| WHY DigitalMaster™ FOR HDV? |
In an era of high definition, where HDV is recorded on DV tapes
only a quarter-inch in width, the need to raise the performance
of the media has never been more important. If you consider
that a mini-sized tape that traditionally stores 60 minutes
of standard definition DV/MiniDV is now commissioned to store
60 minutes of (high definition) HDV, you might wonder, how is
that possible? The answer lies in the type of compression employed
by HDV that effectively reduces the uncompressed video signal
to the same 25Mbps (25 million bits/sec.) video bit rate as
that of consumer DV. Although the video bit rates may be the
same, the importance placed on each bit, during playback, is
not.
With digital video, a stream of ones and zeros, or bits,
are recorded to tape. The ability for the head to precisely
discern one from the other is critical during playback. A
zero can be played back as a one if the noise is too high,
while a one can be misinterpreted as a zero if the signal
is too low. A lower noise floor reduces the chance of misinterpreted
data/errors, while a higher output enables more signal to
be played back from the tape. Together they result in a cleaner,
more powerful, signal transfer during both record and playback.
The improved CNR with DigitalMaster reduces the dropout rate
by 60% versus Sony consumer DV tape and 30% versus Sony professional
DVCAM tape. Additionally, DigitalMaster has 95% fewer errors
versus DV tape and 90% fewer errors versus DVCAM tape. But,
don’t be fooled. The difference between 90% and 95% is
not just 5%, it is the difference between 10:1 and 20:1. DVCAM
tape has half the errors versus Sony consumer DV tape.
| Sony DigitalMaster
tape... |
...versus Sony
DV consumer tape |
...versus Sony
EX consumer tape |
...versus Sony
HD
consumer tape |
...versus Sony
DVCAM
professional tape |
Dropouts
|
Errors
|
Durability -
Diamond-Like
Carbon (DLC) Layer
|
Width Tolderances
|
| Tape Shrinkage |
|
60% fewer
|
95% fewer
|
30% greater
|
50% tighter
|
| 50% less |
|
60% fewer
|
90% fewer
|
30% greater
|
50% tighter
|
| the same |
|
30% fewer
|
80% fewer
|
30% greater
|
50% tighter
|
| the same |
|
30% fewer
|
90% fewer
|
the same
|
the same
|
| the same |
|
|
Although it is true that HDV will record on any mini-size
tapes, all tapes are not created equally. A technologically
advanced compression codec like MPEG-2 is better served by
a technologically advanced media, especially when employed
by small-format HD acquisition hardware like HDV. DigitalMaster
Tape combines developments in AME-II tape manufacturing with
dual-layer technology to improve the carrier-to-noise ratio,
significantly reducing dropouts and errors. An ideal match
for any HDV hardware.
| MODEL
NUMBERS |
| MINI
SIZE |
STANDARD
SIZE |
| PHDVM63DM |
PHDV64DM
PHDV124DM
PHDV186DM
PHDV276DM |
|
|
 |
The HDV specification embraces two types of high definition
recording, 720p at a video bit rate of 19Mbps, or 1080i at a
rate of 25Mbps, which is used with Sony HDV hardware. A 1080/60i
HDV signal (1440 x 1080) is made up of 1080 lines of vertical
resolution (number of lines from the top of the screen to the
bottom), each line containing 1440 pixels of horizontal resolution,
displayed at a rate of 60 interlaced fields, or 30 frames, per
second. Standard definition DV records a 480/60i signal (720
x 480) in NTSC countries, which includes the U.S. These resolutions
render the HDV uncompressed video bit rate at roughly 4.5x that
of consumer DV. In order to reduce the uncompressed video bit
rate to DV’s compressed 25Mbps, HDV adopts the same powerful
MPEG-2 compression format that is used for digital broadcasts
and DVDs. MPEG-2 for HDV combines intra-frame (intra = within
frames) compression, used in DV recording with, the more efficient,
inter-frame (inter = between frames) compression.
Inter-frame compression organizes frames into groups of pictures
(GOPs) or frames, where one GOP is equivalent to about 15 frames,
or a half-second of video. Each GOP begins with one intra-frame
(I-frame) containing a complete frame of video, similar to a
frame of DV video, followed by predictive and bi-directional
frames which encode only the changes in the incoming video relative
to the complete I-frame. By exploring redundancies within each
frame, in addition to between frames, the MPEG codec is capable
of compression ratios in excess of 20:1, compared to only 5:1
for DV. This means that less than 5% of the uncompressed HDV
video signal is actually recorded to tape, compared to 20% with
DV. It also means that the impact of missing data with HDV is
much greater than with DV.
The video bit rates may be similar, but the importance of each
recorded bit is not. The interdependency of all the frames in
the GOP, to successfully reconstruct the GOP in its entirety,
puts greater demands on the tape to maintain bit-for-bit signal
integrity during playback. Errors and dropouts can not only
compromise the reconstruction of a single frame, but can affect
the decoding of the entire GOP, causing blocks, freeze frames
or audio dropouts to occur. The benefits of HDV are more consistently
realized with a high performace tape.
DigitalMaster uses second generation Advanced Metal Evaporated
(AME-II) manufacturing technology, a new evaporation method
supported by the development of high-density/high-performance
Hyper Evaticle IV magnetic grains with smaller magnetic domain
structures than those used with DV/DVCAM tapes. Grain diameters
were reduced from approximately 8~10nm to 5~7nm, AME to AME-II
respectively. Coupled with this new manufacturing development,
the application of two magnetic layers, instead of just one
used with most DV/DVCAM tapes, minimizes the thickness of
an oxidation layer, inherent in the metal evaporation process,
while moving the active magnetic Cobalt grains closer to the
record/playback heads in the hardware.
This positively impacts a tape performance parameter called
carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR), the distance between the maximum
signal that can be recorded on the tape and the noise floor
(when no signal is present). It is within the tape’s
noise floor that errors can occur during playback because
the data may be masked or misinterpreted by the playback head.
Source: sony.com/digitalmaster
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Online Formats
 |
CERTIFIED PRO MEDIA:
CERTIFIED HDCAM MEDIA, CERTIFIED HDCAM SR MEDIA, CERTIFIED DIG BETACAM, CERTIFIED DVCAM MEDIA, CERTIFIED BETA SP MEDIA
DISCS:
LINE 1 MEDIA BLU-RAY, BLU-RAY, CD-R DISCS, DVD FOR CAMCORDER, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, LIGHTSCRIBE, XDCAM PRO DISC
VIDEO FORMATS:
PANASONIC PLAYBACK PAYBACK QUALIFYING PRODUCTS, Sony XDCAM Professional Disc, BETACAM SP, BETACAM SX, DIGITAL BETACAM, DIGITAL MASTER, DVCAM TAPE, DVCPRO / 50 / HD TAPE, HDCAM/HDCAM SR, HDV TAPES, LARGE DV, MINI DV TAPES, MPEG IMX, P2 CARDS, SxS MEMORY CARDS, SDHC MEMORY CARDS, VHS BULK / PACKAGED, XDCAM PROFESSIONAL DISC, OLDER / OTHER VIDEO FORMATS
DATA STORAGE MEDIA:
LTO ULTRIUM TAPES, LTO CARTRIDGE ANALYZER, DLT + SDLT TAPES, AIT TAPES, T10K / T10000 TAPES, 4MM DDS TAPES, 8MM TAPES, ENTERPRISE - 1/2 INCH, OPTICAL DISKS, VXA TAPE, ECHO RECYCLED/CERTIFIED DATA MEDIA, OLDER / OTHER DATA TAPES
HARDWARE:
DVD/CD ARCHIVAL UNIT, DISC DUPLICATORS/TOWER DUPLICATORS, DVD/CD/BD PRINTERS + DUPLICATORS, HARD DRIVES - STORAGE
USB/FLASH MEMORY:
FLASH/USB DRIVES, COMPACT FLASH/XQD CARDS, MEMORY STICK CARDS, SDHC AND COMPACT FLASH MEMORY CARDS, SECURE DIGITAL HIGH CAPACITY (SDHC) CARDS
SOFTWARE:
COPY PROTECTION
ACCESSORIES:
BATTERIES, EXTENDED WARRANTIES, INKJET CARTRIDGES, CASES + SLEEVES, DISC PRINTER + COPIER ACCESSORY KITS, STORAGE CASES + RACKS, TAPE + DATA CLEANERS, THERMAL RIBBONS
AUDIO:
AUDIO CASSETTES, DAT TAPES, SONY MINIDISC
SPECIALS/BUNDLES:
MONEY SAVING BUNDLES, SPECIALS & CLEARANCE
|
FREE
SAMPLE 
