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MillimeterHDV@Work
Dec 13, 1997 5:07 PM
Sony Announces the HVR-Z1 HDV Camcorder, Part 2
By Steve Mullen
A few days before the opening of IBC 2004 in Amsterdam, Sony announced its new HDV camcorder, the HDR-FX1 (MSRP of $3700). Then in mid-November, the Sony Business Solutions & Systems group announced the HVR-Z1 with an MSRP of $4,900. The FX1 began shipping in November, while the Z1 will ship in February 2005. In our last newsletter, we covered several FX1 and Z1 features. In this newsletter, we’ll look closely at the CineFrame modes provided by these camcorders.
Presumably, the FX1 employs “interlace scan dual-line” CCDs. Within each CCD, row-pairs are added. Thus each CCD outputs 540 lines (one field) every 1/50th or 1/60th second. The logic driving the CCDs causes alternate fields to automatically contain only even or odd lines. (Note, “progressive scan” CCDs, because they operate with a much faster clock rate, can output all 1080 lines every 1/50th or 1/60th second.) Effective vertical resolution for each field is approximately 420 lines. Therefore, the camera’s effective vertical resolution will be about 820 lines.
In CineFrame 30 (FX1/Z1) and CineFrame 25 (FX1e/Z1), “smart” deinterlacing is used to create video that has a temporal resolution of either 30fps or 25fps. A very intriguing possibility is that deinterlacing is done during MPEG-2 encoding by measuring motion between fields using the encoder’s motion tracking logic.
For I-frames, when objects do not move between fields, both even and odd lines within such objects are encoded. When objects move, only the even field is encoded so such objects have half their possible resolution. For P- and B-frames, when objects do not move between fields, they simply are not encoded. When objects move, only their even field is encoded so such objects have half their possible resolution.
The table below shows how this could be done. Blue text indicates fields that are created from even fields—likely by “interpolating” odd-lines from even-lines. Interpolation generates a frame that has less “motion blur” than does a frame obtained by progressive scanning. Lack of motion blur creates the slight strobing look to objects in motion that has been widely reported.
According to Sony USA, in CineFrame 24 mode, the camcorder uses DXP (i.e., DSP) to “synthesize a 24Hz temporal rate video from 1080i60.” According to Sony, the same intelligent deinterlacing employed in CineFrame 30 is used to create 1080 video with 30 frames per second. Then, according to Sony, 24fps—not 24P—is synthesized from the 30fps video. (Region 50 camcorders do not offer CineFrame 24.) Given the difficulty of converting 30fps to 24fps, it is possible that Sony has not yet fully disclosed how 24fps video is generated. (That may await a presentation at Sundance in January.)
By measuring motion between fields, using the MPEG-2 encoder’s motion tracking logic, the following may occur. For I-frames, when objects do not move between fields, both even and odd lines within such objects are encoded. When objects move, only their odd field is encoded so such objects have half their possible resolution. For P- and B-frames, when objects do not move between fields, they simply are not encoded. When objects move, only their odd or even field is encoded so the objects have half their possible resolution. By choosing fields from 60i interlace video that temporally match where 24fps would occur, 60i video is converted to 24fps video. The period between samples, in this implementation, is not exactly 1/24th second. Thus, there is a slight temporal judder to CineFrame 24.
The following table shows how this could be done. Green text indicates fields that are interpolated from odd fields. Blue text indicates fields that are interpolated from even fields. Interpolation generates a frame that has less “motion blur” than does a frame obtained by progressive scanning. Lack of motion blur creates the strobing look to objects in motion that has been widely reported. This look may be further compounded by the lack of a shutter speed lower than 1/60th second when using CineFrame 24.
Red text indicates judder (split) frames. The pattern of BPB above, is repeated three additional times (plus a final B) in every 15-frame GOP (IBBPB BPB BPB BPB B-I).
Sony notes there are more than 40 enhancements provided by the HVR-Z1. You can read more about the differences between the Z1 and the FX1 on the Sony professional products website
Without doubt, the HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1 will be the camcorders of 2005. They will initiate a rapid move to HD the way the Sony VX1000 drove the move from analog to digital.
Way Too Many Numbers
By Steve Mullen
We all know the 1080i ATSC standard specifies an image size of 1920x1080—an image that has a 16:9 aspect ratio. These specifications require each pixel to be “square.” Despite our clarity on these numbers, we can’t help but be confused when we see in print a range of other numbers that claim to represent 1080i.
Some of these numbers we understand. For example, CRT-based displays and projectors typically have a measurable resolution of only 1000 lines—a value that represents the limitations of these devices. Other numbers we simply accept, without a full understanding. For example, we may view HD on a “quarter HD” LCD projector that has 960x540 pixels. Other LCD and DLP projectors offer SVGA and XGA resolutions.
Flat screen LCD HDTVs typically offer a 1280x720 resolution, which we recognize as the specification for the 720p ATSC standard. Plasmas are divided into two categories: EDTVs typically offering 852x480 pixels and “HDTV” typically offering 1366x768 pixels. In the case of all these displays, we correctly understand that the incoming 1920x1080 image is scaled as needed to fit the display’s resolution.
Other numbers are far less intuitive. In this story, we’ll look at the various numbers describing horizontally resolution. In two weeks, we’ll look at the story behind vertical resolution.
Sony developed a new 1/3in., Super HAD CCD for the FX1 and Z1 HDV camcorders. Each CCD has 1.12 megapixels that provide an effective pixel count of 1,070,000 pixels—972 (horizontal) by 1,100 (vertical). Of the 972 horizontal pixels, 960 are used for capturing an image. Obviously, 960 is a very long way from 1920. In fact, it is half the ATSC specification.
To understand this discrepancy, we need to look at “pixel aspect ratio.” The ATSC standard employs square pixels. During the time for each scan line, 1920 pixels should be transferred. Most HD video systems cannot record pixels at that rate. Therefore, DVCPRO HD records 1280 pixels; while both HDCAM and the MainProfile@High1440 (MP@H-14) MPEG-2 encoding used by Sony’s HDV camcorders record 1440 pixels. So how are 1280 or 1440 pixels mapped to 1920 pixels? The answer is that each pixel is rectangular—not square. In the case of 1440, each pixel needs to have a 1.33:1 pixel aspect ratio.
As you might guess, if you look at a frame of 1280 or 1440 pixel video in a graphics program that supports only square pixels, the image will look squished horizontally. It appears as an anamorphic image—one that will be unsqueezed when displayed.
It is customary that the number of columns in a CCD be at least the number of pixels in the recording format. Thus, we would expect that the CCDs employed by the Sony camcorders should provide 1440 pixels. However, the element count is only 960.
In order to correctly position these 960 pixels within a scan-line that is designed to hold 1920 pixels, the CCD elements must have a 2:1 rectangular pixel aspect ratio.
If all three CCDs were aligned, the output would be 960 pixels per line. By offsetting the green CCD one-half element spacing from the red and blue CCDs, a source of additional luminance information is created. By combining output from all three CCDs, horizontal resolution is increased by 150 percent. And indeed, when 960 is multiplied by 1.5, the result is 1440. “Pixel shift” is the key to understanding how CCDS that don’t naturally provide 1440 or 1920 pixels can provide 1080i video.
Pinnacle Systems Ships Liquid Edition Version 6
Pinnacle Systems is now shipping Pinnacle Liquid Edition version 6, a new version of Pinnacle's advanced video editing software for professionals and enthusiasts.
Pinnacle COO Ajay Chopra said, "Pinnacle Liquid Edition 6 enables you to take full advantage of the incredible indigenous power of today's PC processors and graphics cards. Pinnacle Liquid Edition delivers everything today's video editors need and want -- robust real-time broadcast quality effects, compositing, titling, audio, DVD authoring and more -- all in one product. Pinnacle Liquid Edition means just one purchase, one short learning curve and, most importantly, virtually unlimited creative potential for editors."
Pinnacle Liquid Edition empowers editors with new tools and features including the ability to edit multiple streams of native high-definition (HD) content with realtime effects without the requirement of expensive proprietary hardware, a professional-strength Steinberg inspired audio engine, and compatibility with the Pinnacle Studio software used by millions of consumers worldwide.
Brett Heil, managing director of Digital Pulse, a complete television and corporate postproduction facility in Australia, said, "With the new version 6 of Pinnacle Liquid Edition, Pinnacle has taken our post production capabilities to a new level. With Pinnacle Liquid Edition's enhanced native format editing capabilities including HDV and a comprehensive range of broadcast formats including MPEG- 2, Uncompressed, DVC Pro and DV, we can now take on almost any job that clients can think of. Pinnacle Liquid Edition 6's updated and flexible audio postproduction tools improve finishing. Its industry standard support for OMF export is unique at this level. Finally the increased DVD capabilities allow us to handle almost any input or output that our clients can throw at us."
New users and experienced editors alike will appreciate the completely redesigned, highly intuitive Microsoft Windows-based interface. Pinnacle Liquid Edition PRO adds a new F. A. Porsche-designed professional analog and digital breakout box loaded with composite, component, S-Video I/O, stereo in, surround out, S/PDIF I/O, and plug and play USB-2 ease-of-use.
Pinnacle's Liquid SmartRT technology harnesses the full power of a computer's central processing unit(s) (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) to perform thousands of resolution independent real-time broadcast quality 2D and 3D effects for SD and HD video. Pinnacle Liquid Edition 6 also offers industry leading, fully-enabled support for PCI-Express bus technology, enabling Pinnacle Liquid Edition to eliminate roadblocks and deliver up to 30 times more bandwidth between the visual processor and the CPU than competitive PCI-based solutions. This increased bandwidth results in much more real-time effects power, for all formats including HD, without requiring costly additional hardware. Additionally, Pinnacle Liquid Edition's FireWire-enabled plug and play support allows editors to edit in HDV on location with a portable laptop computer.
This new version of Pinnacle Liquid Edition allows users to combine multiple formats and standards--all in the same timeline--through Liquid SmartEDIT. Liquid SmartEDIT provides native support for a large variety of codecs including DV25, MPEG-2 I-frame and IBP, and uncompressed. SmartEDIT's unique support for native MPEG-2 IBP material means that with Pinnacle Liquid Edition, users can edit in native HDV as well as the MPEG-2 IBP format that is used for DVDs. This minimizes the need for time-consuming, quality damaging process of format conversions.
Pinnacle Liquid Edition offers a wealth of new creative options such as advanced video effects, a remarkable audio effects engine that provides a sophisticated audio mixer, support for full surround sound, VST plug-ins and effects such as Timewarp. Liquid Edition also features a Dolby Digital encoder that has been approved by Dolby Laboratories. Pinnacle Liquid's new Multicam support makes editing complex productions with as many as sixteen camera angles an absolute breeze. Additional improvements include greater control with parameter-based Bezier keyframe compositing and powerful new Track Matte and Mosaic real-time effects.
For information about Pinnacle's complete line of broadcast editing systems, including Liquid Edition Broadcast, Liquid chrome and Liquid blue, visit www.pinnaclesys.com/LiquidBroadcast.
Pinnacle Liquid Edition version 6 and Liquid Edition PRO version 6 are available immediately for the suggested retail price of $499 and $999, respectively. Upgrade pricing is available for previous versions of Pinnacle Edition/Liquid Edition, Pinnacle Studio and competitive products. For more information, please visit www.pinnaclesys.com/LiquidEdition.
Avid to Release Avid Xpress Pro HD
Avid Technology has announced plans to release Avid Xpress Pro HD software, the first portable HD version of the company's nonlinear digital editing software. Scheduled to ship later this month, Avid Xpress Pro HD software delivers support for native Panasonic DVCPRO HD acquisition and editing, Avid DNxHD editing and rendering, and realtime multicamera functionality. Avid Xpress Pro HD customers will also receive native HDV support as part of a free software update scheduled for mid-2005.
“As more and more video editors make the switch to HD, they are increasingly demanding an editing solution that offers maximum convenience and portability without compromising on quality, format choice, or flexibility,” said Tim Wilson , senior product marketing manager at Avid. “Avid Xpress Pro HD allows editors to work with DV, SD, HD, and film media in a single sequence, making it easy for them to edit projects that originated from multiple sources. And as HD cameras proliferate across the market in 2005, Avid will deliver the industry's most fully integrated HDV support as a free update for Avid Xpress Pro HD. Whereas other editing systems require plug-ins, or even separate applications, and complex renderings to intermediate formats, editors using Avid Xpress Pro HD will be able to simply capture, edit, and output native HDV back to tape.”
Avid Xpress Pro HD software also includes additional new features, such as DV50 capture and output over IEEE-1394, 24p and video effects output over IEEE-1394, and expanded film support. Another key benefit of Avid Xpress Pro HD software is its integration with other Avid editing and finishing solutions. Footage captured on Media Composer Adrenaline HD or Avid DS Nitris systems in Avid DNxHD, Avid's new mastering-quality, storage-efficient encoding technology, can be transferred to an Avid Xpress Pro HD system using shared storage or local storage. In addition, the flawless conform capabilities across the Avid product line allow customers to start projects on any Avid system, including Media Composer Adrenaline HD, Avid DS Nitris, Symphony, or Film Composer, and continue working on their media in the portable Avid Xpress Pro HD system before sending their work back to other Avid systems for finishing.
The Avid Xpress Pro HD software is scheduled to be available through Avid's worldwide reseller channel and the Avid store later this month for $1,695 MSRP. The Avid Xpress Pro HD software will initially be available for Windows-based systems, with upgrade pricing of $49.95 MSRP for existing Avid Xpress Pro customers. Users who purchase the Avid Xpress Pro HD software will be eligible for a free upgrade to the next release of the product – scheduled to ship in mid 2005 – which will offer native HDV editing capabilities as well as a host of additional new features. A Mac version of Avid Xpress Pro HD software is also expected to be available in 2005.
Canopus Announces EDIUS NX For HDV
Canopus has announced EDIUS NX for HDV. EDIUS NX for HDV redefines video production capability and affordability with a groundbreaking, tightly integrated software and hardware solution for realtime HD and SD editing, effects and compositing. With its seamless realtime workflow, EDIUS NX for HDV lets videographers mix HD and SD video footage in realtime and work with unlimited video, audio and effects layers, while providing realtime high-quality, full-resolution HD video output to an HD monitor for preview.
Powered by EDIUS Pro 3 nonlinear editing software, EDIUS NX for HDV provides native editing and realtime processing of HDV, DV, uncompressed SD, MPEG-2, MPEG-1 formats. EDIUS Pro 3 is designed for maximum performance with realtime, multi-track, mixed format HD/SD editing, compositing, chroma keying, titling and timeline output capabilities, and supports realtime output of multiple video tracks, effects, and graphics and title layers. EDIUS Pro 3 also supports direct-to-DVD timeline export.
In addition to support for native editing of HDV clips in their original MPEG-2 format, EDIUS NX for HDV lets users edit by way of Canopus's acclaimed variable-bitrate HQ codec for increased quality and realtime performance. EDIUS NX for HDV can also capture SD analog footage to uncompressed, lossless and DV formats.
EDIUS NX for HDV hardware boasts advanced editing acceleration features as well as high-quality video circuitry for connectivity to consumer and professional video equipment, including HDV camcorders and decks from Sony and JVC. EDIUS NX for HDV also delivers sophisticated hardware line-scaling to expand the edited HDV 1440 samples per line to 1080i’s 1920 resolution for output. By having the EDIUS NX for HDV hardware accelerator handle this processor-intensive task instead of the PC’s CPU, editors gain improved realtime performance and output quality.
To help editors with the transition from SD to HD, EDIUS NX for HDV edits SD content, such as DV, in HD resolution while providing realtime output to HD monitors using the onboard HD component output. EDIUS NX for HDV provides high quality, realtime up-conversion from SD to HD video with all project titles, graphics and effects performed in HD resolution. Conversions between NTSC and PAL formats, 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios, as well as up-conversion and down-conversion between SD and HD, are processed in realtime, further streamlining the production workflow. EDIUS NX for HDV also features the much-admired Canopus ADVC functionality to provide realtime bidirectional analog/DV conversion and capture.
While other video editing systems are restricted to a fixed number of simultaneous video and graphics tracks for realtime output, EDIUS NX for HDV is designed with Canopus's Scalable Technology architecture to take full advantage of the system’s CPU power, giving users more realtime performance. Scalable Technology ensures that EDIUS NX for HDV’s realtime editing capabilities expand as CPU power increases, which extends the life of the product and provides a higher return on investment.
EDIUS NX for HDV includes a sleek 5.25-inch breakout bay that provides front-mounted connectors for 4-pin FireWire, S-Video, composite video and unbalanced stereo RCA audio. EDIUS NX for HDV includes Inscriber TitleMotion HD for Canopus, which provides editors with tools to create high-quality titles and features realtime preview of all titles during composition. Featuring keyframable animation capabilities within both 2D and 3D spaces, TitleMotion HD can produce polished broadcast titles within minutes. Also included is Ulead DVD Workshop Express, a powerful and intuitive authoring software package used to create dynamic DVDs with two subtitle and audio tracks, with maximum efficiency and creativity, and Sony Screenblast ACID 4.0, an award-winning loop-based music creation program that that lets editors create songs instantly from pre-recorded loops, create their own music or remixes and add soundtracks to videos.
Canopus is offering EDIUS NX for HDV customers the Canopus Codec Option Pack, which includes the DVCPRO 50 and DVCPRO HD software codecs. Developed in collaboration with Panasonic, the Canopus DVCPRO HD codec provides EDIUS NX for HDV with high-quality HD video and unrivaled realtime HD nonlinear editing performance with full native DVCPRO HD (SMPTE 370M) compliance. The Canopus Codec Option Pack will also allow for the direct import of DVCPRO HD QuickTime .MOV files into EDIUS Pro. Providing direct lossless HD capture and print-to-tape functions using the Panasonic AJ-HD1200A VTR in native 1080i via EDIUS NX for HDV’s FireWire connector, EDIUS NX for HDV with the Canopus Codec Option Pack is a cost-effective editing solution for DVCPRO HD on Windows-based systems.
Another convenient option for EDIUS NX for HDV customers is the Canopus Video-out Plug-in Option that allows SD/HD analog component output for Alias Maya 6, Bauhaus Mirage 1.2, Discreet 3D Studio Max 7 and Combustion, and NewTek’s LightWave 3D 8.
EDIUS NX for HDV is available for a suggested retail price of $2098. For videographers who do not yet need HDV compatibility, an HDV-ready version of EDIUS NX is available for $1299 and can be upgraded to include full HDV capabilities for $799. The Canopus Codec Option Pack and Canopus Video-out Plug-in Option will be available for $999 and $499 respectively. For more information, visit the Canopus web site at www.canopus.com.
