Anthony's News, Reviews & Perspective on the Video Industry.
The big buzz surrounding the NVS2500 is all about three features built into this diminutive, battery operated media storage device:
I’ve performed some preliminary tests and have some numbers to report. Continue reading “Preview: NEXTO DI’s NVS2500 portable media storage.”
Data DVD’s have already been used to distribute all sorts of media, as the replacement for the formerly ubiquitous floppy. From short raw DV files, to completed commercial spots, 4.7 GB of space is pretty good. But for completed TV shows in a HD codec, a DVD is very small.
Blu-ray’s recent vistory bodes well for the independent producer because economies of scale will bring down the cost of both the 27 GB and the new 50 GB Blu-ray disks. The optical media that is at the heart of Sony’s Professional Disk system.
Remember more than two years ago when Apple CEO, Steve Jobs held the Sony’s HVR-FX1 HDV camcorder up on stage and called it “The year of HD.”
Here we are several years later and, mostly because of the protracted “format war” between HD DVD and Blu-ray, we have been left with almost everyone sitting on the proverbial fence.
The war’s over folks. There’s only one direction to go and it’s been picked for us. Continue reading “HD DVD dead. Let’s move on.”
While there’s much ado with blogs (ahem) and other online resources telling you what we can about gear, technology and techniques, manufacturers have gotten wiser to the impact of online media and now release cool stuff directly that used to be limited to outlets like trade shows. Sony’s own web site has quite a bit of information about their new XDCAM camcorders.
A Pair of Hands tested two pro flash media cameras side by side.
The $7000
Sony PMW-EX1
The $5200
Panasonic HVX200
.
I have already discussed the media.
But now we can compare image quality.
How do you think three 1920×1080 chips looked compared to three 960×540 chips?
Continue reading “Sony PMW-EX1 vs Panasonic HVX-200? Easy Choice.”
It’s no secret that HDV camcorders have not been able to pull in as much light as their SD compatriots. (at least until the HVR-S270 & Z7 arrive)
Primarily this has to do with itty-bitty HD imaging chips squeezing in as many as 6x the number of pixels into the same physical space as SD chips. Each individual pixel has to be so much smaller that it can’t possibly gather the same amount of photons.
Well, FreshDV has a pair of very clean tiff images comparing Sony’s new PMW-EX1 to the HDR-FX1, what I’ll call Sony’s last CCD-based HDV camcorder. (or last CCD-based non-CineAlta HD camcorder.) We’ll see…
Continue reading “FreshDV compares Sony HDR-FX1 to PMW-EX1: low light”
YES, there it is. Sony’s XDCAM-EX in full motion-picture regalia- yours truly at the helm.
I just got back from Sony’s XDCAM-EX event at Sony Pictures Studio in New York City, Manhattan to be precise, and let me tell you, it was worth the drive into the city- something I try to avoid if at all possible.
At the event there were dozens of press from around the world. We were treated to Sony Pictures’ plush screening room, complete with surround sound and 4k digital cinema projection for the introduction of the EX as well as Sony’s new overarching marketing strategy under the new HDNA (HD in their DNA) branding.
After the polished show, which included a Spanish language section for the international press, I had some significant hands-on with both the XDCAM-EX, now the PMW-EX1 camcorder. Lots of photos. Sony also had the HVR-HD1000u camcorder there so I took the opportunity to pour all over that camcorder and take lots of photos.
Here’s a quick, late night report… Continue reading “Sony’s XDCAM-EX & HD1000u & more!”
I E B A Tech Thoughts 