JVC finally announces HD Everio!!!

[Steve Nunez]

There's definitely a point to a hard-drive based HD camera.

The advent of desktop editing and its adoption by consumers, prosumers and lower end videographers all taking their footage online for editing- a hard-drive based camcorder solves the "capturing" step which is tedious and time consuming. So a h/d based HD cam should do well as it fills a growing need.

I agree with the dissatisfaction of codecs that need further processing to be used in NLE's- as with the case of the Everio series (Sony's too) that sorta kills the "plus" of having footage that's already digital as it needs to be transcribed into an editable format for editing. HDV has been specified as a "tape" format which took awhile to get broad-spec compliance in popular NLE's- too bad they couldn't use a HDV variant codec easily converted for NLE's. Transport streams and intermediate codecs require time for conversion which negates the whole "ready to edit" concept these new HD h/d cams seem to offer. Many of these cams come with software designed for drop to DVD type footage which isn't NLE friendly (especially for Mac users.)

JVC is definitely a pioneering company which was the first to offer an HD cam, a hard-drive cam and now HD spec h/d cam.....so pioneering products are a JVC strong suit as they seem to be the first to offer products unique in nature to the marketplace. Canon, Panasonic and Sony always end up trumping JVC in these categories later on- but to JVC's credit- they "initialize" the market segment with product first- so we should applaud their efforts!

I too am disappointed with some of the latest details coming to light - but will reserve judgment until a review is released on a finalized product. Manufacturers seem to think we want hard-drive based camcorders that produce footage "ready" for DVD's- when we want footage ready for NLE's! At the very least offer codec options- hopefully future h/d cams will offer this.

My biggest gripe is using a codec that's supported for NLE use for true drop and drag use......so we'll have to wait and see what comes in the next year or two. I'm sure Canon will come up with a quality solution in the future- but JVC is offering something 'now'- so I'm interested in the JVC offering as it's the only choice with some compelling features available soon!

Please keep the posts coming as further information is learned- it benefits everyone here.

[Wayne Morellini]

Originally Posted by Paulo Teixeira

They did say that it’s an unfinished test unit so the production model should be a lot better. Also, unless they had a TV that is 1920x1080, you aren’t going to notice a difference. Another thing to consider is that they were probably comparing the 1920 resolution to the 1440 that has a constant bit rate of 27MBPS. The 1920 mode has a variable bit rate of 26.6. If they were shooting at something that was stationary with no movement then the bit rate probably goes down to 23.2MBPS and for fast action it goes up to 30MBPS.

As I said before, their will be features that JVC is keeping secret until March so who knows what that will be. The HD7 better prove itself or else JVC may have to give this thing a big price drop and its already 100 dollars less.

Like 1/2inch chips (even 1/3rd inch), preferably cmos with range extension to get rid of clipping problems, does this have multi-channel sound? H264 at 24mb/s as well, Ambarella, has had an chip for ages, that Japanese manufactures saw, but did not use. Even using mpeg4/DivX/VC1, would be alright, JVC has had experience in Mpeg 4 cameras before (remember that 8 MP camera some years ago). An progressive mode, read true 720p at top data rate, would also be good.

I did not mind the 30mb/s data rate so much, an bottom variable rate of 18mb/s would also be good. Because it is disk based and variable, it lets you play around with GOP length an lot and use better data recovery/protection, and could be equivalent to an much faster tape based data rate (please don't tell me that they are using an identical format to tape :( ).

But this is just an cheap Everio, as per usual (notice that SD Everios suddenly got better models when the market started moving towards HD). It is what it is. There is supposed to be an professional low end camera coming at NAB, that is where we should look for professional camera.

[Steve Nunez]

Wayne, do you have any info at all on what this low end pro cam is- manufacturer etc??

[Wayne Morellini]

As I have said in various places, an JVC pro distributor told me to expect an pro camera to be shown at NAB, single chip I think from memory. So, we don't need top get to excited, like this is the only thing they plan to give us (like the HD1/10. But when an company/distributor representative tells me something, it doesn't mean that it will not turn out different. Many times it does, like the JVC/SAMSUNG etc release dates, only Sanyo seems to be consistent, I can nearly tell you the release dates of the next 4 models (6 months apart).

[Hse Kha]

Why doesn't the camcorder have its own forum?

Also any sample clips anywhere on the web to download yet?

Thanks.

[Hse Kha]

The imagers are so low in resolution! And pixel shifting can only do so much. There is no substitue for real high resolution chips. Ironically this very low res camera will be the first and ONLY consumer camcorder to shoot in 1920x1080 (others do 1440x1080), what a waste!

[Steve Nunez]

The camcorder doesn't have it's own forum as it's not out yet. Clips are also not available as no one has any production units to test.

[Paulo Teixeira]

As mentioned numerous times by many people, the pixel count of the JVC HD7 is similar to the Panasonic HVX200 and in fact, the JVC HD7 has a pixel count that is a bit higher. To prove that the HD7 can have a more detailed picture quality than both the Canon HV20 and the Sony HC7, I am linking everybody to this article written by one of the most elite posters of DVinfo, Barry Green. http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/xha1/. It compares the Canon XH-A1 to the HVX200. The HVX200 is still a very strong force considering that its pixel count for each CCD is 960x540 compared to 1440X1080 of the XH-A1. You could say that it’s not a fare comparison arguing that DVCPRO-HD is a better codec but since the XH-A1 is a much newer camcorder, it sort of evens it out.

Besides, Even Sony’s V1u has arguably more detailed images than the XH-A1 when viewing interlaced images in situations where there is a lot of light. The point I’m trying to make is that theirs more to it than just pixel count to make a good image.

Comparing the Panasonic SD1 to the Sony SR1 is a much better example and even though the bit rate of the SD1 is less than the SR1, the SD1 still produces a much better image.

Another thing to consider is that JVC is the original creator of HDV so they do know a lot about making a good codec, and since JVC is the best at utilizing 24p and 30p out of all the other HDV camcorders, it will look wonderful if they include it in this camcorder.

As for the review on that German site, I wouldn’t think nothing much of it. JVC is keeping certain features secret so the test unit that they gave out is far from being a complete version.

[Ken Hodson]

Anyone have any updates?

[Paulo Teixeira]

Originally Posted by Ken Hodson

Anyone have any updates?

Just a newer Press Release.
http://www.jvc.com/press/index.jsp?item=569&pageID=1

[Jim Nogueira]

This camcorder certainly looks interesting.

I'm curious about the SHARE STATION CU-VD40 and it's ability to:

"archive these HD video clip programs and files to both DVD-R and DVD-RW 12cm discs, recording approximately 40 minutes in full HD on an 8.5GB dual-layer DVD-R disc".

Does this mean that said DVD-R discs will only work with the CU-VD40, or will they play back HD quality on an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player? I would assume that they will not work in a standard DVD player (non-HD) though the press release also says further down that:

"The HD Everio SHARE STATION also allows easy playback of HD archived files in analog component or down-converted SD video".

I'm intrigued, but a little confused!

[Kalunga Lima]

Anybody know the estimated shelf life of a DVD-R disc. I would imagine that archiving is a critical issue if people are going to go "tapeless". I still get a kick out of watch 8mm and super 8mm family footage my father shot almost 40 years ago, and would hope my children would have the same pleasure... I suppose by then we'll be able to carry 10 TB in a pen drive.

[Lorry Smyth]

Originally Posted by Kalunga Lima

Anybody know the estimated shelf life of a DVD-R disc. I would imagine that archiving is a critical issue if people are going to go "tapeless". I still get a kick out of watch 8mm and super 8mm family footage my father shot almost 40 years ago, and would hope my children would have the same pleasure... I suppose by then we'll be able to carry 10 TB in a pen drive.

No one really knows. Some Media is targeted at 10 years shell, some, claim to last 80 to 100 years. We'll know then I guess. Of course by the problem will NOT be the media but the players. Try to find a floppy reader today! In 10 years DVD-Rs will be so archaic that I doubt anything will play them.. or do you really think unless you have an old VCR in your garage by then, you are going to be to play your old VHS tapes? The good thing with digital media/ computers is that you can copy the data at anytime to whatever new support is available, so, the contents of your DVD-Rs in a few years will be in newer RAM chips (I don't believe in disks in out future) way before they become unreadable. And, its not in 40 years that you will be carrying 10TB in a pen drive. That will happen in less than 10, IMO. Remember Bluray/HD-DVD can hold 30GB to 50GB, but, in the labs, disks that hold 1000 times that much are ready for production if it weren't for the politics of things, which ultimately controls pricing and availability to the end user :)

[Ken Hodson]

The new HD/Blue DVD players are backwards compatible with DVDR's, are they not? So that is what we will be using in 10 years time. I hope the trend continues after that.

[Lorry Smyth]

Originally Posted by Ken Hodson

The new HD/Blue DVD players are backwards compatible with DVDR's, are they not? So that is what we will be using in 10 years time. I hope the trend continues after that.

HD/Blue DVD will not last over 2 or 3 years. The time for "supports" of any kind is over. Its all memory cads, RAM, disk storage and Internet Streaming.