FX1- The End of NTSC/PAL etc??

[Jonathan]

The FX1E is now on sale here in the UK at around £2100 (about 4000 USD) plus a 17.5% sales tax.

What interests me is whether this signals (pardon the pun) the end of NTSC/PAL/SECAM etc as broadcast standards and equalises everyone on 1080i.Can those of us in PAL land paying well over the odds for gear hop across the pond and buy at US prices without having to worry about incompatible systems for broadcast? I have to admit I am seriously considering selling on my (much loved) but only 5 month old 100A for the pro FX1 but need to be sure.

By the way, a major UK broadcast dealer informs me :
On the professional model there are more features these include:
2 XLR inputs.
2 audio level dial control.
Audio Limiter.
Audio Noise Reduction.
Safety Zone marker.
Timecode Preset.
Simultaneous use of LCD panel and Viewfinder Black & white VF.
50/60hz switchable.
480i/480P component out.
Cinema tone Gamma preset curve.
Hours Meter.
Hyper Gain.
Zoom display number readout.
Colour Bar x 2.
2 year Prime Support.
Expanded focus

Sounds good to me.

[Shaw]

Whether the camera has true progressive is yet to be deteremined. However, from the evidence this far the camera only seems to be capable on 1080i.

[Guest]

Yes, it can "only" 1080i. Do you need 1080p? Put one other DVX on the top of your DVX and you get 920p. ;D

[Barry_Green]

The pro version of the FX1 (sometimes called the HVR-Z1) should be a true worldwide standard, since it's supposed to have switchable 50i/60i in both HD and SD modes.

However, no specs have been released from Sony, so there's nothing official at all about the HVR-Z1, including the name!

[Antoine_Fabi]

wow !

when is it supposed to be in store ?

[Bill__Turner]

I am in my Paris Hotel, packing. Saw the pro version at the Satis trade show here this week. Sony had three "demo" cameras and was calling them HDV Pro. Availability is supposed to be Feb 2005.

They had no printed literature and the Sony people were working from handwritten notes.

If I understood correctly (I don''t speak french and their English was good but not perfect) there will be only one version and it will be switchable 50/60 i.

The camera will not have a true progressive scan mode but a progressive effect created electronically-- just as I imagine that it creates Pal or NTSC from the 1080i. Clearly the camera will be successful, judging by the interest.

Whether it is the camera that the low budget film makers want is a different question. The video on the HD monitors in the booth looked very nice.

gonna get some sleep and catch a plane tomorrow.

Bill Turner
Century Division
Schneider Optics

[hvpz]

Was in Satis, Yesterday with friends.
The picture was very nice but difficult to say more.
And even in french, it was difficult to know exactly the real and definitive improvements of the pro model...

And, nobody was allowed to record on a tape...
may be to prevent the "gop effect"...

[disjecta]

That's a pretty complicated question to answer. Many people don't even have the ability to watch any kind of HD broadcast and many TV stations can't afford to upgrade to HD specs.

I think it may become a standard but it's a long way off yet, in my opinion. It'll be interesting to see how many companies respond to this camera and if everyone can agree to one standard. I can't help thinking in the back of my mind that someone else is devising a system that bridges the gap between HDV and HD and can produce it at a competitive price. Things change too fast in this market to make a call like this. Everything is pointing the way of this standard but only time will tell.

[Shaw]

I'm really interested in seeing Panasonics response. Supposedly it will have 60p!

[Jonathan]

This camera has seriously impressed some senior technical people over here. Though apparently in early tests, the 'progressive mode' or whatever Sony is calling it is quite useless as it comes out at more like 12.5p rather than 25PsF in motion tests.
However it has some excellent set-ups with very soft gamma and excellent knee. It is though very front-heavy and bulky but Sony will be supplying a shoulder brace.

The pro version will be DVCAM not Mini DV.

[Guest]

The pro version will be 1080i, DVcam or DV.

[Barry_Green]

Soneone at DVInfo posted a very long (46-page) PDF that is supposedly an official Sony document that describes all the differences between the cameras. It does use the HVR-Z1 designation for the pro version. It also mentions the Z1 is three formats: DV, DVCAM, and HDV.

It would be a lot of work for someone to have done, just to be a spoof, so I'm guessing it's legit. But even so, it said "specs are not final" on the bottom, so until Sony makes a press release, we won't know for sure.

But I would be stunned if the pro version had any sort of actual progressive-scan.

[Guest]

This Pdf doc. has a kind of amateur design. Maybe it isn't a Sony presentation but a "home made" presentation made by a Sony agent. But Sony has the technologie allready used in the PD170 and they must implement this DVcam/DV in the camcorder. It's going to be the next broadcast reporter camcorder. They have allready a huge order from many tv-stations from all over the world.