Sony DXC-D55 Series, DXC-D55P, DXC-D55WSP, DXC-D55PH, DXC-D55PL Brochure & Specs

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DXC-D55 Series

Digital Video Cameras

14-BIT FULL-DIGITAL PRODUCTION CAMERA

Offers Top-quality SDTV Video Production Opportunities

T

HE SONY DXC SERIES Standard Definition
(SD) digital production camera has been

widely accepted by thousands of video
professionals, around the world, thanks to its
excellent picture performance, system versatility
and value. Sony are now proud to introduce
the new DXC-D55 Series. To further enhance
the DXC portfolio, this uses the latest 14-bit A/D
conversion circuitry as well as the field-proven
2/3-inch type Power HAD™EX CCDs.

The DXC Series consists of two cameras:
the DXC-D55P 4:3 model and the DXC-D55WSP
16:9/4:3 switchable model. Both models
incorporate three 2/3-inch type Power HAD

™

EX CCDs and the latest 14-bit A/D conversion
circuitry. These key devices deliver excellent
sensitivity together with reduced smear and noise.
In addition to superb picture quality, these
cameras offer extremely precise and flexible
image controls such as highlight, contrast and
detail control, thanks to the sophisticated DSP
LSI with more than 30 bits accuracy.

Another important characteristic of the Sony
DXC-D55 Series is the system flexibility.
Two types of camera control unit are available –
the CCU-D50P for multi-core operation and
the CCU-TX50P for triax operation. Furthermore,
the RCP-D50/D51 Remote Control Unit is also
available for the series.

With class-leading SD picture quality, operational
convenience and system flexibility, the Sony
DXC-D55 Series brings new opportunities for higher­quality, more creative productions to a wider range
of video professionals at an affordable price.

FEATURES

Excellent Picture Quality

Advanced Digital Signal Processing
(ADSP)

A key indicator of quality in a digital
camera is how many bits are used in its
nonlinear processes, such as gamma
correction. The DXC-D55 Series has more
than 30 bits, thus minimising rounding
errors and maintaining the high-quality
images captured by the Power HAD EX
CCDs. This advanced digital signal pro­cessing (ADSP) also enables highly
sophisticated image controls, such as
knee saturation, adaptive highlight control
and skin-tone detail controls.

Power HAD EX
CCD Imager

DSP

Pre Knee

A/D

14-bit A to D
Converter

Advanced Digital
Signal Processor

To a Camera
Adaptor

Three-chip 2/3-inch Type Power HAD
EX CCDs

The DXC-D55 Series is equipped with the
field-proven three-chip 2/3-inch type
Power HAD EX CCDs, offering high hori­zontal resolutions of 920* TV lines. These
high-performance CCDs also provide
excellent sensitivity of F11 (at 2000 lux,
3200K), a remarkable signal-to-noise ratio
of 63 dB and extremely low smear level
of -145 dB (typical).

* On DXC-D55P model

14-bit A/D Conversion

The Sony DXC-D55/D55WS incorporates
a high-quality14-bit A/D conversion circuit
that allows images captured by the Power
HAD EX CCDs to be processed with four
times the precision than 12-bit A/D con­verters. In particular, this higher resolution
reproduces the contrast more faithfully
in mid-to-dark-tone areas of the picture.
In addition, the 14-bit accuracy helps
to eliminate pre-knee signal compression
at highlight areas, and allows the camera
to clearly reproduce a high-luminance
subject.

Power HAD EX CCDs

12-bit 14-bit

High-performance Digital Signal Processing

High-integrity 14-bit A/D Conversion

Knee Saturation Control On

Knee Saturation Control Off

Knee Saturation Control

Shooting objects with very bright areas,
such as key-light reflections from a per­son's forehead, can reduce colour satura­tion and change the hue in the highlight
areas. The knee saturation control function
incorporated in the DXC-D55 Series effec­tively reduces this ‘washed-out’ effect
and reproduces far more natural colour in
highlight areas.

Creative Versatility

Low Key Saturation

With conventional cameras, low-light
areas can be subject to reduced satura­tion, resulting in the colour in these areas
being lost. The low-key saturation function
incorporated in the DXC-D55 Series helps
eliminate this problem by optimising the
amplification of colour saturation at low
light levels, providing more natural colour
reproduction.

Skin-Tone Detail Control

The skin-tone detail control function in the
DXC-D55 Series allows softening of the
skin-tone detail in the facial area, while
maintaining the sharpness of other parts
of the picture. The skin-tone detail area
can be selected simply and quickly, using
an area-detect cursor in the viewfinder
screen. The colour range for skin-tone
detail, and the skin-detail level, can also
be selected manually, using the viewfinder
menu system.

Skin-Tone Detail Control On

Low Key Saturation OnLow Key Saturation Off

Skin-Tone Detail Control Off

Adaptive Highlight Control On

Adaptive Highlight Control Off

Knee point n

Auto Slope

White Clip

Input Signal Level

Output Signal Level

Knee point 3
Knee point 2
Knee point 1
Knee point 0

Knee Curve Image

Adaptive Highlight Control

The DXC-D55 Series offers outstanding
over-exposure control by applying
multiple knee-points/slopes to handle
highlight areas in a progressive manner.
By analysing the highlight areas of a
scene, the camera automatically sets and
optimises multiple knee points/slopes
accordingly. This enables the reproduction
of extremely difficult scenes (for example,
an interior scene with a bright illuminant
such as sunlight in the background) with
much more over-exposure latitude. The
adaptive highlight control applies only to
input video level in excess of the knee
point; the middle and low-luminance parts
of the video signal are unaffected by this
control.