Sony of Canada is continuing the evolution of its XDCAM line of tapeless acquisition by unveiling new technologies. These include recording to ExpressCard high-speed flash media, 50 Mbps 4:2:2 optical disc recording, as well as new optical-disc based XDCAM products including the PDW-F355 camcorder, PDW-F75 deck, and the PDW-U1 external drive. Future versions of the XDCAM system are planned to include a camcorder and deck with multi-format 2/3-inch HD progressive CCDs (1920 x 1080), recording bit-rate of 50 Mbps, 1080 and 720 native recording and eight channels of audio.

The camcorder, deck and drive will support both single- and dual-layer versions of Sony’s Professional Disc media for the XDCAM system, which enables recording up to approximately 100 minutes at 50Mbps HD 4:2:2.

The planned XDCAM EX unit will expand upon Sony’s XDCAM line of tapeless acquisition systems, using flash memory technology: the SxS memory card specification, with high-speed transfer technology compliant to the ExpressCard industry standard.

ExpressCard’s higher speed and smaller form factor will make Sony’s evolution to flash media a natural progression and open the door to a broader range of applications for tapeless production.

The planned camcorder is based on MPEG-2 compression technology with three, 1/2-inch imagers. It will be switchable between 1080/60i and 720/60P, and will be capable of recording 1080/50i/30P/25P/24P and 720/50P. The camera will also have slow and quick motion functionality. The camera will feature two card slots, and users will be able to record approximately 120 minutes of content on two16 GB cards.

To increase interoperability with this new XDCAM EX technology, a range of non-linear editing manufacturers are developing compatible interfaces, including Adobe, Apple, Canopus, Dayang, Main Concept, New Auto, Sobey and Sony Creative Software’s Vegas, in addition to Sony’s XPRI NS.

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