The PDW-700 camcorder is the Sony's first release in the XDCAM HD 4:2:2 line. Is equipped with three 2/3 Power HD FX CCD sensors with 1920x1080 real resolution and progressive scanning, conversion 14-bit A/D and a fairly large repertoire of DSP functions respectable. The 700 has multiple connectivity options digital, including iLink (IEEE 1394), ethernet, USB 2.0, outputs for monitoring and can optionally be equipped with HD-SDI connections. The camcorder has upconversion functions, downconversion and crossconversion, which will give you allow you to deliver SD, 720p, 1080i or 1080p indistinctly, or receive SD signals and record them in 1080p. And, obviously, can record 720p signals, which is a nod from Sony to who are not your loyal customers.
Unsurprisingly, the PDW-700 includes all the ergonomic subtleties that Sony has us to accustomed: electronic focus aids, 16:9 screen 3.5, six assignable buttons, use of memory cards and the XDCAM navigation system, which has some changes interesting, such as the addition of a cache memory of 30 that allows you to continue recording material while it is being recorded they exchange disks. An interesting addition is the support for a new line of wireless microphones with digital transmission, whose receivers can be connected directly on the body of the camcorder.
The simple editing capabilities of XDCAM have been extended to accommodate a new feature called Live and Play, which allows a reporter to combine live shots with hot pre-recorded material, an interesting option for journalistic applications and Sports.
In short, the PDW-700 is a camera serious and with a marked television vocation, as its predecessor, the PDW-F330. Although for now a CineAlta camera based on XDCAM HD 4:2:2, we think your appearance is a matter of time.
The PDW-700's companion product is the PDW HD-1500 studio recorder, a deck that it simply has everything it should have: with the same device, graphics people can copy material via FTP, editors can transfer background material while they start editing the 2 Mbps proxy, the file manager can be dedicated to enriching metadata about the original disks and the VTR operator of the old School can connect your reliable BetaSP machine to do one edition by cuts.
What is the main strength of XDCAM? Its soft vocation. The choice of blue discs it seems to have been a success, but the most important. XDCAM is a set of tools for implementing tapeless workflows and as such has already begun to migrate to other media such as SxS memory cards and mass storage spaces. XDCAM has managed to prove that blue discs can be used for many things, and surely in the near future Sony will continue proposing new ways to take advantage of them.
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