HDV records high-definition video on DV tapes
HDV records high-definition video on DV tapes:
- 720p is recorded at roughly 19 Mbit/sec while 1080i records at 25 mbit/sec.
- In 720p, the luma sampling matrix is 1280×720, square pixel, exceeding DVCPROHD’s 960×720 sampling.
- In 1080i, the sampling matrix is 1440×1080, with 1.33:1 pixels; this is the same luma sampling used in HDCAM and exceeds DVCPROHD’s 1280×1080 sampling.
- Color sampling is 4:2:0 in all HDV formats.
- HDV uses long-GOP MPEG2 for video, with a 6-frame GOP for 720p and a 15-frame GOP for 1080i.
- MPEG 1 Layer 2 is used to store 16-bit, 48 kHz 2-channel audio at 384 kbit/sec, with 4:1 compression.
JVC’s 720p/30 (720 scanline, 30 frames per second) camcorders were the first HDV products available, shipping in late 2003. They use single CCDs and, sadly, perform no better than low-end JVC DV cameras do, so they never really took off. JVC may have more professional HDV camcorders coming up, which we await with bated breath.
Sony’s 1080i HDV camcorders started shipping in late 2004, roughly nine years and one month after the DV revolution was started by the DCR-VX1000. These machines have decent camera sections and very acceptable lenses, and serve as the VX1000s of the HDV era. I got one of the first HDR-FX1 cameras shipped and the information here is based, for the most part, on that camera.