Atomos has announced that the NEON 17” and NEON 24” HDR monitor-recorders will start shipping in November 2020.
If you recall, both of these monitors were announced way back at Cinegear 2019. Since that time Atomos has made a series of changes and improvements to the NEON range.
The NEON is available in two sizes, 17” and 24”. The 17″ is well suited for use by focus pullers, gaffers, wardrobe, and as a production monitor for mobile laptop edit systems. The 24” is better suited for use by video village, DIT, cinematographers, and as an affordable monitor for NLE and grading applications.
The NEON 31” and 55” which were originally announced may or may not still go ahead. According to Atomos, development is currently under investigation to see how they would fit into the changing workflows for on set virtual and remote productions.
Monitor Features
The NEON 17” and NEON 24” offer SDR & HDR monitoring as well as allowing you to record to Apple ProRes or Avid Dnx at up to 4k DCI 60p. All the screens are factory calibrated and they can also be user calibrated with the optional USB calibration cable and Xrite i1 Display Pro Plus.
The NEON 17” utilizes a Full HD 1920 x 1080 panel with, 10bit display processing. It also has 4K to HD scaling and an option for 1:1 display pixel mapping.
The NEON 24” features a 4K DCI resolution panel with true 10bit processing and HD/2K to 4K UHD /DCI upscaling that avoids interpolation methods.
Both NEON displays incorporate Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) backlight technology to deliver deep blacks at 1000Nits full-screen HDR peak brightness. They have a super-wide viewing angle of 180 degrees H/V, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1.
AtomHDR Engine
The AtomHDR engine provides selectable monitor modes that allow you to work in either SDR or HDR settings, that match both camera acquisition settings, or defined delivery standards including Rec.709, Rec.2100 HLG or ST.2084 PQ.
NEON provides native accurate color with DCI-P3 coverage with wide color gamuts, such as BT.2020. Built-in transforms allow for the conversion of LOG to HDR EOTFs for display on the NEON or down-stream to client monitors or you can utilize 3DLUTs for SDR, to monitor with a specified show LOOK or exposure print down.
Supported Input Gamma
- Sony: SLog / SLog2 / SLog3
- Canon: CLog / CLog2 / Clog3
- ARRI: Log CEI160 / LogCEI200 / LogCEI250 /LogCEI320 /LogCEI400 / LogCEI500 / LogCEI640 / LogCEI800/ LogCEI1000 / LogCEI1280 / LogCEI1600
- Panasonic: Vlog
- JVC: JLog1
- RED: RED Log3G10 / RED LogFilm
- FUJIFILM: F-log
- PQ10k
- HLG
Supported Input Gamut
- Sony: SGamut / SGamut3 / SGamut3.cine
- Canon Cinema: / DCI P3 / DCI P3+
- Nikon: NLog
- Panasonic: V Gamut
- ARRI: ALEXA Wide Gamut
- Rec. 709 / BT.2020
- JVC
- RED: WideGamut / DragonColor / DragonColor2 / Color2 / Color3 / Color4
Upgradable
The NEON platform features a modular concept that ensures the I/O of the monitor is both easy to maintain, replace, and ultimately upgrade without having to take the panel out of commission.
The Master Control Unit (MCU) is the brain of the NEON with support for HDMI 2.0 for both in and loop out, which provides support for video input at 4096 x 2160 4k DCI at up to 60p. The MCU firmware is easily upgradable and allows the upload and storage of up to 8 x 3D LUTs in its internal memory or can use a 2.5” HDD or SSD to store an unlimited library that can easily be uploaded to the NEON via the AtomOS APP on iOS.
The MCU offers a second level of connectivity via the Xpansion port and NEON includes the AtomX SDI module which provides 2 x 12G SDI. The configurable ports allow for input of up to 4k60p video with backward-compatible support for single or dual-link 1.5G/3G/6G SDI or the ability to toggle between A and B cameras. File naming is also supported for both RED and Arri cameras allow for easy off-board proxy recording with accurate time code and matched file names.
Control
The NEON has built-in LE Bluetooth that allows for remote operation via the AtomRemote OS for Apple iOS devices running version 12 or above. Development is underway to expand the control of NEON to other devices.
Recording & Playback
You can connect cameras or any video source via SDI. NEON supports up to 4K DCI 60p via 12G or Dual 6G or lower resolutions and frame rates via 1.5/3G SDI with up to 12 channels of embedded audio. Recordings can be played back and reviewed without needing to offload media or take the camera out of record mode.
HDMI signals without HDCP are supported up to 4K60p or HD 120fps with up to 8 channels of audio and detection of HDR info frame to automatically match the input signal type.
10bit 422 recordings are captured in either Apple ProRes or the Avid DNx Codec using Scene /Shot /Take file or RED/Arri file naming with metadata embedded in the file that can be utilized by your NLE or MAM system for asset orchestration.
NEON has been designed to connect via HDMI or SDI to you NLE or grading system I/O to provide 10bit baseband monitoring. According to Atomos, this is not affected by the computer OS or ICC profile.
Frame Guide and Anamorphic De-squeeze
Price & Availability
· NEON 17” – Available November 2020 3699 EUR / $3999 USD
· NEON 24” – Available November 2020 5999 EUR / $6499 USD
As a LIMITED-EDITION launch promotion NEON 17” and NEON 24” will be delivered in a custom-made HPRC flight case for the customer.
