"The Barber of Seville", the first opera to be shot with Sony's 4K high dynamic range technology

The Roman production company DBW Communication has acquired Sony's new 4K capture and recording systems: four HDC-4300 cameras and two PWS-4400 servers.

After recording the first real 4K HDR test at the 2015 Italian Cup final between Juventus and Lazio, Sony and DBW Communication They have achieved another important technological first, this time in the context of opera music.

Gioacchino Rossini's masterpiece, the opera buffa The Barber of Seville, is already the first opera in the world to be recorded in the 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR) format. The production was performed last July at the Teatro Regio in Turin, one of the largest and most historic operas in Italy and one of the most important in the world. To shoot, Sony PMW-F55 cameras were used in live mode, located at eight filming locations and equipped with 4K Prime lenses, the same ones used by director Jacques Audiard in his most recent film Dheepan, which won the Palme d'Or at the last Cannes Film Festival.

Always up to date with the latest technologies for the audiovisual sector, DBW Communication has also recently purchased four new Sony HDC-4300 system cameras with the first native 2/3" (3-chip) 4K image sensors. DBW can now count on an inventory of 14 4K machines, which can be used in live mode thanks to the CA-4000 4K system adapter with fibre transmission and the BPU-4000 baseband processor unit. DBW has also purchased two Sony PWS-4400 servers, the flagship product of the new generation of 4K/HD live production solutions, which offer the ability to record images in HFR and HDR.

By reproducing a wider dynamic range of brightness levels, HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology intensifies contrast and accentuates images down to the subtlest tones, from detailed shadows and blacks to the brightest whites and colors. HDR images, therefore, offer viewers the opportunity to enjoy more vivid tones, attention to detail, and penetrating points of light with unprecedented depth and definition.

For opera in particular, HDR technology allows content producers to work with the maximum potential in terms of linguistic and aesthetic functions, thus improving all aspects of the scene, such as lighting, scenery and costumes.

Recording an opera in HDR involves giving viewers the opportunity to experience total immersion in what they are seeing, as if they were part of the scene. Sony is developing HDR content support for its entire product portfolio to give viewers the opportunity to experience full immersion with any content.

Stefano Rebechi, CEO of DBW Communication, admits to being very satisfied with "this new production, which we have created in collaboration with RAI Com".

Stefano Rebechi, CEO of DBW Communication, said: "After filming the first sporting event which was the 2015 Italian Cup final in HDR, the production of The Barber of Seville is another important world first for DBW Communication.

Finally, Benito Manlio Mari from Sony Professional Europe, highlights that "the possibility of capturing images, even beyond the spectrum of the human eye, with excellent levels of brightness and colour information opens a new frontier in the artistic field to new possibilities of expression".

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