SPECS READY ON ‘HDV’ CAMCORDERS, BUT PANASONIC IS KEY HOLDOUT
Spec for “HDV” format that would enable HD digital recording on existing Mini DV camcorder tapes has been completed and will be published today (Wed.). Announcement came Tues. from 4- company consortium that proposed goals and preliminary HDV specs in summer (CED July 14 p1) and included digital camcorder heavies Canon, JVC, Sharp and Sony -- with Panasonic being notable absentee.
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Consortium said HDV spec would be posted on its Web site (www.hdv-info.org/) and 4 founding companies would propose format as international standard. In addition to use in new HDV camcorders, companies said they gradually would incorporate its features into future DV format-compatible products so those could recognize tapes recorded using HDV format. Consortium said that in developing specs, it had “received supportive opinions from many companies,” but it named only 5: Adobe, Canopus, KDDI R&D Labs, Sony Pictures Digital Networks and Ulead Systems.
Matsushita isn’t part of group and won’t back proposed format, spokesman told us. Panasonic parent “chose not to support it because there already is a High Definition extension defined within the DV format,” he said. “From the customer/user perspective, we think it is not necessary to create a separate format that uses the same DV tape.” Company said it also was “concerned that calling this standard by its tentative name ‘HDV’ can potentially cause confusion for consumers.”
JVC, which backs HDV and released first consumer HD digital camcorder in March, is Matsushita subsidiary. Camcorder shipments in Japan grew 7.4% to 1.44 million in 2002, with digital models accounting for 95% and Canon, JVC, Sharp and Sony combining for 70% share. Sony was market share leader at 41% and Panasonic 2nd with 28%, JVC 3rd at 18.1%, Canon 4th at 7.3% and Sharp 5th at 4.9%.
Work on HD camcorder gets its impetus from HDTV broadcasting in U.S. and Japan, and companies involved said they expected to have product rollouts next year. Meanwhile, whatever final outcome, new spec won’t affect market position of JVC’s existing HD camcorder, spokesman told us. Company’s GR-HD1 already uses 720p specs that will be adopted for HDV format camcorders that also will include 1080i resolution.
In standardizing around Mini DV, companies hope to leverage existing product and manufacturing infrastructure. HDV format specifies data recording of MPEG-2 compressed HD signals based on DV format, which companies said was accepted internationally as consumer digital VCR format. Because new HDV format employs same cassette case, tape speed and track pitch as DV format, it can utilize mechanical parts based on DV.
Technical parameters for HDV spec call for format to record video and audio through compression by MPEG encoding. Video signals will use MPEG-2 encoding with inter-frame compression, “making possible the recording and playback of high-definition video at a bit rate equivalent to the DV format SD [standard definition] specifications” which use intraframe compression. Consortium said audio signals would be digitized with 48 kHz sampling frequency and 16 bit quantization, and compressed to 384 kbps data transfer rate by MPEG-1 Audio Layer II encoding.
Key characteristics of HDV format will seek compatibility with variety of TV video standards used worldwide, group said. Format will comply with progressive 720p format (1,280x720 pixels resolution) at 60-frame, 30-frame, 50-frame and 25-frame scan rates. For interlaced 1080i (1,440x1,080 pixels resolution), scan rates supported are 60 frame and 50 frame. HDV spec also aspires to improved error correction, partners said. By changing error correction method from error correction within track -- as specified in DV-SD format -- to error correction among multiple tracks, HDV “offers improved error correction capability and enhanced resistance to lost data caused by dropout,” they said.
New format also will offer features not now available from MPEG video, such as viewable images during fast search, group said: “Video signals compressed by MPEG encoding do not support image display during special playback such as fast search. The HDV format records specific data for special playback on a dedicated tape, enabling the display of video images during special playback such as fast search or slow-motion playback.” Group conceded, though, that video image quality “during special playback will differ from that during normal playback.”