The standard quality mode on the EX1 is supposed to be fully compatible with HDV specs and NLEs, and worked fine when I tested it with my Firestore Fs4 with HDV upgrade. Practically speaking, it sure seems to be HDV.

I wish Canon would come out with a version of the XH-A1 with the option to record the HDV data stream to an SDHC card (simultaneous with recording to tape would be killer). Heck, there's already an SDHC slot in an A1, so it's hard to imagine that it would be difficult to do.