Atomos has developed Sumo, a device for monitoring and recording High Dynamic Range (HDR) which can also perform live HD switching. The unit features a 19-inch LCD panel with 1200 nits of brightness and is able to map the HDR output of most cameras to assist on-set monitoring or in post for editing and grading. They characterize contrast as “10.2 stops”, which if I did my math correctly, is about 54,000:1.
For recording, it can record 4K 12bit Raw, 10bit ProRes/DNxHR, plus it can switch and mix a live record and stream or record four HD 1080/60 recordings using HDMI 2.0 or 3G QuadLink/6G/12G SDI connections. Atomos says it’s the first production/studio monitor to combine this set of HDR, 4K data and live switching capabilities.
Sumo captures the RAW output from cameras including the Sony FS5/FS7/FS700, Canon C300MKII and C500 or Panasonic Varicam LT. The appliance weighs 6.2kg (13.7lb) and has full size XLR connections to connect plus external microphones for analogue audio. There’s also a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and built-in speakers for on set review or complete internal recording review.
Atomos Sumo is the first to allow HDR, SDR and live switching
On set, the device can be sued to monitor and record HDR content from a camera and for playback of proxies and dailies. In the studio, it can be used as an HDR grading monitor. It can accept HDR signals in PQ, Log or HLG formats.
The monitor can support focus peaking, 2:1/1:1 zoom, Zebra, False Color, Frame guides, SMPTE Safe Area, Waveform, RGB parade, Vectorscope, Anamorphic desqueeze and a flexible 3D LUT implementation to upload your own LUTs as .cube files. Sumo’s calibration input lets you use X-Rite’s i1DisplayPro to always ensure accurate HDR and Rec709 monitoring. The unit does not support the DCI-P3 color gamut, which will be an issue for color grading of HDR content.
Sumo is a pretty unique and remarkable device. It will be released in the third quarter of this year priced around $2,500. – CC
