Mediaforge Ltd

Blu-ray wins. HD is dead.

Blu-Ray and HD DVD long battled for the title of DVD's next generation, offering higher definition picture and more storage space than their predecessor. But the war is finally over. In the light of a recent decision by Toshiba to stop developing its line of HD DVDs, Blu-Ray has prevailed.

This fight was costly for the consumer. Millions of people will be left with obsolete hardware that will only be useful for playing DVDs, as Blu-Ray becomes the only format available. Consumers will have to rely on the goodwill of companies such as Circuit City that have offered to refund HD DVD players for a gift card. Unfortunately if you bought your state-of-the-art HD DVD player from Best Buy, you�re out of luck.

However, it seems that even those with Blu-Ray players may be out of luck. I personally never expect the need to use a Blu-Ray player. That format will never become as widespread as DVD has become in the last couple of years since it has a formidable new opponent. Blu-Ray's new fight won't be with another disc format, but rather digital high definition online downloads.

In the future it will be much easier to buy a movie online than it will be to buy a hard copy from the store. The Internet will be integrated into television sets and will allow for seamless transfer of movies from digital content providers to the screen. Blu-Ray will have an extremely difficult time competing with such a system. In fact, it�s only a matter of how long it will take digital downloads to be fully integrated into big screen television sets before Blu-Ray is out of the picture.

As soon as this full integration becomes a reality, Blu-Ray, and any other disc format for that matter, will become utterly obsolete. Why purchase a disc that needs a special player when you can get it instantly in front of you?

Apple iPhone Review

From the moment Apple announced its iPhone at Macworld 2007, the tech world hasn't stopped asking questions. Because Apple kept many iPhone details under wraps, we've been forced to speculate. Until now. Is the iPhone pretty? Absolutely. Is it easy to use? Certainly. Does it live up to the stratospheric hype? Not so much.

Don't get us wrong, the iPhone is a lovely device with a sleek interface, top-notch music and video features and innovative design touches. The touchscreen is easier to use than we expected and the multimedia performs well. But a host of missing features, a dependency on a sluggish EDGE network and variable call quality -- it is a phone after all -- left us wanting more. For those reasons, the iPhone is noteworthy for not what it does, but how it does it.

The 8GB iPhone has finally been launched in the UK, and will be available to buy here on 9 November. It will set you back �269 from the Apple Store or Carphone Warehouse. It's only available on the O2 network, on contracts costing �35, �45 or �55 per month.

Design

On with the review: the iPhone boasts a brilliant display, trim profile, and clean lines (no external antenna of course), and its lack of buttons puts it in a design class that even the LG Prada and the HTC Touch can't match. You'll win envious looks on the street toting the iPhone, and we're sure that would be true even if the phone hadn't received as much media attention as it has.

The iPhone is 12mm deep and weighs a slightly heavy 135g
We knew that it measures 115mm tall by 61mm wide by 12mm deep, but it still feels smaller than we expected when we finally held it. In comparison, it's about as tall and as wide as a Palm Treo 755p, but it manages to be thinner than even the hugely influential Motorola Razr. It fits comfortably in the hand and when held to the ear, and its 135g weight gives it a solid, if perhaps heavy, feel. We also like that the display is glass rather than plastic.

Display

The iPhone's display is the handset's design showpiece and is noteworthy for not only what it shows, but also how you use it. We'll start off with its design. At a generous 89mm (3.5 inches), the display takes full advantage of the phone's size, while its 480x320-pixel resolution (160 dots per inch) translates into brilliant colours, sharp graphics and fluid movements.

Menus

In true Apple style, the iPhone's menu interface is attractive, intuitive and easy to use. In the main menu, a series of coloured icons call out the main functions. Icons for the phone menu, the mail folder, the Safari Web browser and the iPod player sit at the bottom of the screen, while other features such as the camera, the calendar and the settings are displayed above. It's easy to find all features, and we like that essential features aren't buried under random menus.

Fluid animation takes you between different functions and you can zip between them quickly. Much has been made out of the iPhone's touchscreen, and rightfully so. Though the Apple handset is not the first phone to rely solely on a touchscreen, it is the first to get so much attention and come with so many expectations. Depending on what you're doing, the touchscreen serves as your number keypad, your keyboard, your Safari browser and your music and video player. Like many others, we were sceptical how effectively the touchscreen would handle all those functions.

Sony Vegas 7

Who said professional editing programs had to be difficult to learn? Beginners and advanced users alike take note: Sony's premier editing software offers a very easy learning curve while maintaining the integrity and power of a professional editing suite. Whether you're editing together a highlight video from last Christmas or producing a feature length movie in HDV, Sony Vegas 7 has the tools and stability to suit your needs.

First Look
Installation is fairly quick, and Vegas must be activated before use.

With installation complete, we quickly dove into the program. The main interface is slightly different from most other editing programs, namely the timeline is at the top of the screen with the media pool and preview window being at the bottom, However, the interface can be customized to emulate other editing programs such as Avid, Final Cut or Premiere. The preview window has several display modes from "Draft" to "Best" quality, allowing realtime playback even on slower machines. The video capture interface is intuitive and well laid out. Offering both basic and advanced capture modes, Vegas allows the user to quickly capture video with the touch of a button, or for more advanced users, the batch capture allows you to capture only selected areas from the source media.

Testing
We tested the program on a Dell XPS system with a 3.0GHz Dual Pentium Processor. The minimum requirements for the program call for at least an 800MHz processor and 256MB of RAM. Oh, and you should definitely have plenty of hard drive space available, but hopefully that goes without saying.After dropping our first video clip onto the timeline and performing a few quick edits, we quickly noticed how fast and smooth the program handles. Each video track contains a group of tools and controls including track automation, track effects and motion tracking. To customize even more, advanced users can quickly change the track properties, allowing for complex compositing or masking effects. Each individual clip also contains a set of controls that allow the user to make adjustments or add effects to a clip on a single timeline without affecting the other clips on the same timeline.

Composite level and velocity or speed control are both handled using an envelope, which is great for those of us who work visually.

Vegas 7 comes with fairly good- sized effects package, ranging from simple color correction tools to chroma key effects. The effects interface is very intuitive and offers the user full key framing capabilities to take full control over your video effects.

The audio track behaves similar to the video track with a few less controls to work with. Vegas allows the user to work in either stereo format or Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Again, Vegas comes with quite a collection of audio effects, from simple EQ control to delay and reverb effects that give your audio depth. One key feature worth mentioning is Vegas allows the user to record audio in real time, making voice over work or simply recording your own soundtrack very easy and convenient. So not only is Vegas a complete video editing program, with live recording ability and virtually unlimited tracks, it works quite well as a multi-track audio editor as well. What a bonus!

Editing in Vegas is surprisingly intuitive and quick. There are usually 2 or 3 different ways to get the same desired result, and I found myself trying things to see if it would work and being pleasantly surprised when it actually did. For instance, I thought pushing a video clip into the clip behind it should automatically create a cross dissolve and it does. What a concept. And pretty much everything is drag and droppable. Simple moves such as fade-in/fade-out's, trimming, track splitting, or even envelope editing don't even require a tool change. Vegas also offers its fair share of complex features such as project nesting, which allows you to take a previously edited project (a .veg file) and import it into your timeline. This is especially handy for large projects or instances where there may be more than one editor. Overall the editing capabilities and workability are as complex as they need to be and as simple as they should be.

Import Export
Vegas can import almost any file format, including MPEG, MP3, MP4, WMV, WAV and a whole list of others that I haven't even heard of, and it supports native HDV, SD/HD-SDI, and all XDCAM formats.

The exporting capabilities found in Vegas 7 are just as extensive. You can render your project to a wide variety of formats, including MPEG 1, 2 and 4, WMV, Quicktime, AVI and even WAV and MP3 for those audio-only projects. You can also render to MP4, allowing you to put video on your Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) or iPod Video. Other render options include print to tape, export to XDCAM disc, and you can even render your project to 24p.

The Final Word
Sony Vegas 7 will appeal to beginners as much as to professionals. The easy learning curve, intuitive design and high end capabilities make it the perfect application for anyone looking to start editing without the intimidation of having to learn a massive editing program. It's also ideal for those with editing experience looking to graduate to a more advanced application without the worry of outgrowing it in the future. Download the free 30-day trial version and check it out!

TECH SPECS
Trial Version Available: Yes, 30 days
Operating System: Windows XP
Minimum CPU: 800MHz
Minimum RAM: 256MB
Minimum Hard Drive Space for Installation: 200MB
Capture Formats: DV, HDV, built-in SDI support
Batch Capture: Yes
Automatic Scene Detection: Yes
User Interface: Yes
Number of Video Tracks: Unlimited
Number of Audio Tracks: Unlimited
Nesting Tracks: Yes
Audio/Video Level Envelopes: Yes
Audio Scrub: Yes
Keyframe Animation: Yes
Number of Video Transitions 201
Number of Video Filters: 319 + 65 third party
Background Rendering: No
Realtime Software Previews: Yes
Optimized for Dual Processor/HyperThreading: Yes
Third-party Plug-in Support: Yes
Encoding Formats AA3, AC3, AIF, ATRAC, AVI, MOV, MP3,,MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MP4, Sony MXF, GG,PCA, RM, W64, WAV, WMA, WMV
Batch Render: Yes, with Vegas script support
DVD Authoring Software Included: Yes, DVD Architect

STRENGTHS

Easy to learn
Intuitive
Comprehensive interface

WEAKNESSES

No background rendering

SUMMARY
Sony Vegas 7 is an easy to learn professional program with all of the capabilities of any other program in its class.

miniDV FAQ

I frequently find myself addressing a lot of DV tape questions. A lot of this material is based on my experience. A lot more is based on conversations and email exchanges I've had with Kenny Weideman, a consultant to Panasonic Digital Media and a former executive there.
A lot of this can be applied to VHS, SVHS, 8mm, Beta and other tape stocks. Just bear in mind I wrote it thinking about Metal Evaporated DV tapes.

Of course all the mistakes are mine. If you tell me about any mistakes and I can verify them I'll fix it.

HELP! My camera stopped recording and my viewfinder/LCD says "EJECT TAPE"

Your camera's tape drive has gotten a bit stuck. Most often if you simply eject the tape, and place it back in the mechanism it will work fine, at least for a while.

Camera's do not have very powerful engines relative to desktop recorders, sometimes they just get stuck. Most of the time this is not a real problem at all. If it only happens once in a blue moon, you should not worry too much about it.

So how can you avoid it ? One way around it is to take new tapes and fast forward, then rewind them completely before attempting to record on them. I do this in my desktop recorder routinely. This "loosens up" the tape just a bit, and I have never had a tape stick during recording if I did this.

So, why does it happen ? I only have a hypothesis: Most of the time this is the tapes fault...it has gotten a bit stuck to itself. That is why running it through forwards and backwards seems to work so well. It is mechanically unsticking the tape to/from itself.

Another common reason is that the tape is improperly tensioned. Usually it is simply wound too tightly. Fast forwarding and rewinding in your camera or tape deck will retension the tape.

What is a dropout?

A dropout is when your camera fails to record an image for a short period. The most common cause is the tape losing contact with the recording heads. This can be because of irregular tape shrinkage, poor tape tensioning (along the length of the tape most often, but sometimes across the height of the tape), excessive camera motion, poor tape storage practices or defects in the tape surface.

Most of the time dropouts look like an area of the screen that is black with random square or rectangular digital artifacts appearing all over the picture area. There is often a clicking or whistling sound, or a digital shirping that accompanies a visual dropout. It is possible to have either a video or audio dropout alone, but video dropouts are far more common.

Can you Mix brands/manufacturers of MiniDV/DV tape?

Yes and No. According to Mr. Weideman you can the issues have been resolved, but this is not my practical experience. The issue seems to be the formulation of tape lubricants. When Sony and Panasonic manufactured tapes are mixed the lubricants intermingle and become tacky. The result is that the tape mechanism will stop. (On a Canon XL-1 this is shown in the viewfinder by "Eject Tape" flashing in the viewfinder.)

The best advice seems to be to stick with tapes from the same brand. This includes continuing use of Head cleaning tape from the same manufacturer. The problem is that it is not always practical or desirable to use any particular brand of tapes. This is complicated by OEM arrangements, where one manufacturer allows another to repackage tapes under their brand. These arrangements are jealously guarded secrets.

Generally speaking, Panasonic Digital Media manufactures about 70% of DV media, Sony manufactures 25% and TDK manufactures 5%. These figures are approximate and of course subject to change. I know Maxell and Fuji have DV and DVCPRO tape brands, I would expect these manufacturers to enter the game very soon if they are not already as both have a history of providing media.

What I can find from direct experience of these OEM arrangements is that Panasonic makes Canon and JVC tape. Sony makes its own tape. TDK makes its own. I do not know who makes Fuji, Maxell or other tape brands.

Can I use LP and SP on the same tape?

Yes, with some cautions. If you are just re-recording over a tape recorded in LP with SP or vice versa in a single pass, then you have little to worry about. What you need to avoid is having a change in recording speed somewhere in the middle of your tape.Such a change will cause dropped frames and noise.

One way to help avoid this is to stripe, or record the black on the whole tape, with the tape speed you'd like to use next. Another good practice is to start recording a few seconds before what you want to capture. Either of these will likely do the trick, together they will assure a decent re-use of any tape in good condition.

What is striping ? Should I do it?

Striping is the recording an entire tape end to end with a "dummy" signal. The reason you do this is to create continuous timecode on your tapes. DV is very sensitive to timecode, especially NLE capture applications. Usually it is recommended that you stripe with either black or camera bars. This gives you a visual cue if your tape is discontinuous.

Generally, I recommend against striping. Most often it just causes unnecessary wear on your heads. However, if you plan on recording with lots of stops and starts with review of your video, it is worthwhile. This is primarily a precaution against the possibility of creating discontinuous timecode. In reality most camera's handle timecode rather well and will use timecode that is already on tape. If you are careful and rewind into material you do not need after reviewing you will be fine. Equally, you will be fine if you simply do not review your footage in the field.

If you do not have time for these cautions then by all means do stripe your tapes beforehand. I like to keep a couple of striped tapes on hand at all times for any unexpected situations. You never know what you'll encounter, especially if you are doing ENG work. Most often I simply use whatever virgin or low use stock I have around. (Virgin stock is brand new manufacturer sealed tape.)

How should DV tape be stored?

Under ordinary circumstances you can simply place the tapes on a shelf, much like a book, on its edge in its case with the spine label facing out. This is also the correct way to transport tapes, as it will minimize vibration. DO NOT store tapes near any magnetic fields. (i.e. Speakers, Electric motors, magnets, computer monitors, network hubs, audio or video cabling or anything else that can generate a magnetic field.) Short term exposure has few deleterious effects, but over time even a modest magnetic field can seriously degrade the tape.

When you store for an extended period you have to take more care. Panasonic Digital media recommends archival at 10-25° C at 40-60% Relative Humidity. Care should be taken to minimize temperature fluctuation over time and keep the storage area dust free. This will minimize expansion and contraction of the tapes base film.

If you are storing tape near an automatic fire extinguisher be certain that it uses a gaseous extinguishing agent. Liquid or powder extinguishers can potentially damage the tapes.

All tapes should be completely rewound before storage for any period of time. If you don't it can lead to uneven stretching of the tape. Tapes should be periodically (not less than every 3 years) fast forwarded and rewound completely. (You should do this for any tape you plan to re-record on that has been stored for any extended period of time.)

How often should I clean my DV VTR heads?

Technically this is recorder maintenance, but tape can in fact be irreparably damaged by dirty or faulty tape transport mechanism. According to Panasonic Digital Media, you should clean your tape heads regularly with a quality head cleaning tape. This should be done EVERY 50 HOURS OF RECORDING OR PLAYBACK. If you have a dusty operating environment or one with humidity or temperature issues this should be done as often as every 25 hours. This is particularly important for VTR's which operate in smoky or dusty environments.

Sony says that you should clean your tape heads with a cleaner ONLY WHEN THERE IS A VISIBLE PICTURE PROBLEM.

I think the truth is likely in between. For example, I have a JVC SR-VS10U which often is used for small to medium DV to VHS dub batches. I clean both transports between these jobs.

Follow the manual instructions for your VTR first and foremost if they differ from the instructions for your head cleaning tape. Make sure your brand of head cleaning tape is manufactured by the same company that makes the tapes you use everyday. (You do use the same brand of tapes all the time right?)

For convenience I have copied the instructions for: Sony DVM12CLD MiniDV Head Cleaner:

Insert the cleaning cassette into MiniDV video cassette recorder.
Press the PLAY button or the START button. After running the tape for 10 seconds, press the stop button. Remove the cassette cleaner without rewinding it. Check that the video heads have been cleaned properly by recording and playing back a normal MiniDV cassette. If the video quality has not returned to normal, repeat steps 1 and 3.
Do not use the cleaning cassette more than 5 times consecutively.

PRECAUTION

Do not rewind the cleaning cassette after each use. Rewind the tape completely, only after it has reached the end. The entire tape can be used twice before replacing with a new cleaning tape.
Do not use this cassette for recording.
If there is no effect even when you clean 4 times in a row, the problem may be something else, Please consult the store where you purchased your DV unit.
And instructions for: Panasonic AY-DVMCLA Professional DV Cleaning Cassette
The Panasonic AY-DVMCLA is a high performance cleaning cassette tape designed to clean heads in just 10 seconds.
Instructions:CAUTION - to avoid misuse and possible video head damage please read carefully. Do not use cleaning tape more often than necessary. Frequent use may cause head damage. This tape can not be used for recording and playback.
For cleaning only.
Prior to use, play another video tape to see that the problem dose not lie in the tape.
Also, make sure tracking control is properly adjusted.
Play the cleaning tape for 10 seconds only. Check result by playing a prerecorded tape.
If picture is still unclear, try again. DO NOT USE MORE THAN 4 CONSECUTIVE TIMES.
Do not rewind the tape after each use. When it reaches the end, rewind it to the beginning before using it again. The tape can only be used 2 times from beginning to end.
If video noise dose not clear up after use, service may be necessary.
Be sure to keep the cassette tape in the cassette case when not using it.
Additional advice from the Panasonic Digital Media Group: Make sure and leave a brief 10 second cool down period between use of the head cleaners. In practice eject and cassette loading take longer than this so it would be hard to break that rule, but there it is.

It is critical that you follow the maintenance schedule set out by your manufacturer for your equipment. Be certain to consult your equipment manual for details and schedules.

Is there a big difference in DV tape ?

NO. That said a small difference can be important over time. It also depends on your use. If you are an occasional user any DV tape you can get your hands on cheap will work nicely. If you are a professional, or if you otherwise go through a lot of tape, then you have a good reason for using higher grades of tape.

One of the issues is the tape mediums Signal to Noise Ratio. Sony and Panasonic make a consumer grade of tape and two pro grades. There is an improvement in each step of SNR. Sony has an advantage here, but it is difficult to compare. The difference will appear when you use the tape for a lot of rerecordings. That said, allow me to relate a personal anecdote:

I have recorded the entire Babylon 5 series from the Sci-Fi channel on DV. To do this I used 5 tapes in SP mode which I recorded the the airings on. I then edited onto other tapes. Each tape was used at least 20 times in its entirety. Some ahve been re-used in the interim for other projects on camcorders. There is no visually perceptible difference from the first virgin recordings for any given tape. None.
Another potential difference is the particle size on the tape. Even though these tapes are "Metal Evaporate" as opposed to "metal particle" that is just a description of how particles of metal are deposited onto the tapes. Both types of tape have metal particles on them, the ME ones are much finer. In the old 8mm days this affected the coercivity of the tape, or how easily they were coerced into a particular state. That matters less in the digital world. What remains is the wear a tape causes on the heads of your VTR.

Finer particles will cause lower head wear. It is exactly analogous to the grit of sandpaper or an emery board. Coarse large grains wear quickly, finer small grains wear slowly and more evenly.

Sony EX and PR tapes and Panasonic PQ tapes are roughly equivalent in this regard. Panasonic MQ tapes use a new process to create a very fine evaporate mist to coat tapes with called S-AME. If you run a lot of tapes, it will be to your advantage to use Panasonic MQ series tape. (This was previously named XB tape in North America.) Keep an eye out, I am certain Sony will answer with a similiar technical benefit, but not yet.

Another issue is tape run length, which can affect tape thickness. 63 minute and shorter tape is 7.0µm thick while 80 and 83 minute tape is 5.5µm thick. The thinner tape presents more of a flaking hazard to your equipment and stands a greater chance of wrinkling or otherwise deforming. It is considered somewhat less reliable. I have had only positive experience with it however. I do recommend the highest available quality of tape when using 83 minute cassettes. (I use Panasonic MQ & XB tape presently.)

Finally, different formulations of tapes have different coercivity and retentivity. Typically metal evaporate tapes, like MiniDV, have a high coercivity and poor retentivity. Pro grade DV tapes will usually have much higher retentivity than the consumer stuff.

What about DVCAM and DVCPRO tapes ? Both of these, to my knowledge, come in one formulation from each manufacturer. I believe DVCPRO tape is metal particle tape. It should only be used in DVCPRO equipment. DVCAM tape is roughly equivalent to master grade DV tape, and can be used in regular DV equipment. Just remember that a lot of these tapes come in the large shell sizes, whereas most consumer equipment can only use small shell. (hence the Mini in MiniDV)

What are SP/LP modes ? Do they change the quality of my recordings?

SP and LP refer to the speed with which the tape moves over the tape heads. SP moves the tape at 18.812mm/sec and LP moves it a 12.56mm/sec. LP can give you a longer recording time. SP makes your recordings more secure, because more tape has to be damaged to make your image irretrievable or unaesthetic. In short, you have a risk of higher dropouts in LP mode.

Both SP and LP record exactly the same signal and video information. They are of identical video quality in every regard.

Allow me to relate another anecdote:

In that Babylon 5 project I mentioned earlier, my final recordings were made onto Panasonic 33EB tapes in LP mode. I have over 100 tapes, each with one edited episode of Babylon 5. None of them, NOT ONE, has a dropout. Even after repeated viewings for some.
The above has led me to a hypothesis: slower tape speeds may in fact help eliminate dropouts on DV media. It goes without saying that this could easily be a statistical anomaly. I certainly do not have a sufficiently large sample size to draw concrete conclusions, but I do have dropouts on SP mode. How might this work ? The slower tape may have less difficulty remaining in contact with the heads despite motion, tape path faults or tape irregularities. Remember: This hypothesis is just that, and is in contradiction of standard video engineering wisdom. I have not proven anything yet and my observations could be a statistical anomaly, also known as "dumb luck." If you have an important event to record USE SP MODE.

There is one cautionary note: A lot of cameras and decks have trouble reading tapes recorded in LP modes on other recorders. This has to do with the extremely small size of the MiniDV tape and the specific pitch created by the heads and transport in LP mode. If you have to transport your tapes from one deck to another it is advised that you use only SP mode until you have had a chance to test the interchangeability of LP mode recordings on all your decks and cameras. If you only use one camera you should be OK. Just make sure to buy the next camera before the current unit breaks...so you can transfer your tapes to the new camera via firewire if need be to preserve your footage.

What is the chip for on some DV tapes? Do I need it?

The chip found on some MiniDV and DV tapes is for recording extra data items, such as index marks and titles. Only a few cameras use this feature, mostly from Sony. I am presently looking into a list of models that support use of the chip.

I do not use the feature myself, I use clear legible handwritten tape labels and separate paper tape logs for every tape. The chip does not offer as much flexibility for comments. There are a number of applications for the Palm pilot and PC's that can handle the data better, including some logging applications that can actually create an edit decision list.

I do not recommend making this chip feature a priority in tape purchase or camera selection.

What is the difference between Digital8 and MiniDV?

These are both DV25 formats. DV25 is the definition of the video signal and compression for DV and Digital8 cameras. It is analogous to using the same typewriter on slightly different paper.

There is no technical difference between what the recorder sections of Digital8 and MiniDV can do. They both record identically specified signals. They just do it onto different media. DV tape is designed for digital recording so it has some avantage. Nonetheless good quality Hi8 ME tapes produce excellent results.

The main drawback of Digital8 compared to MiniDV is not the tape or recorders, but rather the cameras to which they are attached. These are generally inferior to MiniDV cameras and lenses. Most Digital8 cameras are really low to mid-range Hi8 cameras designed for lower resolution and SNR recording. If you record the signals from a high end DV camera, like a Canon XL-1 you will see precisely the same results as the MiniDV recording produced on that camera.

How do DV, DVCAM and DVCPRO compare?

Again these are all DV25 formats, with the same result as above.

DV, DVCAM and DVCPRO all record exactly the same image. The difference again lies primarily in the camera sections. The situation is similiar to that of Digital8 vs. MiniDV. There are often much better cameras available for DVCAM and DVCPRO recorders to draw images from. The difference in camera quality is perhaps more dramatic. The images kind of run into a wall though where NTSC resolution and DV25 itself limits what the tape can record far more than even good DV cameras. (The Sony VX-2000 and the JVC GY-DV500 MiniDV cameras can deliver more lines, and have more pixels than NTSC screens offer.)

So why buy these formats? A lot of news programs need to do linear editing. DV and MiniDV do not stand up too well to all the jogging and shuttling done during linear editing. These formats can. These formats also have a longer theoretical shelf life.

DVCAM and DVCPRO both run their tapes faster with more robust error correction than DV. DVCAM runs at 28.193mm/sec. Unlike my experience with DV SP and LP mode, these formats definitely reduce dropouts and extend shelf life compared to DV SP mode.

What is DVD-RAM?

DVD-RAM (DVD-Random Access Memory) is a disc specification presented in 1996 by the DVD Forum, which specifies rewritable DVD-RAM media and the appropriate DVD writers. DVD-RAM media are used in computers as well as camcorders and personal video recorders since 1998.

The term DVD-RAM is a misnomer based on the false assumption that RAM means the opposite of ROM (Read Only Memory). However, RAM stands for Random Access Memory (computer chips) and DVD's can inherently not use the random access method.

Compared with other writeable DVDs, DVD-RAM is more closely related to hard disk technology, as it has concentric tracks instead of one long spiral track. Unlike the competing formats DVD R, DVD-R, DVD RW and DVD-RW, you do not need special DVD burning software to write or read DVD-RAMs on a computer. DVD-RAMs can be accessed like a usual floppy disk or hard drive.

Since the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin 2003 the specification is being marketed by the RAM Promotion Group (RAMPRG), built by Hitachi, Toshiba, Maxell, LG Electronics, Matsushita/Panasonic, Samsung and Teac. DVD-RAM is considered a highly reliable format, as the discs have built-in error control. It is a common misconception that DVD-RAM uses magneto-optical (MO) technologies: DVD-RAM is a pure phase change medium.

The specification separates between

* DVD-RAM 1.0
o Single-sided, one layer discs with a capacity of 2.58 GB
o Double-sided one layer discs with a capacity of 5.16 GB
* DVD-RAM 2.0
o Single-sided, one layer discs with a capacity of 4.7 GB
o Double-sided one layer discs with a capacity of 9.4 GB

Physically smaller DVD-RAM discs also exist with a capacity of 1.46 GB, but they are uncommon. DVD-RAMs were originally solely sold in cartridges; recent DVD recorders however also work with no-cartridge discs – some devices even do not support cartridges anymore. A cartridge disc is about 50% more expensive than a disc without cartridge.

Comparison

Currently there are three competing formats for rewritable DVDs: DVD-RAM, DVD RW and DVD-RW.
How to open DVD-RAM cartridge
How to open DVD-RAM cartridge

DVD-RAM is more suited to data backups and use in camcorders than DVD�RW.
[edit]

Advantages of DVD-RAM

* Long durability of minimum 30 years.
* Can be rewritten > 100,000 times (DVD�RW ca. 1,000 times).
* No DVD burning software required in computers – discs can be used and accessed like a removable hard disk; MS Windows requires a special DVDRAM driver or InCD program, although Windows XP can write to FAT32 formatted discs directly.
* Very fast access of smaller files on the disc.
* Automatic hardware verification of written data, no need to run a software verification after the burning finished
* The cartridges make it very handy (where applicable).
* In video recorders, DVD-RAM can be written to and watched (even separate programs) at the same time, much like TiVO.

Disadvantages of DVD-RAM

* Type 2 discs do not always come in a case.
* Most DVD recorders do not support DVD-RAM.
* The medium is more expensive than DVD�RW.
* DVD RW can be written faster than DVD-RAM when writing large amounts of data.

What's 3CCD?

The Canon GL2 has three CCDs, delivering outstanding picture quality, highly accurate color reproduction and a wide dynamic range with virtually no color noise. On top of that, Canon has improved a broadcast technology to create a new form of Pixel Shift, producing greater picture quality than that of camcorders using CCDs with almost twice the number of pixels.

Pixel Shift

In the GL2, Canon uses Pixel Shift, a signal processing method used in broadcast TV cameras, to exceed the overall picture quality achieved by camcorders using nearly twice as many pixels.

With the light coming into the camcorder split into three color components, each of the three CCDs then handles one of three primary colors: Red, Green and Blue. The green component of a video signal contains 60% of the picture detail, and the red and blue components only 40%. The green CCD in the GL2 is shifted the equivalent distance of 1/2 pixel from the red and blue CCD. The green signal is then sampled more frequently to extract the maximum picture detail from the video signal.

In addition to outstanding clarity and natural color, Pixel Shift provides wider dynamic range, reduced vertical smear from bright light sources and sharper still images.

Super High Resolution and Super Low Light

There are 410,000 pixels on each of the three CCD image sensors in the GL2. With the new Pixel Shift technology, the GL2 rivals the resolution of camcorders using CCDs with 680,000 pixels.

Reveiw :: Canon XH A1

Canon's XH series raises the camcorder price/performance bar again, providing the most HD pixels per dollar available. The cameras replicate the performance of the XL H1 chainsaw in a more traditional handheld package. The same 1/3-inch sensors used in the XL H1 nestle behind a fixed 20x zoom, providing 800+ TVl/ph resolution for HDV recording, yet the XH A1 weighs fewer than 5 pounds and costs only $4,000.

Design

The XH A1 is a fairly conventional handheld camcorder, yet it has a few unique touches. The lens barrel has three free-spinning servo rings: focus, zoom, and iris. The left rear body is a flat surface, providing the mounting for Canon's signature rotary function dial while allowing the rear bulge of the lens barrel to carry four operator-facing pushbuttons for important functions. A 2.8-inch flip-out LCD stores flat on the top of the body, rotating out and flipping up for viewing. The battery stows internally at the rear, just as in the Sony VX1000 that launched the DV revolution more than a decade ago.

The fixed 20x 4.5-90mm lens uses servo focus and zoom controls. Although there's still a rubbery feeling to the servos, the lens tracks control motions more predictably than on Canon's removable-lens cameras. Aft of the zoom ring, the servo iris ring encircling the barrel gives you accessible hands-on aperture control without fumbling for a tiny rocker or thumbwheel. The rings have no markings, but the viewfinder can display the status of each control.

A two-position ND filter is built into the lens, as is optical stabilization, auto-focus (including a separate Instant AF sensor), and Position Preset, allowing you to preset a single zoom or focus position and return to it with the push of a button.

The XH A1's rotary function selector lets you set full auto, shutter priority, aperture priority, full manual, spotlight, and night modes, as well as VCR mode and external control (see the "Console 1.1" sidebar). The control surrounds an LCD showing timecode, audio levels, battery level, and shooting mode (DV or HDV)-all of which can also be shown in the VF and LCD.

You use three slide switches to select auto or manual focus, gain, and white balance. A thumbwheel controls shutter speeds. Toggles let you select one of three programmable gain levels from -3dB to +36dB, camera or colorbars, and A/B/Preset white balance. A slide switch on the top panel changes the preset between tungsten and daylight settings or lets you use the thumbwheel to dial in color temperatures from 2800K to 12000K in 100K increments.

The rear of the lens barrel has four pushbuttons for display decluttering, peaking, focus magnification, and record review. As on the H1, peaking overrides zebra, while focus magnification enlarges the center of the image 2x both in the finders and on the camera's outputs, but is not usable while tape is rolling. Peaking combines with view-finder sharpness controls to give you enough peaking signal to be useful.

Two buttons are set aside for programmable functions. Another two buttons activate and select any of nine custom presets. A pushbutton opens the easy-to-navigate menus, while a rocker wheel at the rear of the camera runs through menu options.

The body-mounted handgrip has a small but usable zoom rocker. A slow zoom takes 55 seconds; the fastest takes 1.5 seconds. You can use the rocker in varispeed mode or pick one of 32 constant speeds. The single speed you choose applies to the carrying handle's zoom rocker even when the main rocker is on varispeed. The handgrip has both video and still-photo triggers: you can shoot stills to a memory card at resolutions from 640 x 480 to 1920 x 1080 even while tape is rolling. Stills can optionally capture all custom preset settings, making it easy to recall exactly how the camera was set up for a specific scene.

The carrying handle has a shock-mounted stereo mic built in, as well as a 3.5 mm plug-in mic socket. You can also select XLR audio: two inputs can be set for auto or manual gain, mic or line, and each input has its own 48 V phantom power and attenuator settings. The camera comes with a handle-mounted shock mount for a stick-type mic. This is an admirable selection of audio choices (I especially appreciate having built-in mics for grab �n' go situations), but I find myself wishing for the ability to set one channel for mic and the other for line level, or one for XLR input and the other for the built-in mic, or one channel for auto-gain and the other to manual. Two gain dials are best adjusted from the rear of the camera, by feel. If you look at them from the side, they rotate backwards-counterclockwise increases the gain.

The tape transport is a top loader, inside the handgrip. You need to press the elevator in and wait for it to descend before closing the door, or the door will catch the elevator and prevent it from closing. Tape transport controls are on the carrying handle, under a flip-up cover.

The battery slides in at the rear, behind a loading door. While Canon's batteries pop in and out easily, a third-party battery I had handy slid in smoothly but fit so tightly it refused to slide out. Five minutes of swinging the camera around at arm's length, plus careful application of gaffer tape, finally extracted it, so the story had a happy ending � just be mindful with slightly oversized batteries.

A BNC provides SD composite video output, while a rear panel covers a locking D-shell connector for analog component video, a 4-pin FireWire jack, headphones, LANC remote control, and a 4-conductor coaxial jack for a combined RCA composite video and dual RCA audio cable. There are no RCA connectors on the camera body, and there is no Y/C connection at all-SD is available on component or composite only. Although the XH A1 can output both HD and SD at the same time and it can letterbox SD output during playback, SD output is always full-screen anamorphic while shooting HD.

The VF and LCD are bright and sunlight-readable, though not overly detailed (250 to 300 TVl/ph resolution). Respon-siveness is better than the XL H1's LCD, which suffered from smear and lag. Either display can be toggled to B&W full time or when a focusing aid is engaged, and the comprehensive status displays can be pared down through the menus or eliminated at the press of a button. Status displays are also available on all analog outputs.

The XH G1 adds three BNCs: the professional Jackpack. The G1's HD-SDI output includes embedded timecode and audio. A genlock input and timecode I/O let the G1 play with the big boys in synchronized multi-camera shoots. The Jackpack adds an ounce to the weight and $3,000 to the cost, compared with the XH A1.

Performance and handling

The XH A1 is the size and weight of a Sony HVR-Z1-it's just a couple of ounces below 5 pounds when loaded with tape and battery. It's a well-balanced but heavy handful, so long-duration handheld takes are fatiguing unless you have supplemental support.

The XH A1's Instant AF uses a separate sensor alongside the lens. The sensor is likely to be blocked by any third-party lens shades or matte boxes, but normal through-the-lens AF can always be selected in the menus. When Instant AF is enabled, auto-focus takes less than a second to lock in, whereas normal auto-focus might take two or three times as long. In a couple of situations, Instant AF suddenly defocused the lens momentarily without any apparent cause (then it quickly and accurately refocused itself); switching to normal AF eliminated this problem. I don't know if this behavior is unique to the camera I tested or if it's a characteristic of Instant AF, but those using the momentary AF pushbutton instead of continuous AF are unlikely to see it in any event.

The unique placement of the flip-out LCD works well. When facing to the rear, it doesn't block visibility of or access to controls on the lens barrel. It can be flipped over and folded back nearly flush against the body for left-side operations, and can even be left upright and folded back for viewing from the right side, though if folded back all the way it will extinguish. Both VF and LCD show you 100 percent of the image vertically, cropping a few percent horizontally. You can display 80 percent and 90 percent safe-area markers, along with aspect ratio guides from 4:3 to 2.35:1.

There are different materials and textures on the three lens rings, though not very different-if you have time to explore them by feel you can tell them apart. I was concerned about the proximity of the iris ring to the zoom ring, but I never grabbed the iris by mistake. The iris adjusts extremely smoothly, making live exposure adjustments practical.

The XH A1 uses the same interlaced 1440 x 1080 CCDs with horizontal pixel shift as the XL H1. The high pixel count shows the XH A1 resolves 800+ TVl/ph. Test charts shot with the XH A1 look like the same charts shot with the XL H1; the cameras can be intercut with no apparent difference.

The XH A1's lens shows noticeable barrel distortion when fully wide, but beyond 6mm it's fairly rectilinear-and most other cameras in this market aren't much better. The maximum aperture of f/1.6 diminishes to f/3.2 as you zoom in, and there's a bit of portholing in the last 20 percent of the zoom range when fully open, but stop down to f/4 and neither issue will affect you. There's some red/green chromatic aberration when wide, as on the XL H1.

The Canon offers 24F and 30F modes in addition to 60i. F modes use the same vertical pixel shift as the XL-1's Frame Move Mode, running the green CCD a field out of phase with the red and blue CCDs. Aliasing sets in at 540 lines of vertical resolution, and fine vertical detail can show color moir�, but the image remains perceptually sharp, better than simple field-doubling would yield-if not quite as good as full-resolution progressive images. Image degradation is hardly noticeable on most real-world subjects, and most NLEs now handle 24F and 30F modes natively.

Sensitivity is comparable to other 1/3-inch HD camcorders, about 1.5 to 2 stops slower than 1/3-inch SD camcorders. Image noise is present but unobjection-able below 18 dB. The noise has a film-like grain to it, without excessive chroma noise. Usable dynamic range, measured with the Stouffer 41-step grayscale target, is on the order of 8.3 stops.

Shutter speeds range from 1/4 second to 1/15,000 second, plus clear scan.

Canon's HDV codec captures images with a minimum of nasty compression artifacts, but don't expect miracles-it's still a 25 Mb long-GOP HDV codec. I didn't see a huge difference in compression quality among the 24F, 30F, and 60i images.

The XH A1 also shoots DV25 in both 4:3 and 16:9 and can down-convert HDV to DV on playback, either full-raster or letterboxed. It can record incoming analog signals in SD, but not in HD.

Customizability

The XH A1 has a fully adjustable skin detail setting and a preset sky detail setting that reduces noise in clear blue skies (the camera is clean enough that sky noise is hardly noticeable on raw pictures, but aggressive color correction showed that sky detail makes a difference).

Nine separate custom presets let you tune the picture further. Two cine gammas flatten the overall transfer curve, bringing 100 percent picture levels in normal gamma down to 87 percent (Cine 1) and 82 percent (Cine 2). Black stretch and compress affect the tonal scale below roughly 40 percent. Low knee kicks in around 85 percent, and middle and high at 100 percent. High knee provides half the highlight that middle does. Auto knee varies between 80 percent and 100 percent depending on scene content, but can take 2 seconds to stabilize.

You can tweak sharpness over a broad range; pick low-, middle-, or high-detail frequencies (like the radius control in software sharpeners); change the H/V detail balance; and adjust detail coring to de-noise the sharpness signal.

The XH A1 has two noise-reduction methods. NR1 uses multiframe recursion; it works well but moving objects can leave a faint trail. NR2 works like a skin detail setting for the entire picture, but overuse of it erases fine textures. Both NR methods have three settings, so you can tune them to your liking.

You can choose any of three color matrices, and you can adjust chroma gain and phase. You can also tweak all nine color matrix elements individually for pinpoint color matching. On the XH A1, most color controls have 100 steps of adjustment; you can fine-tune very precisely, not just get into the ballpark.

If that's not enough, the XH A1 has a menu dedicated to customizing the viewfinder displays, letting you add, subtract, or adjust 21 separate classes of display info. A custom function menu gives you three setups for 20 different classes of function customization: the directions that rotary controls use, the length of time needed to activate certain pushbuttons, reference tone level, colorbar type, marker intensity, shockless white balance, maximum zoom speed, and more. You cannot use the menus to change the color of the camera body itself, but almost everything short of that is adjustable.

All of these customizations can be saved to SD cards and transferred to other cameras.

Conclusion

Admire the XL H1's performance, but not its form factor, weight, bulk, or cost? The XH series cameras may be what you've been waiting for. The XH cameras give up lens interchangeability but keep all the performance of the H1, and add finer control of picture parameters and more customizability. The XH A1 lacks the professional Jackpack, but costs less than half of the H1's price, while the G1 keeps the Jackpack and embeds audio and timecode in the SDI signal.

The cameras are a bit of a handful to handhold, and the servo lens controls still aren't as smooth or precise as I might like. The 24F and 30F modes degrade vertical resolution slightly. But these issues aside, the XH A1 resets expectations on what you should get for a $4,000 HDV handycam, while the G1 is the only handycam-style camcorder with HD-SDI. Canon's usual attention to control placement makes these cameras pleasurable to use while the crisply detailed pictures fulfill the promise of high definition.

HDTV Explained

Legend has it that the UK government faced a choice some years ago over what to do with the frequency spectrum allocated to TV, the older analogue transmission standards were not the most efficient and so allowed for much more data to be transmitted under digital standards, but which ones?

Well as is now obvious the UK went the route of multiplexes of digital services highly compressed at 5 - 3mbits MPEG2, giving us 30 channels on Freeview. But we could have also had a good number of high quality widescreen high bit rate channels or possibly even a few HDTV ones.

But just what is HDTV, how does it work and why would we want it anyway, we'll try to answer all of these in HDTV explained.

What is HDTV

The Analogue PAL transmission standard has served us well since the early days of BBC colour transmissions but the current 625 line system is hardly high resolution we are all used to much greater levels of detail in screen images, its more than likely that you are reading this article on a screen set to 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768. HDTV brings enhanced resolutions to the domestic TV set in two standards a vertical resolution of 720p and 1080i the P and I represent the canning method used P is progressive scan which scans every line of the screen once, the I is for interlaced the same as the PAL system where alternate lines are scanned on each frame.

Of course the entire transmission chain needs to be upgraded to cope with HDTV and its this huge investment that is holding back growth, from the cameras to professional VTR's the additional bandwidth of the HDTV signal requires new equipment this has only really been taken up so far by the Japanese broadcasters NHK in particular.

The encoders used for HDTV are complex compared to the DTV standards in use on for example the Bskyb platform, here a single encoder creates an MPEG2 transport stream of anywhere between 2.5 and 6 mbits but HDTV is far more bandwidth intensive requiring at least 15mbits possibly much more depending on the nature of the material encoded. The HDTV encoder is also increased in complexity using overlapping encoding whereby a number of encoders work together to encode the image, each encoders area to scan is overlapped to minimise artefacts around the boundaries.

What is the benefit to me?

All this extra bandwidth and image resolution brings you one big benefit better pictures in fact much better, having seen HDTV images during a recent test I can only compare it to the first time I tried to compare VHS with a DVD. Plus HDTV is widescreen as standard giving you the full cinematic experience on all images

How do I watch it?

Currently there are only 2 services available in mainland Europe both via satellite, HDTV screens are more similar to PC TFT screens in resolution so its more than likely that decoders will be provided allowing you to use you PC screen, however the refresh rates of these screens can be poor so the US model of specialist HDTV screens hitting the market is starting to be repeated in Europe. It is widely expected that these new screens will have in built HDTV tuners rather than outboard boxes, although Roku and a few other manufacturers have made outboard decoders. Of course Sony and other large electrical manufacturers have HDTV sets waiting in the wings for European consumers but it is predicted that Europe will be even slower than the sluggish USA to take up HDTV and without government incentives we could be waiting many years.

Broadcasters are starting to shoot material in HD, many films are now edited on HD as its cheaper than film in some instances, plus many live events are now being shot in HD and relayed to the USA and Japan for the HD enabled networks, so there is content available, perhaps not enough to make a good channel.

But with signals taking 4 times more bandwidth, equipment costing much more and very few European households able to watch HD signals its going to take a big push from someone with lots of cash to burn to bring HD into European homes anytime soon.

What is Blu-ray?

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This extra capacity combined with the use of advanced video and audio codecs will offer consumers an unprecedented HD experience.

While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD�R, DVD�RW, and DVD-RAM rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray. Despite the different type of lasers used, Blu-ray products can easily be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit. The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision. This allows data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD. This together with the change of numerical aperture to 0.85 is what enables Blu-ray Discs to hold 25GB/50GB.

Blu-ray is currently supported by more than 180 of the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer, recording media, video game and music companies. The format also has broad support from the major movie studios as a successor to today's DVD format. In fact, seven of the eight major movie studios (Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) are supporting the Blu-ray format and five of them (Disney, Fox, Sony, Lionsgate and MGM) are releasing their movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. Many studios have also announced that they will begin releasing new feature films on Blu-ray Disc day-and-date with DVD, as well as a continuous slate of catalog titles every month. For more information about Blu-ray movies, check out our Blu-ray movies section which offers information about new and upcoming Blu-ray releases, as well as what movies are currently available in the Blu-ray format.

Sony's Naff CD's

Sony has said it will suspend the production of music CDs with anti-piracy technology which can leave computers vulnerable to viruses.

The move came after security firms said hackers were exploiting the software to hide their creations.

The software has been used by viruses to evade detection by anti-virus programs and infect computers.

Sony said it had a right to stop people illegally copying music, but added that the halt was precautionary.

"We also intend to re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative to be sure that it continues to meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use," the company said in a statement.

Viral trio

In late October Sony BMG was found to be using stealth techniques to hide software that stopped some of its CDs being illegally copied.

Windows programming expert Mark Russinovich discovered that the Sony XCP copy protection system was a so-called "root-kit" that hid itself deep inside the Windows operating system.

XCP uses these techniques to install a proprietary media player that allows PC users to play music on the 20 CDs Sony BMG is protecting with this system. The CDs affected are only being sold in the US.

Soon after Mr Russinovich exposed how XCP worked security experts speculated that it would be easy to hijack the anti-piracy system to hide viruses.

Now anti-virus companies have discovered three malicious programs that use XCP's stealthy capabilities if they find it installed on a compromised PC.

Backdoor virus

Security firm Sophos said it had found a virus attached to a spam message posing as an e-mail from a British business magazine. The subject line of the message is: "Photo Approval Deadline".

Those opening and running the program attached to the mail will have their computer infected with the Stinx-E trojan. The virus is also known as Breplibot and Ryknos.

CD being put in PC, BBC
Sony was trying to stop illegal copying of its CDs
This virus opens a backdoor into infected machines and tries to download more malicious code from the net to further compromise an infected machine.

A bug in the code of the first variant of this virus prevented it working properly but now other versions of the malicious program are appearing that fix this problem.

So far the numbers of people caught out by the virus is thought to be very low.

Graham Cluley from Sophos said he expected other virus writers to start exploiting the Sony XCP code.

Sony apologised, saying it was working with computer security firms to address the problems.

The news came as more legal challenges to Sony's use of the anti-piracy program were being launched.

At last count six class-action lawsuits have been started against the company.

As the Boycott Sony blog pointed out, the appearance of these viruses could make it much easier for lawyers to argue that the XCP software can cause real harm to a user's computer.

What's DVCAM?

Tape Resources - MINI DV vs DVCAM, Tape Cleaner, DV Head Cleaning, Care and Handling

DVCAM - Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME).
Unlike Metal Particle (MP) tape, AME uses pure cobalt, undiluted by nickel. Unlike MP, AME uses an ultra-fine grain of metal that's vapor-deposited in a vacuum chamber! And unlike previous Metal Evaporated tape, AME protects the magnetic grain with Sony's super-hard Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) layer. The result is a breakthrough in recording density, retentivity and carrier-to-noise ratio.

AME is a key enabling technology behind the DVCAM system. And it's a key factor in the DVCAM success story We're pleased to see that demand for DVCAM media is booming. So we're aggressively adding capacity to our AME production lines. In the same way, we're adding new DVCAM tape models. And that's the subject of this TechPort.
With Sony's latest DVCAM tape product introductions

You'll have more options than ever before. You'll be able to record on DVCAM tape with and without cassette memory. That's in addition to exchanging tapes between consumer DV and professional DVCAM equipment. And you have an entire range of Cassette Memory functions in consumer entry-level professional and high-end pro equipment.

While choice is an undeniably good thing, it can get confusing if you're not paying close attention. That's why we'll review your DVCAM media options. We'll cover when to use which media What to expect in compatibility. And what Cassette Memory functions work on which pieces of Sony hardware.

DVCAM - An expanded line
Sony is responding to customer demand for a more affordable alternative that does not sacrifice picture quality. We're also accommodating the latest DVCAM hardware, models which do not include the cassette-memory-dependent ClipLink feature. So starting in November 97, Sony will be offering DVCAM tape that does not include Cassette Memory. The result is an extended line of 14 DVCAM models.

DVCAM - Cassette Memory and Its Uses
The proliferation of DV and DVCAM models means a growing range of applications for Cassette Memory. Consumer-grade machines can store date and photo data, which do not make intensive use of Cassette Memory. That's consistent with the 4 kbit memory Sony builds into IC-equipped consumer tape. Entry-level professional machines also make moderate demands on the memory chip. However, a key feature of Sony's top DVCAM models is ClipLink operation, which makes full use of the 16 kbit memory of Sony's IC-equipped DVCAM tapes.

DVCAM vs miniDV

Tape Resources - MINI DV vs DVCAM, Tape Cleaner, DV Head Cleaning, Care and Handling

Differences between DVCPRO, DVCAM, miniDV and DV

Mini DV, DV are a consumer format that a number of manufacturers agreed on to become the next consumer standard. It has been so good a format that many professionals, and semi-professionals have begun using it. The format uses ME tape. Standard lengths are 30, 60 and 80min for the miniDV and 120, 180 (and some 270min) for the DV. There are also two speeds in DV and miniDV, so a 80min mini can provide 120min of recording.(Low quality)

At the same time, Sony & Panasonic brought out their professional versions, named DVCAM and DVCPRO. Sony's professional DVCAM format, although similar to miniDV, runs 50% faster. So, its longest tape in the mini size is 40min. There is a 184min DVCAM tape, which will run 270 minutes in a DV machine! Recognition holes in the tape tell the machine what tape you have loaded. In addition the professional format of DVCPRO and DVCAM have locked audio.

Panasonic's DVCPRO runs at a faster speed than the Sony DVCAM, but its main difference is the use of MP tape as opposed to ME. Panasonic, inventors of miniDV and the ME tape, did not think the tape robust enough for professional use and chose to go with MP tape. The physical cassette size for DVCPRO is also larger than miniDV for the shorter lengths... a kind of a 'medium' size. Long lengths use the same size as DV. MiniDV can be used in a DVCPRO deck, but only with an adapter, and only for playback. (SB)

Sony Vegas 6 +DVD

Last year Vegas 5 introduced a range of fun editing tools that beefed up its capabilities for video compositing. Vegas 6 takes a more sober tone to be taken seriously as a professional editing platform.

Top billing on Sony's list of new features is comprehensive high-definition video (HDV) support. Vegas was already capable of working with HDV, but version 6 adds the ability to capture directly from Sony and JVC HDV cameras via FireWire. We weren't able to test this, but Vegas handled HD file import, editing and export without problems. The only caveat is the inevitable extra processor load that HD video incurs. At least Vegas's preview quality settings allow the user to find their preferred balance of quality, resolution and frame rate while editing.

Vegas 6 also adds support for Blackmagic DeckLink cards, which provide SDI connections commonly used in professional editing environments for uncompressed digital video transfers. This allows Vegas to be used with professional video cameras and integrate with larger editing suites. Support for AAF files gives compatibility with Avid.

Despite such high aspirations, enthusiasts and business users haven't been forgotten. External monitor previews extend to dual computer monitor setups: one shows Vegas's interface and the other a full-screen preview. This is ideal for working with HD progressive scan video, but those working with interlaced DV footage can use it too, thanks to its new de-interlace option.

Other new features make Vegas faster to use than ever. The moving of objects on the timeline is accompanied by a time readout in seconds and frames, which comes in particularly useful when setting transition lengths. A Synchronise function provides a simple fix for when video and audio sync is lost. Nested sequencing is something Adobe Premiere users have enjoyed for some time, but now you can import Vegas project (.veg) files directly on to the timeline and treat them like any other clip. This is perfect for bringing together different parts of a large project without having to render them first.

VST audio plug-ins are now supported and effects can be applied per audio clip rather than per track. This ties up the loose ends from the last version, giving you an unbeatable set of audio tools. The Media Manager, which first appeared in Sony Acid Pro 5, turns up here to keep tabs on your library of video, audio and image files, although you'll have to invest some time into adding tags to files before it's particularly useful.

Vegas 6 is available by itself for £300 including VAT, but the +DVD Production Suite also includes a surround Dolby Digital encoder, a couple of useful effects plug-ins and DVD Architect, now at version 3. Like Vegas, this has been improved for professional use and includes support for dual-layer discs and DLT tape drives. Flags can be set for Context Scrambling System (CSS) and Macrovision encryption at a duplication facility, but Vegas can't perform CSS encryption itself.

Playlists are supported, but using a DVD player's Previous and Next chapter controls can upset their playback. However, the ability to lock certain remote control buttons provides a workaround. Multiple video angles are supported, and menu themes can be created from specially formatted Photoshop .psd files.

DVD Architect 3 has received a serious injection of power, and its ease of use confirms it as our favourite DVD-authoring package. Existing users who don't need HDV and SDI may not be able to justify the upgrade price of $294 (around £154) for +DVD; they're high prices to pay for workflow improvements, although DVD Architect's new features are more tangible. But for new users, Vegas's sublime interface and lower price give it the edge over Adobe's Premiere.

JVC challenges MiniDV

ONE of the most enduring technologies I know has to be the MiniDV tape. Introduced in 1995, the MiniDV tape has become immensely popular with consumers, quickly replacing the old VHS and High-8 tapes used for home videos. Several times smaller than the obsolete VHS tape, the MiniDV tape provides high-quality digital recording for just $6 or $7 for each one-hour tape.

But, as usual, technology won't sit still. This year, we have seen a few camcorders trying to replace the MiniDV tape with smaller and more robust storage media.

Take for example Panasonic's D-Snap series which uses the popular Secure Digital (SD) card.

While super-small and as light as 120g, the D-Snaps are hampered by the lack of super high-capacity SD memory cards.

For the D-Snap, you need a 3GB or bigger SD card to store one hour of DVD-quality video. But 1GB is currently the biggest capacity you can find at local shops.

ENTER THE MICRODRIVE... AGAIN

JVC has launched its challenge on MiniDV tapes by using another medium - the CompactFlash Microdrive, which is a tiny but high-capacity hard disk.

This is the same rugged Microdrive being used in MP3 players like the iPod Mini and Creative's Muvo series.

With a 4GB Microdrive bundled in the box, JVC's new Everio line of ultra-compact digital camcorders can now record one full hour of DVD-quality video. In a kiasu move, the Everio also allows you to slot in an SD card.

There are two versions of the Everio - the GZ-MC200 which is held horizontally but has a swivelling lens, and the upright GZ-MC100.

Both sport a 10x optical zoom lens, the ability to take two-megapixel stills and record just audio.

Obviously, by not using tapes, the Everio offers you great convenience and portability.

With the Microdrive, I could view any recorded clip immediately on the LCD, since there is no need to rewind any tape. You can also protect clips from being deleted accidentally.

Best of all, I could copy all the recorded video directly into my computer in less than 10 minutes.

With MiniDV tapes, one needs to wait one hour for the entire tape to be captured to the hard disk, and you need to use a cumbersome FireWire cable.

The Everio video files use some strange MOD file format, instead of the more popular AVI or MPG formats that most video-editing programs use.

JVC bundles a Cyberlink software package that can read these files and help you create DVDs, but MOD files cannot be opened with more popular software like Adobe Premiere Elements.

I tried renaming MOD to MPG and, voila, it works.

CRISP RESULTS

Overall, I was satisfied with the Everio's still photo quality (nice warm colours and good exposure) and the audio recordings, which are very clear.

However, as a camcorder, its good performance was marred by some quirks.

The video quality is generally excellent, with the highest quality setting producing crisp images with good contrast.

But there is a little bit more pixelation than a MiniDV tape and the Everio cannot cope well with poor lighting. In fact, the colours get completely washed out in certain dark indoor scenes.

INCONSISTANT WHITE BALANCE

In better lighting (say, more than one flourescent tube switched on), the colour reproduction in scenes is very good, but you must use manual settings like Daylight or Cloudy.

I say this because the Auto white-balance setting is inconsistent, often producing bluish images even when shooting outdoors.

You can do manual white-balance, but I never did because, like all camcorder-toting parents, I was too busy running after my son.

Speaking about kids, the Everio takes too long to start up. Taking at least seven seconds to start recording, it is difficult to catch the kid when he suddenly does something funny.

I also realised I could not take a still photo while shooting video.

If I sound too harsh on the Everio, it is because I am simply used to the high standards set by the latest MiniDV camcorders.

Nevertheless, for a first-generation product, the Everio is a milestone in the consumer camcorder market.

The JVC Everio MC100 is $1,899 and the MC200 is $1,999.

JVC Ditch the Tape

Ever since MiniDV camcorders were released, I've wondered to myself how long it would be before someone like Sony released a camcorder that recorded to an internal hard drive, instead of old-school tape. You can make the tape as small as you want, but it's still tape.

Surprisingly, JVC is the one making the leap into the 21st Century, with their Everio line of camcorders with internal hard drives instead of digital cassette tape. It's worth noting that JVC has done this once before, but used a 4GB CompactFlash form-factor MicroDrive, hardly a unique move. Now they're using larger disks, finally giving the world (and us) a reason to take notice.

These second-generation Everio units feature either a 20GB or 30GB hard disk (likely the same drive included in Apple’s iPod), and record MPEG2 video (DVD quality) directly to the hard drive, 4.5 hours for the 20GB unit, and 7 hours for the 30GB. Rudimentary editing features allow random access to the stored video (including setting chapters, rearranging footage, etc), and remote playback lets you attach the camcorder to a TV and operate it like a DVD player.

The two higher-end units (MG40 and MG50) have 1.33 MegaPixel CCD sensors, allowing you to take digital photos in JPEG format at up to 1152 x 864. The lower end units (MG20 and MG30) are limited to 640x480. Photos can be stored on a separate SD memory card, or logically on the internal hard drive.

Oddly, such a high-tech camcorder lacks a FireWire interface, opting for USB2. It does, however, support PictBridge, so you can print those tiny photos on any photo printer supporting the PictBridge interface.

The Everio line will launch in August, with the MG20 (0.3 MP, 20GB) coming in at $800, and the MG50 (1.3 MP, 30GB) coming in at $1000. The MG30 (1.3MP, 20GB) and the MG40 (0.3MP, 30GB) will each be $900, letting you choose whether storage space or the sensor resolution is more important to you. I’m betting that by September, someone will have cracked open one of these bad boys and have tried sticking a larger drive in it.