ProHD vs. HDV
 

I searched to no avail. I know that ProHD is a derivative of HDV, but does it have any additional features that HDV in the broader sense does not? What are the differences?

ProHD
 

Quote from NAB ProHD Press Release doesn't indicate what is unique to ProHD but does describe what it is:
http://pro.jvc.com/pro/pr/2005/nab/p...sitioning.html

"The centerpiece of JVC's affordable HD approach is called ProHD. The ProHD product line-up adopts the HDV™ format to make high quality HD image recording on DV tape. By including professional capabilities such as 4 channel audio, time code, true 24p HD, and dual media direct recording to hard disc, ProHD becomes a tool that can be easily used to produce film-like quality HD programming in a variety of applications.

To achieve its affordable HD solution, JVC utilizes widely available, non-proprietary technologies such as MPEG-2 compression, DV recording media and conventional hard disk drives. By using core technologies developed for mass-market products, JVC's development costs and lead times are greatly reduced, allowing them to rapidly bring high value products to market. But, JVC has employed this technology in truly professional implementation, with products, features and performance defined through extensive end-user interviews following its 2004 Affordable HD debut.

Realizing that many users will want to phase in HD production, JVC designed ProHD to provide spectacular standard definition performance as well as true high definition. Hybrid recording in either Professional DV or HD is available on cameras, recorders and disc drives. JVC's ProHD products use their superior resolution and processing to deliver top performance in either native 16:9 or 4:3 modes, producing standard definition recordings superior to competing SD-only products. ProHD decks are capable of playing back DVCAM™ tapes, enabling use in a wide variety of existing user environments.

...

ProHD is a dynamic concept that adapts to changing needs and technologies of the future. The ProHD concept currently includes tape, hard drive and solid state media and in future products, ProHD will have the capability of 1080 recording in non-tape media. The current ProHD concept does not enable 1080 recording on tape. In a world where tape media may become a thing of the past, but where data compatibility and storage are key components in every system, ProHD makes sense. Don't think of Pro HD as a 'format' but rather a system approach that allows customers to advance without changing systems.
"

ProHD upgrade path
 

By this, do you mean that a camera such as the HD100 could be used later down the road to shoot 1080 onto a firestore or other hard drive disk recorder?

The way I took it was that ProHD will advance and provide new features and capabilities in later releases of ProHD, but to be able to take advantage of the new features you would need a new camera that supports these features. Am I right or wrong?

I would love to be able to purchase a camera and update its "firmware" to harness 1080 and other advances, but I don't think this is what ProHD does.

<<<< Don't think of Pro HD as a 'format' but rather a system approach that allows customers to advance without changing systems.>>>>>

How do you advance without changing the system. Is the camera going to have a firmware upgrade to bring new features or? What does that mean?

Actually my JVC camera does not shoot 1080i natively but it does upconvert to the 1080i format. Because some 720p LCD televisions don't have a very good refresh rate a 1080i television actually looks pretty good with the JVC cameras most of the time.