With all nice things like AVCCAM and NXCAM people tend to forget about good old DV. This standard was pretty much the first compressed digital video standard after Ampex 's DCT. It is a well-thought spec, based on the Rec 601, which is a well-thought spec by itself. Tons of consideration went into DV, from electro-mechanical stuff to codecs and transfer protocols. The more I read about it the more I am in awe. DV is not bound to tape, which is proved by DV-on-P2 and DV-on-XDCAM. DV is robust, requires very little computing power by modern standards, can be recorded to multitude of file formats, namely DV-DIF, DV-AVI, QT-DV and MXF-DV.
With proliferation of tapeless recording this is the opportunity that could not be missed. In fact, Sony's own on-camera recorders (two models, one is HDD-based, another records to compactflash) allow DV recording into a disk file. DV-AVI, drag and drop, no problem, straight to file then straight to computer. But newer NXCAM camera does not do that. No DV, only 9 Mbit/s MPEG-2 DVD-video. AVCCAM camcorders cannot do even this much, they do not record standard def at all.
Why? Is DV an obsolete format? Why then XDCAM, P2 and HDV cameras record it? Why Sony released the PD-175, a DV-only cam (granted, not for the U.S. market). I guess I am just not getting it. Some may consider that I am trolling, but I really cannot understand why DV is not included into modern tapeless handheld cams. Without being bound to tape and to hardware compatibility, it could be possible to create all bunch of extensions to DV like native progressive DV format. In fact, ProHD offers 60p standard def as part of HDV720p spec. 60P DV was also defined in DVCPRO Progressive. So it is already there. Not everyone need HD after all. 60p SD this is like... almost like 1080i. That is, not that bad.
Anyone has a clue? Does anyone care at all?
With proliferation of tapeless recording this is the opportunity that could not be missed. In fact, Sony's own on-camera recorders (two models, one is HDD-based, another records to compactflash) allow DV recording into a disk file. DV-AVI, drag and drop, no problem, straight to file then straight to computer. But newer NXCAM camera does not do that. No DV, only 9 Mbit/s MPEG-2 DVD-video. AVCCAM camcorders cannot do even this much, they do not record standard def at all.
Why? Is DV an obsolete format? Why then XDCAM, P2 and HDV cameras record it? Why Sony released the PD-175, a DV-only cam (granted, not for the U.S. market). I guess I am just not getting it. Some may consider that I am trolling, but I really cannot understand why DV is not included into modern tapeless handheld cams. Without being bound to tape and to hardware compatibility, it could be possible to create all bunch of extensions to DV like native progressive DV format. In fact, ProHD offers 60p standard def as part of HDV720p spec. 60P DV was also defined in DVCPRO Progressive. So it is already there. Not everyone need HD after all. 60p SD this is like... almost like 1080i. That is, not that bad.
Anyone has a clue? Does anyone care at all?
In my family we have a Focus Wagon for everyday hauling, first generation. It is a great car for what it is, 28 MPG, drives well and fits as much stuff as an Explorer. When I want to have some fun I jump into my MR2 Spyder and go to the mountains. I don't need a muscle car or an SUV.
