Sony’s new all-in-one Multi Camera Live Producer offers high-end performance and easy operation

Sony today announced the release of its latest Multi Camera Live Producer. The MCX-500 offers the performance and technical heritage associated with Sony’s market leading AV solutions, but at an affordable price. This makes it an ideal all-in-one switcher for use with multiple camcorders, perfect for corporate and education, wedding or house of worship productions. The MCX-500 will be demonstrated for the first time at the BIRTV show in Beijing from 24-27 August at booth 8B01 and booth 2A243.

The MCX-500 includes a wide-range of functionality along with an easy-to-use interface, to give operators the flexibility to easily cover different types of productions. “Whatever the scale of a live production we know that users want broadcast performance,” said Peter Kyriakos, Head of Marketing, Sony Professional Solutions MEA. “The MCX-500 is designed for those applications where the system needs to be affordable and easy-to-use, but without compromising on flexibility or quality.”

The MCX-500 is a 4 channel video switcher that offers users the option to select from 9 inputs, including 4x 3G-SDI, 2x HDMI and 2x CVBS. An extra RGB input is available for title overlays. A wide range of video cameras can be connected to the MCX-500, for example professional camcorders such as XDCAMs or NXCAMs, and consumer video cameras. Other features include both PinP and Keyer overlay functions, a range of transition effects, and 4 channel video and 5 channel audio inputs including XLR and embedded audio from SDI or HDMI, for maximum versatility. The MCX-500 also includes premium features taken from Sony’s flagship broadcast video switcher- the MVS series, such as its broadcast-quality chroma key algorithm.

Critically, the MCX-500 has also been designed to adapt to multiple workflows. The all-in-one switcher is able to record live images (PGM) with AVCHD formats and without an external recorder, enabling users to edit or distribute the video recording as soon as recording has finished. Furthermore, a “USTREAMTM” integration has been built-in so that users can easily broadcast recordings from live events, over the internet. There is also the option to use a remote control GUI from an external PC or tablet, which is ideal for live recording with a small number of people.

The MCX-500 has been developed to make multi-camera operation as simple as possible, especially when it is connected to Sony’s RM-30BP Remote Controller and some of Sony’s range of pro camcorders. We call this combination, “Simple Live Solution”, which allows recording control to be synchronised for multiple camcorders*, such as the HXR-NX5R, making it easy to manage independent recording centrally. A PGM/PVW tally signal can be sent from the MCX-500 to the connected camcorders, notifying the operators with which image is selected for live output*.