Zoom In, Zoom Out

by Karen Director
January 1998

Streaming Video Software
In:sync is shipping version 1.0 of Kohesion for Windows 95 and NT. The digital video editing software lets users capture video and audio, edit these while adding special effects and video hyper-links, and output directly to the Internet, intranets, CD-ROM or videotape. Kohesion offers direct support to RealNetwork's RealMedia, the predominant streaming technology on the Web. Other features include support for AVI (Video for Windows), real-time video editing and audio mixing, clickable video maps and hyperlinks and support for plug-in effects, including Artel's Boris Effects. Kohesion runs on Windows 95 or NT systems with 16 MB RAM (32 MB recommended) and is compatible with Video for Windows video capture cards. List price is $349.

Iomega Extends Jaz Family
The Jaz family of removable storage devices has expanded to include a new 2GB drive and disks. The new drive, which includes a suite of software, provides twice the capacity and up to 40 percent higher performance than the original 1GB Jaz drive.

Large-capacity removable drives enable users to store and share large files, such as compressed video. The 2GB Jaz drives are expected to be available for $649 for the external model and $549 for the internal model, with 2GB Jaz disks priced at $149 each.

New Streaming Video Format Announced
Microsoft recently released the specification for ASF (Advanced Streaming Format). ASF will eventually replace .AVI (Video for Windows) and .WAV sound files into an integrated .ASX format. This format is also specially designed to facilitate easy streaming, and better packet routing when used in conjunction with the newly defined Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP).

DV Watch

Sony Ships New DV Camcorder
Sony has begun shipping a new DV-format camcorder: the DCR-SC100, a member of its Handycam line. It sports a FireWire jack, mike and headphone jacks and manual white balance but lacks manual focus, iris or shutter speed control. Other features include a flip-out 3" LCD monitor, SteadyShot electronic image stabilization, 10:1 optical (120:1 digital) zoom lens, LANC edit protocol, six digital effects, a titler and A/V dub. The list price is $2,199.

Canon Unveils 3-Chip DV Camcorder
Barely waiting for the Optura announcements to die down, Canon has introduced another DV camcorder--this time a 3-CCD model tagged the XL1. According to Videomaker's managing editor, Chuck Peters, "It's hot!" After he finished admiring the camcorder's sleek chainsaw design, he noticed features like an interchangeable XL lens mount system and a SuperRange Optical Image Stabilizer.

The XL bayonet mount accommodates Canon XL video lenses and EOS 35mm camera lenses. A 16:1 XL lens is included in the list price and a 3:1 wide-angle lens and a 1.6x extender are optional. 35mm lenses require an optional EF toXL-mount adapter.

The SuperRange Optical Image Stabilizer adds a motion vector to Canon's typical gyro sensor to detect camcorder vibration. Canon claims this will improve the performance for low frequency vibration--eliminating shake from lower than 1Hz to over 20Hz.

A stereo directional microphone, a choice between one 16-bit and two 12-bit audio modes, a stereo minijack and two pairs of stereo RCA jacks offer plenty of audio options. If that's not enough for you, try the optional adapter which permits the use of two XLR microphones and doubles as a shoulder pad.

Three record modes (full-motion, stop-action and still), manual controls (focus, zoom, audio and white balance), a flash adapter, FireWire jack, color viewfinder, color bar generator, LANC edit protocol and lithium ion battery are some of the standard features included on this new player on the DV stage. Canon suggests a list price of $4,699.

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