I saw a report on some other items coming out of this so-called PMA meeting in Vegas so it's definitely happening. What I really want to know are first-hand reports on the HD camcorders that are supposed to be shown there? Don't we have any scouts on the scene?

PMA (Photo Marketing Association) is the largest annual photo related trade show in the Western Hemisphere. Chris Hurd is there working the Canon booth, as well as several other Wranglers. I'm sure you'll see some reports soon.

Howdy from Las Vegas,

I had lunch today at Togoshi Ramen, off the strip, and on the way out I saw some JVC guys getting sample video with this new little HD camcorder. If I get any kind of free time here, I'll be sure to drop by their booth and check it out in person, which will be the first time for me.

Check out the back of the D-VHS deck, too. If I'm going to be switching to yet another tape format (the sixth in my lifetime, but who's counting anymore) I'd like to know how I can go about converting my archieval tapes. I'm so excited about this stuff I find myself daydreaming about it all the time! Who ever thought we'd see affordable HD in our lifetime....

I'm thinking of driving to Las Vegas from LA this evening to attend the last day of the convention. Unfortunately, when I went to the PMA site I couldn't make head or tails of what kind of ticket I needed to buy to get to see the JVC booth. Does anyone know the cheapest way I can get onto the showroom?

You can buy a one day pass to the floor of the show. Check out JVC's US site and see if they have any details on their location. If you have time check with local vendors. Many vendors have passes to the show.

<<<-- Originally posted by Lynne Whelden : Check out the back of the D-VHS deck, too. If I'm going to be switching to yet another tape format (the sixth in my lifetime, but who's counting anymore) I'd like to know how I can go about converting my archieval tapes. I'm so excited about this stuff I find myself daydreaming about it all the time! Who ever thought we'd see affordable HD in our lifetime.... -->>>

You DON'T need to look at the back.

i.LINK port will record DV at 14.1Mbps MPEG-2 in SD.

If you connect via S-video you can record at 28.2Mbps MPEG-2 in SD.

There is no way to record an HD i.link or analog signal. But you can record HD MPEG-2-TS data input via i.LINK.

For under $800 it's a hell of a lot better than DVD, but it's not optical.

So let me get this straight--the deck has two inputs, firewire and S-video. You can feed analog into the S-video, right? So if I wanted to archive my old 3/4" and hi-8mm tapes, I'd go thru the S-video input. Anything I've got on miniDV or DV can obviously go thru firewire. But does it make sense to convert my tapes to the D-VHS format? Or is a better way to just wait for blu-ray?