This year's NAB showcased a full array of high-definition cameras, from Ultra HDTV (NHK) to a 1080i camera less than the size of a pack of cigarettes (Iconix Video) and everywhere in between. The winner is the customer, who now has a wide variety of HD acquisition choices to fit any budget.
A number of prototypes certainly have the established players concerned, as they cause buyer hesitation and confusion in the marketplace. Indeed, potential buyers should be aware that not all HD cameras adhering to the 1080 or 720-line spec create the same image. Without getting into specific frame rates and acquisition bit rates for every camera, it was clear that there were some nice-looking 50 Mbps standard-definition cameras on the show floor that produce pictures far superior to others' 35 Mbps 1080i cameras. Potential customers should look at the resulting pictures on a monitor and judge for themselves.
The wide availability of low-cost IT components translated this year to a number of new entries into the digital cinematography realm. This is good news for customers, who could see two or three sub-$20,000 entries at next year's NAB. There were prototypes from Colorspace, Red Digital Cinema, and Silicon Imaging. One was only detailed on paper, one showed several pieces of raw metal and the other could be held in your hand — but the LCD viewfinder and other features were clearly not ready for real-world use.
Yet, how these cameras stack up to the much more expensive (and now shipping) Grass Valley Viper, Panavision Genesis or ARRI D20 remains to be seen (literally).
Silicon Imaging's proposed single-CMOS-chip camera uses a customized CineForm codec that makes it compatible with Adobe Premiere (it was shown in the Adobe booth) and allows Premiere users to edit raw data from the camera natively. The company said the codec will work in Final Cut Pro as well by the end of the year. Of course, this leaves out users of all the other NLE systems.
At an offsite party staged by the CML cinematography mailing list on the last night of the convention (organized by Geoff Boyle, Scott Billups and Studio Monthly Contributing Editor Jim Feeley) several of the most popular HD cameras—the Canon XL H1, Grass Valley Viper, Silicon Imaging and others—were on display and each camera's output was analyzed. Although there were no clear winners (there were too many people and not enough space), the Viper's output clearly showed the most color information and depth of field on a monitor.
Speaking of crowded spaces, the Red booth reminded many of the early "feeding frenzy" days of the original NewTek Video Toaster. Attendees lined up five and six deep to see a mere PowerPoint presentation of the proposed camera, with its single 12-Megapixel "Mysterium" chip, 4:4:4 output and REDCODE variable-bit-rate wavelet codec.
When they got inside the closely-guarded Red tent, they saw three display cases with metal mock-ups showing what the camera could look like, one with a prototype handle for handheld operation. And, perhaps because famed Oakley sunglasses founder Jim Jannard is behind it, more than 200 people put down a (refundable) $1,000 deposit at the show for a camera that is supposed to (but might not) ship by the end of the year. That's right, while they could buy a working camera elsewhere on the floor, they chose instead to reserve a Red camera.
Of course, there were many working cameras of note from the established companies this year, including an enhanced Varicam (model H) and a new AJ-HDX900 HD camcorder from Panasonic; the HDC-1500 1080p/60 and XDCAM HD cameras from Sony; the HD EditCam from Ikegami; the GY-HD100U and new GY-HD250U from JVC; and Grass Valley's new Infinity series camcorder. Sony also showed a prototype 1080p, 4:4:4 multi-frame-rate (1 fps to 30 fps in 4:4:4 mode and up to 60 fps in 4:2:2 mode) camera as part of its growing CineAlta line that's designed to look and feel familiar to film shooters.
Everyone who saw the demonstrations of Japanese broadcaster/government-funded NHK's Ultra High-Definition TV system and 3D technology came away impressed. How could you not? With 7,680 x 4,320 lines of resolution that offer about 16 times the data of the current 1920 x 1080 standard, every detail was in full view. The 3D display system, from NHK's Technical Services division, was shown using dual 202-inch DLP projector systems with a polarizing filter to create a stunning 3D effect.
However, these new-technology demonstrations are just that, with no clear application in sight. Ultra High-Definition TV is not planned to be commercially shipped until 2025! The camera is a bulky contraption that requires a specially built image processor, the VP-8400 (made by Astrodesign). In addition, there's no monitor available that will handle this 8K resolution, so you can't edit or preview it in any practical way without first downconverting it. Ugh!
Whether these new entries or any of the new camera introductions can deliver on their promises remains to be seen. After looking at the complex schematics and PowerPoint slides shown at NAB, we say, show me the camera!!
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