BURBANK, CALIF.—As Senior Colorist for Roundabout Entertainment, a full-service post-production facility that works on both blockbusters and OTT programming, HDR and 4K are the expectation. Our team uses the best tools to provide the high-quality work and standards our customers expect.
For my fellow colorists and colleagues in quality control, the tools that allow us to stay up to date on the latest technology include Sony’s flagship BVM-X300 30-inch 4K OLED master monitor, which combines 4K resolution, HDR and wide color gamut. In addition, as Sony’s lineup of monitors has expanded, so has Roundabout’s adoption. We recently updated to Sony’s PVM-X550, and it has already exceeded our expectations.
THE HDR ADVANTAGE
Roundabout uses Sony’s BVM-X300 to QC all of our Amazon deliverables, in addition to use on restoration projects and for finishing features. As HDR has become an integral part of our workflow, we have had to adopt different standards to produce new deliverables, in a new color space. Our clients like the aesthetic HDR offers, including its depth and brighter, more vivid colors.
While theaters have embraced the technology, HDR is still being slowly adopted by consumers in their homes. This requires us to make deliverables in Rec 709 for home viewing and P3 for the cinema experience. In most instances viewers will see the P3 for features in theaters and the Rec 709 at home on TV shows, as HDR becomes more mainstream.
Roundabout Entertainment uses the Sony BVMX300 monitor for TV and feature films.WIDE RANGE OF SUPPORT
With the Sony BVM-X300 monitor, we finally have something that supports color-critical work through a combination of the latest technologies and provides a number of beneficial features at a reasonable price point. As we navigate this new terrain, we appreciate the flexibility the BVM-X300 offers us in all of these instances. We know the X300 can meet any client need.
The monitor does 4K and 2K as well. It does HD and P3, XYZ and 709. It covers all the color spaces and it is “no LUT,” so it gets really black. That’s something you don’t get from a plasma or LCD monitor. The true blacks produced by the X300 are essential for color-critical grading. Most facilities use plasmas for grading, but unless you are using them in dynamic mode, you cannot get the brightness required for 709 grading.
Currently we use our BVM-X300 on its own, but we like that it can work alongside the several Sony PVM-X550 55-inch 4K OLED client monitors already in use in our facility for grading in 709. One allows us to show HDR and the other offers a large size, for easy client viewing.
Overall, we want to meet our client’s demands and offer options that meet their standards. The BVM-X300 allows us to do this, while also allowing us to future-proof the pieces we are working on. While viewers may not necessarily see the brightness of HDR in their home just yet, it will soon become the standard expectation and we have already prepared the content for when that day comes.
Michael Smolin is a senior colorist for Roundabout Entertainment. With more than a decade of experience in the post-production. He can be contacted atmikes@roundabout.com.
For more information, please visitpro.sony.comor call 212-833-6800.
