Sony 4K 3-chip 2/3'' Studio Cam announced - HDC-4300 at DVinfo.net

Jack Zhang · April 12th, 2015, 04:09 PM

Sony UK product page: HDC-4300 (HDC4300) : Specifications : United Kingdom : Sony Professional

Sony UK Press Release: http://www.sony.co.uk/pro/press/pr-s...p=scl-cc-11241

I'm sorry, but is that a Carbon Fiber body? Hold the phone!

I'm surprised that they got a 4K prism working on 2/3'' with 3 sensors. Also, 480fps 1080p with a software upgrade!

Sander Vreuls · April 12th, 2015, 04:33 PM

I wonder about the sensor resolution, if they do it like Grass Valley and Hitachi are currently doing, the sensors are probably only a bit above HD or even just HD.

The main reason to keep the sensor resolution down would be to still have proper sensitivity and dynamic range which would both be worse if you made the pixel count a lot bigger.
The sensitivity quoted (F8) is quite a bit lower than the normal CMOS sensors they have such as on the PMW-400 (F13) so they may have gone for an intermediate pixel size sensor or maybe even 4k..

They do say "The HDC-4300’s real 4K imagers capture at four times the resolution of HD" but you never know about marketing...

Jack Zhang · April 12th, 2015, 04:55 PM

Well, the high speed mode would be impossible on a 1080p pixel shifted sensor, so I believe them when they say they've made a 3840x2160 sensor.

Edit: Found the gotcha. It is sold as a HD camera with 4K available to buy or rent as a software option. 480fps is also going to be a separate rental/purchase. Sony's adopted Convergent Design's licensing practices...

Steve Struthers · April 18th, 2015, 08:28 AM

4K in a studio camera is nice, but mostly moot since current network TV infrastructure isn't yet ready to handle the high bandwidth that 4K broadcasts require.

Typical viewers won't notice much of a difference in a 4K image that's been downsampled to 1080p. The colours might be brighter, deeper and a little more varied and nuanced, and the image might appear a bit sharper, but that's about it.

Jack Zhang · April 18th, 2015, 08:46 AM

It's not being sold as a 4K camera. It's being sold as a high speed 1080p camera with a higher speed tier and 4K as separate software upgrades.

It's backwards compatible with current HD CCUs so it is both that and future proofed.

Panasonic's though is 4K straight up with a different system. While you do get 4K straight up, it's not certain if that is backwards compatible.

April 12th, 2015, 04:09 PM	#1
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Sony 4K 3-chip 2/3'' Studio Cam announced - HDC-4300 Sony UK product page: HDC-4300 (HDC4300) : Specifications : United Kingdom : Sony Professional Sony UK Press Release: http://www.sony.co.uk/pro/press/pr-s...p=scl-cc-11241 I'm sorry, but is that a Carbon Fiber body? Hold the phone! I'm surprised that they got a 4K prism working on 2/3'' with 3 sensors. Also, 480fps 1080p with a software upgrade! Last edited by Jack Zhang; April 12th, 2015 at 05:18 PM.

April 12th, 2015, 04:33 PM	#2
Sander Vreuls Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Hilversum, The Netherlands Posts: 184	Re: Sony 4K 2/3'' Studio Cam announced - HDC-4300 I wonder about the sensor resolution, if they do it like Grass Valley and Hitachi are currently doing, the sensors are probably only a bit above HD or even just HD. The main reason to keep the sensor resolution down would be to still have proper sensitivity and dynamic range which would both be worse if you made the pixel count a lot bigger. The sensitivity quoted (F8) is quite a bit lower than the normal CMOS sensors they have such as on the PMW-400 (F13) so they may have gone for an intermediate pixel size sensor or maybe even 4k.. They do say "The HDC-4300’s real 4K imagers capture at four times the resolution of HD" but you never know about marketing...

April 12th, 2015, 04:55 PM	#3
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: Sony 4K 3-chip 2/3'' Studio Cam announced - HDC-4300 Well, the high speed mode would be impossible on a 1080p pixel shifted sensor, so I believe them when they say they've made a 3840x2160 sensor. Edit: Found the gotcha. It is sold as a HD camera with 4K available to buy or rent as a software option. 480fps is also going to be a separate rental/purchase. Sony's adopted Convergent Design's licensing practices...

April 18th, 2015, 08:28 AM	#4
Steve Struthers Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 170	Re: Sony 4K 3-chip 2/3'' Studio Cam announced - HDC-4300 4K in a studio camera is nice, but mostly moot since current network TV infrastructure isn't yet ready to handle the high bandwidth that 4K broadcasts require. Typical viewers won't notice much of a difference in a 4K image that's been downsampled to 1080p. The colours might be brighter, deeper and a little more varied and nuanced, and the image might appear a bit sharper, but that's about it.

April 18th, 2015, 08:46 AM	#5
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: Sony 4K 3-chip 2/3'' Studio Cam announced - HDC-4300 It's not being sold as a 4K camera. It's being sold as a high speed 1080p camera with a higher speed tier and 4K as separate software upgrades. It's backwards compatible with current HD CCUs so it is both that and future proofed. Panasonic's though is 4K straight up with a different system. While you do get 4K straight up, it's not certain if that is backwards compatible.