoint anyone hoping for something sturdier to support all of those suddenly-popular dongles. The cables won’t change either, as the group claims current high-speed Category 2 wires can handle the increased bandwidth. Some companies have suggested upgrade paths for their UHDTVs already on the market — hopefully we’ll find out more about those plans this week at IFA 2013.
Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: HDMI.org
Panasonic is one of the few electronics companies that’s not pushing a 4K TV right now, but that is apparently about to change. An AV Forums reader spotted a few webpages cached prior to the company’s launch event that show off not only its upcoming 4K res WT600 television, but also details of the HDMI 2.0 spec. The current HDMI 1.4 connectors can only handle 4K content at 30fps, and the page mentions HDMI 2.0 will support at least 60fps, but any further capabilities are unknown. The Panasonic WT600 details shown include that it will support DisplayPort 1.2 as well as 4K specific features like a web browser, media player, rendering engine and THX certification. The only disappointing part, as the post points out, is that there’s no sign yet of Panasonic’s sweet 4K OLED prototype which combines both of this year’s high-priced HDTV buzzwords in one lovely display. The HDMI licensing group has a press conference scheduled for IFA on Friday while Panasonic’s is Wednesday, so it shouldn’t be long before we hear more about both pieces of this puzzle, and how other manufacturers plan to react.
Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: AV Forums
In the days before the official start of the Berlin-based technology conference known as IFA 2013, Panasonic is aiming to stir up some excitement with word of a 20-inch 4K tablet. This device does not seem to be the sort of device that Panasonic will be releasing any time soon, acting as part of a […]
Remember how we’d heard that a British broadcaster is trialing 4K TV? We have a hunch as to which company that is: Sky now claims that it’s the first UK TV network to have conducted a live 4K broadcast. The firm captured a weekend Premier League match in ultra high resolution using the same infrastructure it normally requires for a live show, with satellites delivering a feed to the company’s Isleworth broadcast center. Commercial service remains distant, mind you — Sky requires both more research and wider adoption of 4K TVs to justify an upgrade. If everything falls into place, though, Sky could have an advantage over rival providers that have yet to venture beyond HD.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Sky
This is Acer’s new giganta-smartphone, the Liquid S2, and it’s sitting on a fairly impressive secret: it’s the world’s first phone to pack a 4K-capable video camera.
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As surely as there will be another round of tradeshows this fall and winter, companies like Samsung will be there with bigger and better tech to show off, which consists of new 4K displays this time around. At IFA 2013, Samsung plans to show off this 98-inch commercial Ultra HD “video wall”, as well as a 31.5-inch Ultra HD monitor. Samsung unveiled its 85-inch UHDTV at CES earlier this year it promised sizes would grow so we’re not surprised it’s combining slim-bezeled versions to create this massive screen headed to storefronts near you. There’s no picture yet for the 31.5-inch monitor and few details, but Samsung is ready to battle with competition from the likes of ASUS and Sharp with detailed color calibration adjustments and support for 99 percent of Adobe’s RGB space.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung
Source: Samsung Korea
It appears that Sony is about to finally put an end to the rampant Honami smartphone speculation on September 4th. It just released a teaser video showing various oblique angles of the camera-centric handset, rumored to be called the Xperia Z1. Previous reports pointed to a 21-megapixel sensor, 4K shooting capability, a Snapdragon 800 processor, and a 5-inch, 1080p display. The video after the break shows its apparent waterproof talents as well, so a September 4th launch would put an end to the all the leaking.
Filed under: Cellphones, Sony
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