They are back in a big way with a set of three new recorders they are calling the PIX-E series. While all of them are capable of 4K recording (4K up to 24fps and UHD up to 30fps), there are some slight differences between them. The most obvious difference is that the PIX-E5 and PIX-E5H have 5" 1080p screens while the PIX-E7 has a 7" 1920 x 1200 screen. The latter two, the E5H and E7, are essentially identical except for the screens. The lower-end E5 is HDMI-only, otherwise it has most of the same features as the other two recorders. While all three are touch-screens, they also have hard buttons so you can use whichever method works best for the specific task.

Here is a brief rundown of the recorders:


The 4K-compatible PIX-E Series are the first on-camera monitors to offer the full range of Apple ProRes codecs including the highest quality Apple ProRes 4444 XQ*. This is a 12-bit codec designed to preserve the detail in wide dynamic range imagery captured by today's high performance digital image sensors.

PIX-E can record 4K up to 24 fps, UHD up to 30 fps and 1080p or 720p up to 60 fps.

* Available only on the PIX-E5 and PIX-E7 models.

And some of the basic features:

  • Waveform Monitor
  • Vectorscope
  • Histogram
  • TapZoom™
  • Peaking
  • Zebras
  • False Color
  • Frame Markers
  • Four Way View
  • LUTs

Here's how TapZoom works:

Here are some looks at the PIX-E7 (you can see more photos of the others over on their site):

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More on the drives for the PIX-E series:

Sound_devices_pix-e-slotted-speeddrive

The PIX-E records to the affordable, super fast SpeedDrive, an industry standard mSATA drive contained within a custom-designed enclosure. The SpeedDrive, which plugs directly into the PIX-E, doubles as a USB 3.0 thumb drive for very high speed offload to any computer without the need for a special cable or drive docking station.

Two SpeedDrive options are available, a 240 GB SpeedDrive and an Enclosure-Only version that allows the user to choose and easily fit any size of mSATA drive. mSATA drives are available in sizes ranging from 128 GB to 1 TB.

To see how they all compare, check out the spec chart below:

Sound_devices_pix-e_series_specs_1

Sound_devices_pix-e_series_specs_2

Sound_devices_pix-e_series_specs_3

We don't know pricing information yet, but I imagine that will be revealed at NAB, or shortly after. With the capabilities these have, I don't expect them to be inexpensive, especially considering the previous on-camera monitor/recorder from Sound Devices retailed for over $3,000. Either way, they look relatively rugged, so hopefully price-wise they come in somewhere in the realm of competing recorders like the Atomos Shogun and the Convergent Design 7Q series. 

Check out the link here for more info.

Source: Sound Devices