NAB Shoot

THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT THREE YEARS OF RECESSION has taken its toll onthe video industry — and those of us who cover it. Nevertheless,the camera manufacturers announced several exciting new products attheir pre-NAB press conferences. Interestingly, two announcements wereof new HD camcorders — one more than $115,000 and one less than$4,000.

JVC’s JY-HD10

JVC's pro division announced that in May it will beginshipping the JY-HD10, a single-chip handheld HD camcorderselling for less than $4,000. The new JY-HD10 is essentially the sameas the GR-HD1, an under-$3,500 HD camcorder from JVC's consumerdivision. (See “Is DV Dead?” page 19, February 2003Video Systems.) The JY-HD10 adds a dual XLR adapter (integratedinto the handle) with a mount for a shotgun mic.

Both camcorders feature an all-glass, 10X (f=5.2mm-52mm), F1.8-F1.9zoom lens with an optical image stabilizer. And both employ a single1/3in., 1.18 megapixel CCD. Three recording modes are supported:4:3/true 16:9 NTSC (480i) DV; 16:9 SDTV (480p60) MPEG-2; and 16:9 HDTV(720p30) MPEG-2. In MPEG-2 modes, the JY-HD10 uses a short, six-frameGOP. JVC set MPEG-2 image data rate to 18.6Mbps to provide maximumimage quality. The total program data rate recorded to tape is19Mbps.

A YPrPb cable supplies analog component output. You can select tooutput 480i/480p/720p; 480p and 720p30 upconverted to 1080i; ordownconvert all to 480i. A 1394 connector outputs and inputs eitherDV25 or MPEG-2-TS data.

JVC provides four Windows XP applications with the camcorders.I.LINK I/O Utility can read MPEG-2 data to disk files. The utility canalso be used to write MPEG-2-TS productions to the camcorder or to anyD-VHS deck. Audio Utility converts Windows audio formats to and fromMPEG-1 Audio Layer-2 audio files. MPEG Edit Studio Pro 1.0 LE providesframe-accurate nonlinear editing of SD and HD MPEG-2 files. Titles,simple effects, video inserts, and audio inserts can be added to yourproduction. Edit Studio Pro generates MPEG-2-TS files that can beopened by the i.LINK I/O Utility. Edit Studio also generates MPEG-2-PSfiles for use by ImageMixer DVD. ImageMixer DVD authors DVD productionsand burns them to disc.

JVC introduced its GY-DV5000U in November 2002. Theprofessional camcorder employs three 1/2in. CCDs with micro-lenses andspatial offset that offer more than 800 lines of horizontal resolution.It features 12-bit analog-to-digital conversion and 24-bit digitalsignal processing.

The GY-DV5000U has an open architecture that enables modularcomponents to be attached to its 52-pin data bus. At NAB 2003, JVC willshow the DR-DV5000, which records the DV signal onto a removable2.5in. hard disk. An 80GB hard drive will deliver over six hours ofdigital recording time. The DR-DV5000 can be pre-configured to recordin the native file format of most NLEs. Once field shooting iscomplete, the hard disk can be “plugged” directly into theNLE, making the footage instantly available.

JVC also introduced the KA-DV5000U MPEG-4 pack. TheKA-DV5000U features “Scene Capture” that automaticallystores a scene log — containing an MPEG-4 video clip plus thestart and end timecode of each recorded scene — onto a CF memorycard. The MPEG-4 clips can then be viewed and managed on a personalcomputer. MPEG-4 clips can be emailed to a client or arranged into anEDL. The KA-DV5000U has a built-in unicast server for webstreaming.

Panasonic announced that the AJ-SDX900, introduced atNAB 2002, will ship in May. The SDX900 offers 4:2:2-sampled DVCPRO50 or4:1:1-sampled DVCPRO recording, in native 16:9 wide-screen or 4:3aspect ratios. The AJ-SDX900 also supports 480/24p acquisition, inaddition to 480/30p and 480/60i capture.

Panasonic also announced the availability of the AJ-YAD955GIEEE 1394 interface card. The YAD955G permits the transfer of 50MbpsDVCPRO50 and 25Mbps DVCPRO, DVCAM, and DV video when used with theAJ-SDC930 and AJ-SD955A DVCPRO50 decks. The AJ-YAD955G interface willbe available in April 2003 at $1,500.

At the last NAB Panasonic and Apple released a joint press releasethat announced, “We are thrilled to be working with Panasonic tobring FireWire technology to their DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO HD decks.”Therefore we can hope both codecs will be included in version 4 ofFinal Cut Pro. The AJ-YAD955G's usefulness depends, of course, on thissupport.

For introduction at NAB 2003, Panasonic unveiled theAG-DVC80, a three-CCD DV Proline camcorder. Essentially, it is a60i-only version of the AG-DVX100 24p/30p/60i camcorder. Several of the“film” DSP functions have also been removed. The AG-DVC80will be available in June at $3,295.

Panasonic also announced the AJ-DX225 deck that supports playand record of DV Proline and DVCPRO format cassettes at two timesnormal speed with an “appropriately equipped IEEE 1394-basedpersonal computer.” Unfortunately, you will not have such a PCuntil 1394 drivers are rewritten to support a 2X faster transfer.Although it's not clear when this will be accomplished, I do expect thelong-awaited FCP 24p support for the DVX100 will be announced by Appleat NAB.

Sony announced it will show at NAB both a new recordingmedium and a new digital format. The optical media consists of a 12cm(5in.) rewritable disc in a protective cartridge. Blue laser technologyfor recording and playback allows much higher recording capacity andbandwidth than possible from red laser. The optical system will offerthe choice of recording video with the DVCAM codec at 25Mbps or theMPEG-2 IMX codec at 30, 40, or 50Mbps. A single disc holds 90 minutesof DVCAM material — or 45 minutes of MPEG IMX material recordedat 50Mbps, 55 minutes at 40Mbps, and 75 minutes at 30Mbps.

The new optical system records both a high-resolution original and aframe-accurate, low-resolution MPEG-4 proxy version. Using the opticalcamcorder itself, you'll be able to mark “good” shots usinga picture-stamp storyboard displayed on the camcorder's LCD monitor andthen play them back seamlessly. From the camcorder, users will be ableto transfer the proxy information to laptop editors or back to thestudio at up to 30X realtime.

Sony's two new optical camcorders capture images with three 2/3in.EX HAD image sensors and 12-bit analog-to-digital converters. Featuresinclude loop/interval recording using a built-in cache memory. Furtherinformation on these camcorders will be released at NAB.

Sony was clear that optical recording would be used with future HDcamcorders. And Sony representatives did not discount a consumer HDcamcorder based on 8cm blue-laser optical media. Optical-disc HDcamcorders offer a great cost advantage for the consumer because asingle product functions as the camera, editing system, and playbackdevice. Using USB 2.0 or FireWire, a camcorder could attach to a PC asa random-access disk. HD MPEG-2 editing software would generate aplaylist that would be stored on the optical disc.

In a significant expansion to its CineAlta family, Sony introduced ahigh-definition camera with uncompressed digital 4:4:4 RGB output. Thenew HDC-F950 camera captures a full 1920×1080 image at24fps. The F950 is connected to an HDCAM SR VTR via dual HD SDIcables.

The HDC-F950 offers the same capture rates as the HDW-F900camcorder: 23.98p, 24p, 25p, 29.97p, 50i, and 59.94i. A new“undercranking” feature allows additional picture capturerates of from 1fps to 24fps. The HDC-F950 is scheduled to be availablein October for a suggested list price of $115,000. The companionHDVF-C30W 2.5in. color viewfinder is scheduled to be availablein April at under $10,000.

Sony also announced a 4:4:4 HDCAM SR portable VTR. The compactSRW-1 portable VTR facilitates battery-powered remoteacquisition of full-bandwidth 4:4:4 or 4:2:2 digital HD. The recordingbit rate for 4:4:4 video is an astounding 440Mbps. The SRW-1 utilizesthe standard “small” cassette that provides 50 minutes ofrecording of 1080/24p video with 12 24-bit audio tracks.

The SRW-1 can also record two full-bandwidth 4:2:2 HD signalssimultaneously onto a single 1/2in. tape, allowing for stereoscopic 3Dvideo acquisition and for two-camera productions. Operating in thisnovel dual mode, the SRW-1 achieves a combined video data rate of about900Mbps. The SRW-1 HDCAM SR portable VTR is scheduled to be availablein early 2004 at $55,000.

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