They could have been using hard drives a long time ago. ( > 25 megabits)
But imagine the reaction of the tape division guy at a board room meeting, when that topic would come up! *That's* what it's about.
Screw tape. Tape is so 80's !
-Les
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip Williams
Actually it does make sense. That 25mbps rate is there because its the amount of data a readily available and cheap DV tape drive records. By using currently available hardware (DV transports) and combining them with very efficient MPEG2 based recording Sony has been able to drastically reduce the R&D and manufacturing costs of their first batch of consumer/prosumer HD cams. The result is that they've sold a TON of Z1s, FX1s and probably a bunch of HC1s.
Both the development of the CineAlta and HDV camcorders has been in response to market forces. I'm sure if Sony thought they'd sell as many CineAltas with 175mbps rates they would not have bumped it to 880 in such a short period.
We don't have to like 25mbps HD camcorders, but they certainly make sense.
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