Sony Announces XDCAM with IntraFrame Encoding
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- June 5, 2014
New HD Camera gets smaller but still packs an HD punch
By James DeRuvo (doddleNEWS)
While the world is consumed with the promise of ultra high definition, Sony refuses to abandon its HD prosumer market. And they’ve just announced another XDCAM which still uses three sensors and can record HD with intra-frame encoding. What’s the story? Does Sony know something we don’t?
This advanced (PXW-X160) camcorder has been created to satisfy the needs of broadcasters, production houses and corporate and event productions, with performance and features that are ideally suited for news, documentaries, events, and more. – Sony Press Release
Designed for electronic news gathering and corporate video, the PXW-X160 is very similar to the PXW-X180, except that Sony has taken out all the wireless features, including GPS, in order to make the camera more affordable to lower budget operations. The X160 comes with three 1/3″ Exmor CMOS sensors which can record in XAVC H.264 at up to 112 Mbit/s, with 4:2:2 10 bit color thanks to the intraframe encoding.? It can also encode using Long-GOP at sample rates of up to 50/35 and 25 Mbit/second.
Other features include:
- 25x Optical Zoom G Lens with a 26mm wide angle focal length.? This lens gives the X160 the 35mm equivalent of 26-600mm, more than plenty to be shooting ENG work out in the field. And with independent manual zoom and focus rings, shooters can adjust their aperture settings on the fly without affecting the overall focal length or focus.
- XAVC recording with MXF formatting through H.264 and full HD at 1920?1080 with 4:2:2 10-bit with Intra-frame compression at 112 Mbps, or high-efficiency Long-GOP compression at 50/35/25 Mbps.
- Support for SxS, XQD and SD memory cards, plus Sony’s Memory stick. The X160 has two SxS card slots, but with an adapter, can use lower cost XQD or SD cards.
- Variable ND Filter. Sony’s new Neutral density filter is the first to offer continuous adjustment from 1/4-1/28 ND through an electonic simple dial operation.? It also sports a conventinal dual ND filter control mechanisism with a standard four position switch.
- 3.5 type LCD Panel and .5 type OLED Viewfinder. The QHD LCD panel provides a resolution of 960 x 540 x RGB, 16:9, as well as an OLED Viewfinder at 1024 x 768 x RGB, 3:4. And it offers no color breakup.
- Multi-interface shoe. The X160 can support a variety of accessories through the Multi-Interface (MI) shoe, which offers cmoplete control of lights and audio connections, and can provide phantom power as well.
And Sony has refined the Intra-frame compression to the point that they can use 100Mbit recording to equal ProRes at 220MBit/s. This will give users a near lossless quality image and should mean that this particular HD camera will have legs for some time to come. And since it’s recording in XAVC, I can’t help but wonder if it’ll eventually get upgraded down the road.
So, why a new, fixed-lens XDCAM HD camcorder? With 4K, DSLRs, cinema cameras, and more available, why would Sony release this type of camera, made popular in the 2000s? TV news stations, corporate video shooters, and event videographers can use this camera for run-and-gun scenarios, and with long recording times, there is no need to swap lenses or data cards.
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Press Release:
Sony reinforces successful XDCAM Line- up with new affordable PXW-X160 camcorder
Newest 1/3" 3CMOS Solid-State Memory addition to the XDCAM Series ideally suited for news, documentary and events work
Basingstoke, June 3rd, 2014: Sony has today launched the PXW-X160, the latest addition to the Sony XDCAM Series of professional camcorders. The PXW-X160 features three 1/3" Full HD Exmor? CMOS sensors and a newly developed 25x optical zoom G-Lens that extends from a 26mm wide angle. It can record in XAVC Intra and Long GOP, enabling 10-bit sampling for high-definition recordings with rich tonal expression, as well as MPEG HD422 at 50 Mbps, a format widely preferred by today's broadcasters and production houses. It can also record in MPEG HD420 at 35 Mbps, AVCHD and DV formats.
This advanced camcorder has been created to satisfy the needs of broadcasters, production houses and corporate and event productions, with performance and features that are ideally suited for news, documentaries, events, and more. The PXW-X160 is a follow-up to the currently popular Sony HXR-NX5E and PMW-150, and is expected to become a strong performer in the field. The PXW-X160 differs from the previously announced PXW-X180 in the omission of features such as wireless functionality, NFC, and GPS, effectively lowering the price point while maintaining the same high level of performance.
"Our XDCAM Line-up just keeps getting better: this latest addition brings all the latest key Sony features at an affordable price to users around the world" said Bill Drummond, Strategic Marketing Manager, Entry Level Production at Sony.
Main features of the PXW-X160
1. Newly developed 25x optical zoom G Lens with 26 mm wide angle
This new lens delivers uncompromised Sony G Lens quality and a 26 mm angle of view at the wide end of its 25x zoom range (35 mm equivalent: 26 mm to 650 mm). That's more than enough range for a wide variety of shooting situations. Independent manual zoom and focus rings with end-stop and iris control are provided, and a slide mechanism on the focus ring enables easy switching between auto and manual focusing.
2. Innovative Sony image sensor, image processor, and lens achieve outstanding image quality
Sony's? Exmor 3CMOS Sensor system provides independent 1/3" CMOS image sensors for the red, blue, and green colour channels, each with 2.07 effective megapixels (16:9). The result is high resolution and sensitivity that contribute to superior colour reproduction. ?An advanced image processor that features sophisticated noise reduction and distortion compensation is instrumental in delivering superb detail and texture reproduction, with image quality settings rivalling high-end broadcast camcorders.
3. Compatible with XAVC and a range of other recording formats
In addition to XAVC Intra/Long GOP, the PXW-X160 can record in MPEG2, AVCHD, and DV format. The MXF file format is used for XAVC recording, efficiently compressing full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution using the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec. Image sampling is 4:2:2 10-bit with Intra-frame compression at 112 Mbps, or high-efficiency Long-GOP compression at 50/35/25 Mbps.
4. Support for SxS, XQD, and SD memory cards plus Memory Stick
To provide compatibility with a variety of workflows, the PXW
