I
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Hey guys, what's the deal??? Back in 2000 many people been saying (and I quote) Wait a couple of years, we'll be switching to HD by 2003..
Others claimed Invest in the Ike DVcam, it's the future...
Well boys, three years have gone by and everyone is still shootin' BETA
. Not that I mind, do you?
(begin bonus rant)
Still, others been claiming (since 1998) SX is dead - Sony ain't manufacturing it no more. Sorry but my country is now about 75 percent SX and growing -- along with dozen's of other countries....Did I mention that the CURRENT SONY truck tour is highlighting a new & improved SX camera.
(end bonus rant)
----------------------------------
Gentlemen - Now its time to once again gather our thoughts.
I shall start:
Sports
My prediction is that folks like NINO will be among the first to step into fulltime HDTV acquisition. I say this because to me it seems that SPORTS programming is goin' full speed ahead with HD. How much longer will the viewers take watching crystal clear sports broadcasts followed by up-converted BETA-SP stand ups??? How about it Nino??? I say you will probably switch to HD this year...
NEWS MAGS
In my opinion this is a wait and see situation. My guess is that news magazine programming will NOT switch over to HD unless enough consumers purchase HDTV sets. If the bean counters think that not enough consumers have HD, then I predict the engineers will suggest that this type of programming should switch over to IMX - for both acquisition and post production. My thoughts are -- it's not because of the cost of the cameras (after all the IMX-XDcam costs 34K, the IMX-BetaCam costs 39K and the HD betacam(s) cost 44K to 51K. Not that big of a difference. I know - when you add glass and field deck, the costs go up more "BUT" the big difference in cost is in post production and also for bandwidth for beaming the stuff around.
Network Reality
Seems like most of this stuff is ALREADY done on IMX beta tape.. Yes I know some is shot on digi-beta, some is shot on sp beta and some of the low end cable stuff is shot with handycams but the main network format today (for reality TV) is IMX beta tape. IF & WHEN the bean counters think that enough consumers have HDTV then (in my opinion) the top rated reality shows will switch over to HD (like news mags) but that doesn't mean that all that IMX gear will be obsolete. The gear will be past along to lower rated shows running on the networks multi-cast SD channels.
Network News
The studio stuff may very well switch over to HD.
BUT
I strongly believe that HARD NEWS will stay on SD up-converted to HD for years to come. Main reason being bandwidth costs and field editing costs. However, I believe that a lot of the stand-ups will begin shoting in HD. I believe features will be done in both formats - main features slowly moving to HD - however I believe that this will be a slow process - replacing one or two cameras at a time, instead of down right switching everything overnight.
Network Documentaries
Nothing to discuss as this is already decided. Top end network docus are already shot on film or HD. Lower rated network docus may be up-converted from high end SD. There will also be room for lower end SD docus for the multi-cast extra SD channels.
MXF
I stick to my guns on this issue. MXF will become the number one choice of data deliver from point A to point B. Although most news will keep being uplinked by DSNG but I believe everything else will move over to MXF delivery - until the final transmission play-out.
At NAB 2004 you will see everyone supporting MXF. This includes Panasonic, Sony, Avid...
Here is a preview from the pro-mpeg group and their nab 2004 MXF exhibition...
http://www.pro-mpeg.org/publicdocs/pdf/NAB-2004info.pdf
All Sony IMX studio decks support the e-VTR plug in card for MXF support. This means that you can take any beta format SP, SX, DIGI - play-out through an IMX VTR and you have instant MXF support in native IMX. I believe the J-SERIES all beta format field decks will follow. Of course XDcam products also support MXF.
XDCAM versus BETACAM
I believe there is room for both. A while back I talked to a Sony guy and he said that Sony will keep supporting (and manufacturing) the BETACAM format for years to come. I see the evidence in front of my nose. FOX network is standardizing on BETA HDcam SR. Canadian giant ROGERS CABLE is replacing their Ottawa (market 4) SP gear with IMX BETACAM. Télé-Québec the provincial educational channel in Quebec has implemented a significant quantity of Sony’s MPEG IMX equipment. The Sony guy told me this deal includes A LARGE NUMBER of MSW-900 IMX betacams. There are now a few MSW-900 betacams in service from Vancouver to Europe to Asia. The IMX beta decks are popping up in every major city around the globe.
The SONY site (and truck tour) is full of betacam products.
also
I believe there will be a lot of bugs with the XDcam disc format - for some time to come. (see OzCam's digital post) History dictates this is nothing unusual with any new technology.
Finally
I believe Digi-Beta will remain the difacto SD "mobile" format for some time to come.
-----------------------------
Thoughts, rebuttals, arguments, agreements????
Come on gentlemen - talk to me and I promise to lay off the nasty 4:2:2 word ....
Others claimed Invest in the Ike DVcam, it's the future...
Well boys, three years have gone by and everyone is still shootin' BETA
. Not that I mind, do you? (begin bonus rant)
Still, others been claiming (since 1998) SX is dead - Sony ain't manufacturing it no more. Sorry but my country is now about 75 percent SX and growing
-- along with dozen's of other countries....Did I mention that the CURRENT SONY truck tour is highlighting a new & improved SX camera. (end bonus rant)
----------------------------------
Gentlemen - Now its time to once again gather our thoughts.
I shall start:
Sports
My prediction is that folks like NINO will be among the first to step into fulltime HDTV acquisition. I say this because to me it seems that SPORTS programming is goin' full speed ahead with HD. How much longer will the viewers take watching crystal clear sports broadcasts followed by up-converted BETA-SP stand ups??? How about it Nino??? I say you will probably switch to HD this year...
NEWS MAGS
In my opinion this is a wait and see situation. My guess is that news magazine programming will NOT switch over to HD unless enough consumers purchase HDTV sets. If the bean counters think that not enough consumers have HD, then I predict the engineers will suggest that this type of programming should switch over to IMX - for both acquisition and post production. My thoughts are -- it's not because of the cost of the cameras (after all the IMX-XDcam costs 34K, the IMX-BetaCam costs 39K and the HD betacam(s) cost 44K to 51K. Not that big of a difference. I know - when you add glass and field deck, the costs go up more "BUT" the big difference in cost is in post production and also for bandwidth for beaming the stuff around.
Network Reality
Seems like most of this stuff is ALREADY done on IMX beta
tape.. Yes I know some is shot on digi-beta, some is shot on sp beta and some of the low end cable stuff is shot with handycams but the main network format today (for reality TV) is IMX beta tape. IF & WHEN the bean counters think that enough consumers have HDTV then (in my opinion) the top rated reality shows will switch over to HD (like news mags) but that doesn't mean that all that IMX gear will be obsolete. The gear will be past along to lower rated shows running on the networks multi-cast SD channels.Network News
The studio stuff may very well switch over to HD.
BUT
I strongly believe that HARD NEWS will stay on SD up-converted to HD for years to come. Main reason being bandwidth costs and field editing costs. However, I believe that a lot of the stand-ups will begin shoting in HD. I believe features will be done in both formats - main features slowly moving to HD - however I believe that this will be a slow process - replacing one or two cameras at a time, instead of down right switching everything overnight.
Network Documentaries
Nothing to discuss as this is already decided. Top end network docus are already shot on film or HD. Lower rated network docus may be up-converted from high end SD. There will also be room for lower end SD docus for the multi-cast extra SD channels.
MXF
I stick to my guns on this issue. MXF will become the number one choice of data deliver from point A to point B. Although most news will keep being uplinked by DSNG but I believe everything else will move over to MXF delivery - until the final transmission play-out.
At NAB 2004 you will see everyone supporting MXF. This includes Panasonic, Sony, Avid...
Here is a preview from the pro-mpeg group and their nab 2004 MXF exhibition...
http://www.pro-mpeg.org/publicdocs/pdf/NAB-2004info.pdf
All Sony IMX studio decks support the e-VTR plug in card for MXF support. This means that you can take any beta format SP, SX, DIGI - play-out through an IMX VTR and you have instant MXF support in native IMX. I believe the J-SERIES all beta format field decks will follow. Of course XDcam products also support MXF.
XDCAM versus BETACAM
I believe there is room for both. A while back I talked to a Sony guy and he said that Sony will keep supporting (and manufacturing) the BETACAM
format for years to come. I see the evidence in front of my nose. FOX network is standardizing on BETA HDcam SR. Canadian giant ROGERS CABLE is replacing their Ottawa (market 4) SP gear with IMX BETACAM. Télé-Québec the provincial educational channel in Quebec has implemented a significant quantity of Sony’s MPEG IMX equipment. The Sony guy told me this deal includes A LARGE NUMBER of MSW-900 IMX betacams. There are now a few MSW-900 betacams in service from Vancouver to Europe to Asia. The IMX beta decks are popping up in every major city around the globe.The SONY site (and truck tour) is full of betacam products.
also
I believe there will be a lot of bugs with the XDcam disc format - for some time to come. (see OzCam's digital post) History dictates this is nothing unusual with any new technology.
Finally
I believe Digi-Beta will remain the difacto SD "mobile" format for some time to come.
-----------------------------
Thoughts, rebuttals, arguments, agreements????
Come on gentlemen - talk to me and I promise to lay off the nasty 4:2:2 word
....