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MillimeterNAB 2006
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Barry Braverman, S. D. Katz, D. W. Leitner, Steve Mullen, Dan Ochiva, Jan Ozer, and Jeff Sauer
Perspectives from the show floor
Mike Schmidt of Hoodman USA shows a Panasonic camcorder outfitted with a Hoodman hood strapped to the camera’s viewfinder. Hoodman hoods are designed to preserve LCD viewfinder visibility in high-brightness situations.
Camcorder Observations
By Steve Mullen
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that shooting “video” has gone out of fashion. Every camera company pictures its new 24fps camcorder outfitted with a sexy matte box. Despite such marketing efforts, the industry reality is far different. Around the world, there are a vast number of SD studios located in small-market TV and cable stations, as well as studios within corporate, religious, education, and government organizations that will, over time, upgrade to HD. These studios will need equipment that can work both as camcorders in the field and as studio cameras. NAB 2006 was valuable because you could see how far we have come in just a few years toward a full range of affordable HD products — as well as get a clear picture of where we are going over the next few years.
For those of us who prefer shooting at 60p and want to stay with MiniDV tape, JVC's pair of new camcorders is great news. JVC has implemented 60p in its new GY-HD200U and GY-HD250U camcorders by using an ultra-efficient MPEG-2 encoder (12-frame GOP). I saw it working (using the SA-HD50U encoder/decoder), and there were no motion-blocking artifacts.
Both camcorders support 60p recorded as HDV to MiniDV tape, written to the camcorder-attached DR-HD100U HDD (via FireWire), captured by a digital recorder with an HD-SDI port (such as the new Wafian HR-1 deck), or input as analog component video through a digitizer (such as the AJA HD10AVA). In the latter two cases, 4:2:2 video is captured. Both camcorders feature enhanced cine gamma and a built-in mount for 14.4V professional batteries.
The GY-HD200U features an optional Arri PL (positive lock) mount adapter (HZ-CA13U). The mount supports the vast number of prime and zoom lenses already owned by film schools and rental facilities. The camcorder features an image flip function to compensate for picture reversal caused by some prime lens adapters. The GY-HD200, priced at $7,995, will be available this October.
Specific features on the GY-HD250U include 4:2:2 HD-SDI output (with embedded audio), genlock input, timecode synchronization, composite video input (for a pool feed), and BNC connectors. The GY-HD250 will be priced at $8,995 (with lens) and will be available this October. (For more on the GY-HD250U, see sidebar.)
JVC's strategy is delivering the only true progressive camcorders that shoot 24p, 25p, 30p, 50p, and 60p obtained from true (1280×720) 720p CCDs and encoded/recorded using true (1280×720) 720p MPEG-2. For those of who prefer a handheld camcorder, I hope we will see a JY-HD10 replacement announced at IBC 2006.
Sony showed its two new XDCAM HD camcorders, the PDW-F330 ($16,800) and PDW-F350 ($25,800). (Both without an HD lens.) The camcorders use three 1/2in. 1.5-megapixel CCDs, and offer 24p recording in SD or HD, interval recording, and slow shutter. The PDW-F350 enables variable frame rate recording at frame rates ranging from 4fps to 60fps in one-frame increments.
The XDCAM HD products offer the flexibility of recording 1080i video using DVCAM and long-GOP MPEG-2 at three data rates: 25Mbps (CBR), plus 35Mbps and 18Mbps, both of which use VBR encoding. One little-noticed specification change from XDCAM to XDCAM HD: the use of dual read/write heads that increase the maximum data rate to 144Mbps, which you may recognize as approximately the data rate of HDCAM.
The new camcorders have several neat features. The expand function takes a long clip and divides it into 12 equal time intervals, each of which gets its own thumbnail. Freeze mix enables a videographer to switch seamlessly between pre-recorded material and live footage by showing these images on the LCD screen or viewfinder. This function also helps you adjust the camera's framing for the next shot.
The new PDW-F70 ($15,990) and PDW-F30 ($9,500 in June) decks enable high-speed data transfer between compatible nonlinear devices. Both decks upconvert XDCAM SD, recorded by DVCAM, to 1080i output. All XDCAM HD camcorders and decks can downconvert HD material to 4:3 SD as anamorphic, letterboxed, or center-cut.
While XDCAM media, at $30 per disc (23.3GB), is about twice as expensive as Sony's HDV MiniDV tape, it is certainly quite reasonable for an hour of professional, random access, self-archiving, HD media. Sony made no announcement of a Z1 replacement that would feature 1440×1080 rather than 960×1080 CCDs. However, I would not be surprised to see an announcement at IBC 2006.
Of course, these new camcorders need NLE support for 24p — as well as 24F shot by the Canon H1. Although Apple promised quick support for 24p — notably not yet delivered — Avid said the 5.4 release of Xpress Pro would not have 24p support. Avid's Liquid 7.1 ($499) does, however, offer native 24p HDV capture and export plus frame-accurate editing of 720p and 1080i native HDV. The NLE uses a Smart GOP MPEG IBP codec that supports an effects engine that provides multiple streams of HDV in realtime. There's video monitoring either on a second DVI HD monitor or downconverted to an NTSC monitor in realtime using the optional SD BOB.
Panasonic announced a new P2 HD camcorder and P2 deck — both of which will ship in January 2007. The AJ-HPC2000 camcorder ($27,000) is equipped with three progressive, 2/3in., HD CCDs with 14-bit A/Ds. While the HPC2000 records at 480i and 720p, 1080i is also supported, although Panasonic has not stated the AJ-HPC2000's native CCD pixel resolution.
The AJ-HPC2000 features five P2 card slots with each P2 card hot swappable for continuous recording. Other recording features include loop record and pre-record (up to seven seconds in DVCPRO HD). The camcorder offers immediate playback on the built-in color LCD monitor. Four channels of uncompressed audio are supported.
Panasonic's multiformat, multi-codec, AJ-HPS1500 P2 HD recorder/player ($19,950) records in DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, 720p, and 1080i. The HPS1500 is designed to be an ingest station, up/downconversion station, or a transfer station. It offers Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 1394 (AVC), and USB 2.0 as well as HD-SDI and SD-SDI input/output. Standard I/O includes composite, analog component, analog audio inputs (XLR, Ch1-Ch2), and digital audio (AES/EBU Ch1-Ch8).
Panasonic's P2 strategy, until now, has relied on future advances in storage per card (delivered by future SD Flash RAM capacity increases) and future price reductions. We have already seen capacity per card double from 4GB to 8GB, while the 4GB card has undergone a dramatic price reduction. At NAB 2006, Panasonic announced an important addition to its strategy. Beginning April 2007, the AJ-HPC2000 and AJ-HPS1500 will have an optional AVC-Intra (H.264 compliant) codec in addition to Panasonic's DVCPRO HD codec. (This is not the same as the newly announced consumer Sony/Panasonic AVCHD codec that operates at 18Mbps.)
According to Panasonic, AVC-Intra offers twice the recording time on a P2 card, which indicates a data rate of 50Mbps. This is a very significant advance for P2. The codec's name, AVC-Intra, indicates it will be an I-frame-only codec.
As we go to press, Panasonic offered the initial documentation for the 50Mbps 4:2:0 AVC-Intra HD compression to the SMPTE C24 Technology Committee for standardization. According to Panasonic, this codec will have the same pixel structure as DVCPROHD for 1080i and 720p.
Building on the compact shoulder form factor, the new JVC ProHD camcorder offers the comfort and stability of a shoulder-style camera with the lightweight and maneuverability of a handheld. The HD250 can, however, be converted to a studio camera with the KA-HD250 studio kit. Once the KA-HD250 kit has been installed, the GY-HD250U will work with an existing GY-DV550U CCU (camera control unit). A Sony CCU can also control the camera and either Sony or JVC multicore cable can be used. The CCU provides convenient multi-core connection for power, genlock, R/B gain, black level, and intercom at up to 330ft. You have full remote access to the HD250 menus.
Specific features on the GY-HD250U not found on the GY-HD100 include ultra-efficient MPEG-2 encoder, 4:2:2 HD-SDI output (the signal may contain embedded audio), genlock input (works in both SD and HD mode), timecode synchronization, composite video input (for a pool feed), enhanced Cine Gamma, built-in mount for 14.4V professional batteries, and BNC connectors. The GY-HD250U with its component and SDI/HD-SDI output can be used with SD/HD switchers.
An optional 16:9, LCD studio viewfinder with 4:3 zone markings supports both SD and HD operation. A KA-HD250 studio cradle with optional pan-and-tilt head plus remote controller is also available.
The 60p implementation, plus an optional tiny microwave transmitter, makes it perfect for covering sports. When recorded to tape, 720p30 (six-frame GOP) and 720p60 (12-frame GOP) video both have a data rate of 17.8Mbps that represents a bit-reduction ratio of approximately 37:1. As a point of comparison, ATSC 720p60 is typically encoded at 14.7Mbps to 17.2Mbps, which provides about the same bit-reduction ratio.
The GY-HD250 will be priced at $8,995 (with lens) and will be available October 2006.
— Steve Mullen
