A Closer Look at The Atomos Sumo 19″ HDR Monitor

May 5^th, 2017

by Nic DivischekMay 5^th, 2017

The new Atomos Sumo was introduced right at the start of NAB 2017, so we couldn’t wait to head over to their booth to talk to them about this 19″ High-Dynamic Range Monitor-Recorder packed with incredible features.

Atomos Sumo

NAB 2017 saw an incredible amount of great innovative technologies and Atomos, the renowned company for on-board monitor-recorders, has sure left filmmakers drooling. As the name would state, the Atomos Sumo is an upsized new monitor of a staggering 19″ packed with all the great features from all previous Atomos monitor-recorders.

Atomos recognized that, while most current cameras are already able to film high-dynamic range in Log or RAW, it is the viewing panels that still needed to accommodate it. To create an HDR end-to-end workflow, they took a step toward the film industry, bringing out an incredibly affordable monitor-recorder. In a previous announcement article I listed some of the great features that can be found in the Atomos Sumo.

Atomos Sumo Tech Specs

The Atomos Sumo has a 19” 1920×1080 10-bit LCD panel with 1200nit brightness. It is based on the same architecture as the Atomos Inferno, with 4K60fps, Quadlink and HDMI 2.0, but more is built under the hood. The AtomHDR engine “maps the Log/PQ/HLG from popular cameras, game consoles or TV makers to perfectly resolve 10+ stops of HDR in real time”. The calibration on the Sumo lets you use the i1DisplayPro from X-Rite to always ensure accurate HDR and Rec709 monitoring.

It features a VESA mount and an included stand for a variety of mounting configurations, and an optional mounting plate allows you to connect either two V-Lock or Anton Bauer batteries. The Sumo also features a continuous power system that allows for hot-swapping batteries on the go without any power interruption. The two 12v 4-pin connectors are a nice touch to make the Sumo an all-rounder on set.

Recording

The Sumo can capture 12-bit 4K30p as CDNG or 10-bit Apple ProRes / Avid DNxHR up to 4K60p / 2K240p Raw using the SDI outputs from the Sony FS5/FS7/FS700, Canon C300MKII/C500 or Panasonic Varicam LT. As with previous models, Atomos are sticking with the widely available 2.5″ SSDs that provide an affordable solution for long recording times if you are shooting 4K. If you are shooting HD, a regular 2.5″ hard drive will do. Atomos has partnered with companies such as G-Technology to bring out an off-the-shelf solution called the Angelbird Drive.

Live-Switching

The Atomos Sumo will be able to incorporate live-switching, a nice feature found in the Convergent Design Apollo. You will be able to switch and mix a live record up to four HD ISO recordings using the QuadLink SDI connections, as well as switch between feeds on screen with cueing, cross fade and hard cuts from the locked sources, or tag and adjust final edits with advanced metadata tagging preserving ISO feeds. This means that the final result is still editable afterwards too. Please note that this feature will become available with a future firmware update.

Sumo Connections

The 3G QuadLink/6G/12G SDI connections on the Atomos Sumo allow you to connect cameras with multiple 1.5 or 3G SDI outputs without the need for converters, while its HDMI 2.0 connectors support up to 4K60p input/output along with the open protocol that supports HDR automation, including importing of camera settings. There is also support for Genlock and LTC timecode.

Balanced XLR Monitor with 48V Phantom Power

Now this is pretty cool. Sumo has full-size XLR connections to connect external microphones, and includes 48V phantom power to supply to them. Dedicated meters and adjustments for frame delay and gain, as well as a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and built-in speakers, complete the package for a true all-in-one recorder.

We have been told that the 19” Atomos Sumo will launch in the third quarter of 2017 for approximately US$2,500.

Are you excited about the new Atomos Sumo? Please let us know in the comments below.