This is the Third News Letter of 1999; We are doing very,very well
as a non commercial
site, considering we offer
only advice and information.
In the last two months we
have received more
hits and visits than any other
month in our history! I believe
you could say "we've been
found!" We have also had
many positive comments on
our site and how it has been
a great source of information
to our visitors. We are still the
only site on the web with the
BSC1-F1 section on the
Film Look Gamma Curve
chips for the DVW700 series
from Sony (including the new
DVW707, DVW709WS and DVW790WS), along with
16X9 Information
on camera resolution
and how it effects your
picture; a pair of free Broadcast Camera Forums, where
you can write to your hearts
content about your camera
issues and comments, plus
our own Barnes and
Noble.com link for your
personal book
or magazine searches
and purchases. The BSC1-F1 Film Look
section includes
updates on the NEW DVW707, DVW709WS and DVW790WS,
introduced at NAB '99,
Sony Digital Betacam
camcorders theory and
setup information on the
"Film Look" for your
DVW700 or DVW700WS.
We have recently added an
updated a section on
CCD History and
Technology, which explains
how a CCD works and the
differences between the IT
and FIT image sensors. As
soon as we get some good
information on the more
recent CCDs with
On Chip Lenses, it will be
added to the history section. Take some time to check
us ALL out, and, if you want,
send us your comments in
the NEW Comments section
we have added. (It's a nice
little place to give us some
suggestions or comments
or even any insight on our
topics here on the
Broadcast Camera Support
Page site). This is the year
for us to grow and provide
you with more information!
Please join our Mailing List,
you will be one of the first to
know when something new
appears on our site. The
mailing list can be
accessed from the
Home Page, next to the
ListBot logo. (The mailing
list is private and not given
out to any other company.
You can be assured that we
will be the only ones that
send you mail from the list.) | KOMO of Seattle, Washington has
become the first independent
station to move into High Definition with the purchase of HD cameras and affiliated equipment. No one knows when they will actually be broadcasting HD, but they are gearing up for it soon. This may be a turning point in HD for all of us. NBC is showing the Jay Lenno show in high definition right now.
I hear that CBS is asking for productions in HD. It would appear that high definition is here to stay now. The only question is what format will the broadcasters use? Rumor has it that the ABC and KOMO people are holding out for a 720 line progressive system, while the others are banking on the 1080 line, interlace system. Other rumors have it that FOX is waiting to see
what shakes out of the tree. All the current production systems are using the 1080 I system. This includes the recorders, switchers and effects generators. And since it is all HD SDI (Digital) it can be easily converted to any type of transmission standard before it gets broadcast. To add to this we have heard of many more people going out and getting their HDW700A High Definition cam/corder. From what we hear,Sony will be upgrading the HDW700 to HDW700A units as soon as the parts become available. We can't say if there is a cost involved as we haven't heard anything about that. As soon as we find out about the upgrades, we will write about it here! We have also heard the 24 Frame Version (Segmented Frame version of the 1080P system we believe) is going to be available in the fall of 1999. Apparently a mock up of it was shown at NAB '99. It's supposed to resemble a film camera instead of a video recorder, and use Panavision Prime Lenses instead of television lenses. Rumor also has it George Lucas is in line to purchase the camera when it comes out. More rumors have it that some of the Hollywood, Los Angeles and Burbank post houses are already geared up with the 24P editing systems. (When we have more information, we will notify you right here.) | I think we all knew about the
latest products for the year.
In the camera area the most memorable product, so far,
is the HDW700A High Definition Camera Recorder from Sony. Not too far behind it is the segmented frame (24 frame) HD camcorder will be shown at NAB. From what we've heard, it may become available in the fall, or maybe even earlier. Also, the DVW700 replacements are here now. These include the DVW707, DVW709 and DVW790. The first one is a 4:3 IT model, the second is a 16:9 IT model, and the third is a 16:9 FIT model. All of them will be using the new Power HAD sensors, and use 12 bit processing that is similar to the 12 bit processing of Sony's BVP570 camera. (In fact, it may well be the BVP570 camera on a digital betacam recorder.) Also, we understand that all the old set up chips, BSC-1, will still work with these cameras, along with the BSC-F1 Digital Film Look Gamma chips. So all of the old special set ups people have will work with these newer cameras. The flat screen, plasma monitors along with the LCD projectors are very hot this year. The plain, non HD, plasma monitors from look quite nice to us. Only when you get up close, on some of them, you can see that they are not scanned but actual using pixels or dots to display the image. But at normal viewing distances, they look great! When we find out more about some new products, we will tell you about it here!
|
Now, with some great sales
under their belt, Sony is
promoting their SX Digital
Betacam format. Sony seems
to be promoting it as a news
format, currently, and as a
replacement for the analog
Betacam SP system. That
means it might also be a
production format, but we're
not sure currently. At this time
it's very hard to tell exactly
which way it will go. Most of the current SX product seems to be used for News (It appears
to be replacing analog
Betacam at some sites or
another manufacturers format at
other sites.) One of our clients
did bring his DNW9WS in
along with some documentary
tape shot in South America.
The actual images were stunning,
with none of the digital artifacts
that others had hinted might be
seen there. After seeing that
tape, all of our opinions about
the SX series have raised
dramatically. As for the tiny,
digital formats, Sony is
promoting it's DV-Cam
format as an acquisition/ news/production format;
Panasonic is pushing
it's DVC-Pro format as both an acquisition/news/production
format too. Is there really any
kind of a "format war?"
It appears that those who are
used to analog betacam are
upgrading to Betacam SX or
Digital Betacam. But then is
the 1/2 inch digital HD Cam
format the choice for the future
or can one use 16:9 Digital
Betacam? Will it be 1080I,
720P or 1035I , progressive
or interlace, or even 24 frame
1080 progressive? Some of
the networks are calling for 1080 interlace, while others are
looking a progressive scan
format. It's going to be a tough
call to tell which format will be
the one of choice. The good
news: if you produce in HD
Cam now, it can be converted
to standard 525 4:3 or 525
16:9 very easily. Even after
this NAB '99, the HD
Transmission Format War
is still on. But what the
actual production/
origination format will be
remains to be seen. Feel
free to share your opinion
in the comments section,
or the forums or even mail
us, and, if you allow us to,
we will print it in these
pages as part of the
upcoming user
comments section
if you would like.
| If you would like to have a link with this page, please write us.
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to become an individual or corporate sponsor, please write and tell me. There is room here for advertising space for you, or we can simply link to your page. Be assured this site will grow and become a great support to all types of Broadcast and Professional camera owners and operators. Please feel free to write us and we can send you some simple HTML code, including a graphic, to place on your page, that will link to our site here. Feel free to send us some code or information on how to link to your page.
| Here we are, the third issue of 1999. Go ahead, give us your comments on this year's performance! Hopefully none of you feel shy about sharing your comments on our site.... Don't feel shy, please visit our new Comment Section, fill out the form and send us any feelings, comments, or suggestions you have. We have 124 different pages on this site now, with room here for many, many, many more pages. Why don't you give us your suggestions as to what the other pages might have on them. We have room for a section on Job Openings, custom camera setups, user information and so on. So don't hesitate to send your comments! We promise to read all the comments and mail, and we will respond as soon as we possibly can. Thanks for dropping by and checking us out! |
| Now, with some great sales under their belt, Sony is promoting their SX Digital Betacam format. Sony seems to be promoting it as a news format, currently, and as a replacement for the analog Betacam SP system. That means it might also be a production format, but we're not sure currently. At this time it's very hard to tell exactly which way it will go. Most of the current SX product seems to be used for News (It appears to be replacing analog Betacam at some sites or another manufacturers format at other sites.) One of our clients did bring his DNW9WS in along with some documentary tape shot in South America. The actual images were stunning, with none of the digital artifacts that others had hinted might be seen there. After seeing that tape, all of our opinions about the SX series have raised dramatically. As for the tiny, digital formats, Sony is promoting it's DV-Cam format as an acquisition/news/production format; Panasonic is pushing it's DVC-Pro format as both an acquisition/news/production format too. Is there really any kind of a "format war?" It appears that those who are used to analog betacam are upgrading to Betacam SX or Digital Betacam. But then is the 1/2 inch digital HD Cam format the choice for the future or can one use 16:9 Digital Betacam? Will it be 1080I, 720P or 1035I , progressive or interlace, or even 24 frame 1080 progressive? Some of the networks are calling for 1080 interlace, while others are looking a progressive scan format. It's going to be a tough call to tell which format will be the one of choice. The good news: if you produce in HD Cam now, it can be converted to standard 525 4:3 or 525 16:9 very easily. Even after this NAB '99, the HD Transmission Format War is still on. But what the actual production/ origination format will be remains to be seen. Feel free to share your opinion in the comments section, or the forums or even mail us, and, if you allow us to, we will print it in these pages as part of the upcoming user comments section if you would like. | Looks
Remember if you have any specialized "looks" or setups for your High Definition, Broadcast or Professional camera, and you would like to share them with everyone, we would like to put them in the Basic Setups Section of the site. There are a couple now, but we would love to have several more! We are especially looking for some custom setups for the DNW or HDW series camcorders. Please mail them to us. We may even open up another section for our users special looks for various cameras. So send us the special setup you use and we will make it available to all that read our pages! |
