Canon purchases 24p license

[Simon Wyndham]

Just heard on the Two Minute Drill that Canon have purchased a 24p license.

Does this mean a new camera is on the way? :)

[Chris Hurd]

Simon is talking about http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/T...inutedrill.mp3

If it ain't there, try http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/TMD/archive

[Jon Fairhurst]

This is the direct link...

http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/T...inutedrill.mp3

[Bob Zimmerman]

so what is the 24p on the XL2? Did they not have a license? Or is it not real 24p?

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Originally Posted by Bob Zimmerman

so what is the 24p on the XL2? Did they not have a license? Or is it not real 24p?

24P on the XL2 or other Canon camcorders isn't true 24P. The CCDs, even on the XLH1, are interlaced CCDs and progressive images must be interpolated from two interlaced fields.

While there is technically no direct licensing requirement in terms of patents/copyrights, etc.. for someone to produce a 24p/24FPS camera, it seems that most manufacturers are paying royalties to 24P, LLC. A "company" that holds the patent on acquiring 24 progressive frames per second from a digital imaging device, in order to replicate the appearance of film. Robert Faber, who holds the patent, is nothing more than a bully and it is outright extortion that he collects royalties for such a patent as it is very vague and extremely all-encompassing. Faber actually chased down Sony several years ago when they started shipping some of their intial 24p capable HD cameras and Sony lost (actually settled out of court). All licensing of 24P from Faber is handled confidentially on an individual basis and several cases have supposedly bordered on blackmail and illegal activity and they all involve a patent that should never have been granted in the first place. When Faber applied for his patent in '92, it was hardly an original idea then and various camera makers were already talking about such cameras and were playing with prototypes. It's almost as bad as the early '90s patent application by the Pizza Hut Corporation to patent their stuffed-crust pizza... A novelty of many pizza kitchens world-wide that has been around for at least a few hundred years. Perhaps I should go apply for a patent on 300FPS acquisition via a digital imaging system and then whenever upcoming digital cameras capable of 12.5X slow-mo arrive (240FPS digital are right around the corner), I can start collecting money for every slow-mo shot in every major motion picture.

Check out this link to a blurb at studiodaily.

Anyway, all that this shows is that Canon is developing or even preparing to release a 24P capable camera. Beyond that, I don't think anyone really knows what Canon is up to and they're very good at keeping quiet about their new products. It could be a new 720p consumer HDV camera or a 1080p pro camera, or anything in between. 24P and variable-rate progressive technology from 24P,LLC is currently used in just about every progressive-scan camera out there, including the Varicam, HVX200, DVX100, etc.. It's a small license, and could mean a lot of things, but it shows that Canon is taking a step towards a camera that has true progressive frame shooting abilities.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kilgroe

24P on the XL2 or other Canon camcorders isn't true 24P.

Actually, the XL2 does indeed have progressive scan CCDs, and its 24P implementation is exactly the same as that used on the Panasonic DVX100. In other words, 24P on the XL2 is as "true" as it is on the DVX100.

[Brendan Sundry]

Would RED have to pay this Pencil neck?

[Chris Hurd]

I think RED can afford it.

[Brendan Sundry]

AHh yes im forgetting. Cheap camera, billion dollar company!

[Zack Birlew]

I think one problem is that 24F isn't supported by FCP, the second most used NLE, and maybe other NLE's(?). Does anybody know how the XLH1 has been selling? I know the XL2 has made quite a bit of money, maybe not DVX money, but quite a bit as I see it being used almost everywhere else if not a DVX.

Also, maybe they don't want to stick to their "F"-style progressive scheme, maybe they want to save a whole lot of trouble and just do progressive with the option of true 24p.

[Curtis Rhoads]

I'm not exactly sure about numbers, but it seems to me that the XLH1 is selling pretty decently, considering the price tag, and that most people thought no one would buy it. It may not be as big as the XL2, but it's certainly selling.

[Simon Wyndham]

Actually, the XL2 does indeed have progressive scan CCDs, and its 24P implementation is exactly the same as that used on the Panasonic DVX100. In other words, 24P on the XL2 is as "true" as it is on the DVX100.

And that begs the question of how Canon managed to do that without having to pay a 24p license?

[Chris Hurd]

Or Panasonic for that matter, right?

[Simon Wyndham]

Nope. Panasonic have the license.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Simon Wyndham

And that begs the question of how Canon managed to do that without having to pay a 24p license?

Perhaps they did for the XL2...went with the F mode on the H1 to avoid such license, and have decided to purchase a 24P license for their forthcoming offering whatever it is.

A new camera? Well it would seem likely given the timeline between their previous GL series offerings. The GL2 would be up for replacement with some type of HDV camera. I suspect that's where the licensing is going.

-gb-