Archive of the Company News Category

As Ikegami’s 60th anniversary approached in 2007, things didn’t look all that good for the one-time leading light of video camera technology. Once the maker of coveted high-end cameras that featured electronic circuitry delivering what many felt were the best video images going, by the late 1990s the company lost the lead, as Panasonic and Sony prevailed. Unlike Ikegami, those two industrial giants could also deliver the integrated tape mechanisms necessary to get a rig out of the studio.

Ikegami fought back with its innovative Editcam, launched in 1995. Designed in part with input from Avid, Editcam was the first mainstream camcorder to use ruggedized hard drives to replace tape in the field. more

Sunday morning started with a magic bus ride. Rolling down city streets, through underpasses, along Interstate 15 at 70 mph, and finally pulling into an underground casino parking lot, a handful of journalists including yours truly got a preview from Samsung of a proposed enhancement to ATSC that enables perfect mobile reception of digital TV, particularly to handheld devices.

What‘s the big deal? In a word, YouTube. Even the most benighted of computer illiterati grew acquainted with the pleasures of Flash files over the past year. (Thanks in large part to Paris Hilton, but that‘s another story.) The idea that it‘s fun to watch videos in a small window a few inches from your nose instead of from across the living room floor has now entered the public‘s consciousness. Apple‘s video iPod is another manifestation of this shift in TV viewing habits, as will be the larger, sharper iPhone when it debuts in June. more

As with the announcement of the new LED-backlit display (which Dan Ochiva reported about earlier), Sony made a few other exciting announcements that would seem to take the company in new technological directions.

The announcement of the XDCAM HD 4:2:2 format represents logical — but significant — progress for Sony’s current HD MPEG-2 acquisition strategy. But even as it announced a new dual-layer XDCAM disc that records 50GB, Sony also made some noise about a wholly new recording medium that leverages open standards and off-the-shelf technology. more

At its press conference this afternoon, Panasonic unveiled nothing too surprising. Of course, that can be seen as a testament to the prudence of its current direction — namely, nonlinear acquisition via solid-state media in the form of P2 cards. (Not to mention the fact that Panasonic previewed its most prominent NAB product announcements in February.) (Read the press release at The Briefing Room: 2007 NAB Newslink) Indeed, Panasonic’s most oft-repeated announcement during its NAB press conference was the new five-year warranty that will be standard for all full-size P2 camcorders and related field equipment.

So what were the specifics? Well, our editors covered two of the big announcements before the show: the HPX500, a full-size 2/3in. 3CCD P2 HD camcorder with interchangeable lenses (for an agressive $14K) and the tiny HSC1U, a 1.1lb. camcorder that shoots long-GOP AVCHD to SD Store memory (not P2; $2,099). more

I blew into town this morning with an hour‘s sleep, expecting not much more than a slow day of stem-winding Digital Cinema Summit panels perfect for napping. Instead I got a fast day of welcome surprises.

Cooling my jets in the press lounge while a squad of black-clad IT guys tapped at my iBook trying to puzzle out why the friendliest of laptops can‘t connect to NAB‘s wireless network — after a 20-minute session, the verdict: “Your computer and our network don‘t get along.” No point in my pointing out that that every notebook in sight is a Mac — I encountered CML‘s Geoff Boyle, brimming with excitement. (Geoff, a U.K.-based Director of Photography, founded and runs the influential Cinematography Mailing List, an Internet exchange for professional DPs, ACs, DITs, and camera techs.) more

New Additions to XDCAM Family Include High-performance HD 4:2:2 Capable Models and Flash Memory Recording in a “Handy” Camcorder

LAS VEGAS, NAB Booth# SU906, April 15, 2007 – Sony is continuing the evolution of its XDCAM® line of tapeless acquisition by unveiling new technologies at NAB. These include recording to ExpressCard high-speed flash media, as well as 50 Mbps 4:2:2 optical disc recording. Read on at The Briefing Room: 2007 NAB Newslink

We’ll start blogging about NAB 2007 on April 14. In the meantime, check out The Briefing Room: 2007 NAB Newslink for up-to-the-minute press releases from select publicists. Check back to this virtual press conference several times a day for product launches, demos, and other events not to miss this year in Vegas.

Yesterday I blogged that my eyes had seen the glory of the coming of 4K (hum that to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, you won’t get it out of your head) at Filmlight’s demonstration of 4K color grading of 4K Dalsa Origin clips over a Sony 4K SXRD projector. But that was yesterday. Today my eyes have a new hero: NHK’s Ultra High Definition Video, which delivers sixteen times the definition of HD. And seeing is believing. more