HDV: The Next Frontier

If you've seen a high-definition (HD) television program on a wide screen high-definition TV and said, "Wow!" then you already know what HDV looks like. HDV? Don't run to your dictionary. If you find it, HDV will be defined as the Hepatitis D virus. In the past, no one in his right mind would have wanted HDV. But JVC, Sony, and an increasing number of editing software companies are investing in a different kind of HDV in the hope that it will sweep through the video industry as DV did in the late 1990s.

HDV 2. n. A technology for recording high definition video to DV tape. The first high definition video format for the consumer/prosumer.

If you've just finished paying off the second mortgage on your house, the one you took out to buy a complete DV system, you may be breaking into a cold sweat. Are the days of DV numbered? Will your footage be unwatchable after seeing HDV? Well, there is good news and good news. The good news is that DV cameras shoot great pictures, and at this early stage in HDV's evolution, the quality of DV is more consistent. The other good news is that when HDV looks good, it looks incredible.

How high is high-definition?
In July of 2003, Canon, Sharp, Sony and JVC announced the new HDV format. It records and plays back 720p and 1080i high-definition video on DV tape, and is targeted to consumers. HDV is an open standard, like DV. You do not have to stay with one brand to use the format. HDV is DV on steroids: Its compression technology is based in MPEG-2 which allows you to put an hour of great-looking footage on a tiny mini DV tape. HDV marries steep compression with a lot of data going down the pipeline between your chips and the tape. DV records relatively uncompressed video at 25Mbps. HDV records at as much as 19Mbps, but the highly compressed video contains more pixels and more info…