JH
HDCam is a compressed digital VTR format - originally designed for 1080/60i and 1080/50i interlaced HD - which is itself a tweak of the original Japanese HD standard in use since the late 80s. Sony then tweaked the standard to add "segmented frame" recording - where a 24/25/30p signal could be converted internally (but with no vertical filtering) to a 48/50/60i signal for recording on tape, converted back (losslessly) to a 24/25/30p signal for replay.
Ah, OK. It was the fact that the effective frame rate was convertible (as opposed to the resolution) that I was remembering then. It's a while since I've seen an HDCam unit, but I remember Sony pushing it as a format to be used on high-end drama that could be sold abroad in 30fps, 24fps or 25fps formats.
noggin posted:
Jonathan H posted:
No doubt Noggin will help here, but I fear things are not a straightforward as that, although I did think that with Sony's 24P HDCAM system you could derive almost any combination of resolution, frequency rate and progressive or interlaced picture from the one tape.
HDCam is a compressed digital VTR format - originally designed for 1080/60i and 1080/50i interlaced HD - which is itself a tweak of the original Japanese HD standard in use since the late 80s. Sony then tweaked the standard to add "segmented frame" recording - where a 24/25/30p signal could be converted internally (but with no vertical filtering) to a 48/50/60i signal for recording on tape, converted back (losslessly) to a 24/25/30p signal for replay.
Ah, OK. It was the fact that the effective frame rate was convertible (as opposed to the resolution) that I was remembering then. It's a while since I've seen an HDCam unit, but I remember Sony pushing it as a format to be used on high-end drama that could be sold abroad in 30fps, 24fps or 25fps formats.