Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 9, 2005. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Sony is expanding its range of HD formats with XDCAM HD: As the company announced at IBC, XDCAM HD will be positioned between HDV and HDCAM. Three products – the PDW-F330 camcorder and the two decks PDW-F30 and PDW-F70 – are intended to combine the advantages of nonlinear, file-based working with low media prices and HD image quality.
Users have the option of choosing between three bitrates: 35, 25 and 18 Mbps. At 18 Mbps, around two hours should be recordable; at the higher bitrates, 90 and 60 minutes respectively. Material at the different bitrates can also be mixed on one disc. During MPEG2 Long GOP recording, lowres proxies and metadata are simultaneously written to the Professional Disc.
However, Sony is not yet providing any information on product availability and prices. The company is in “advanced discussions” with several large customers in Europe in order to define their precise requirements, a company announcement states.
During the trade show, Sony explained that more and more European broadcasters would switch to XDCAM, including TVN24 and TVP (Poland), OB Team (Norway), Antenna (Greece) and Russia Today TV (Russia). The company has delivered more than 8,000 units worldwide and thus records the most successful launch of a professional format to date.
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