Recent Comments:
Sanyo offers up "entry-level" 1080p PLV-Z700 LCD projector {Engadget}
Aug 18th 2008 8:37PM I've got a PLV-Z2000 and it's been fantastic. Great image quality, very quiet, versatile setup options. Throwing a nearly 150" diagonal image from about 14' back, and I can't imagine ever going back to a regular TV.
Hauppauge intros WinTV-HVR-950Q USB tuner with Clear-QAM support {Engadget}
Jan 7th 2008 3:12PM The Elgato EyeTV Hybrid is just a rebranded Hauppauge HVR-950 (predecessor to the one announced today) so I can only assume Elgato will follow suit with software support and their own version of this.
Here's hoping it happens soon!
Pinnacle Video Transfer records video to anything USB 2.0, even your iPod {Engadget}
Jan 3rd 2008 2:47PM What you need is a Firestore drive. They're designed for exactly what you need. Focus Enhancements makes them.
A FireWire story {The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)}
Dec 15th 2007 8:19PM Well, considering the Read link is a press release from the 1394 Trade Association officially announcing the Firewire 3200 spec on December 12, 2007 (3 days ago), it seems reasonable to post about it now.
I'm sure they've been working on it for some time now, but it just got finalized as an official spec.
EyeTV software update supports iPhone, iPod Touch {The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)}
Sep 24th 2007 3:31PM @Jason:
It works fine, I've done that before. You just schedule something to record and then in the Programs window you double click on the schedule and say Repeat Weekly. Shows don't get moved around too often, so really the only thing to remember is if a show goes on mid-season hiatus, you have to disable it or it'll start recording whatever reruns they stick in that timeslot.
TiVo has tons of patents on all of their little ease of use and convenience features, so it's hard for companies like ElGato to implement them as well as TiVo.
EyeTV software update supports iPhone, iPod Touch {The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)}
Sep 24th 2007 3:24PM This is a great update. The WiFi sharing is a really nice feature that I'm looking forward to using once I get my iPod touch. I hope they develop it further to include live TV support (unless Slingbox has too many patents on that) and support for adding your own videos to the shared list.
Imagine if it shared your whole (non-DRM) iTunes video library-- rather than maintaining a list of WiFi-shared recordings and also having the option to send it to iTunes, it just sends everything to iTunes and shares them all (along with any other videos you add to iTunes). You choose the ones you want on your iPod at all times, and the rest you can access any time you're near a WiFi hotspot.
Panasonic offers up 32GB P2 memory card {Engadget}
Sep 19th 2007 12:21PM The Duel Systems DuelAdapter is an ExpressCard to PCMCIA adapter that's not too big and will let you read P2 cards at full PCMCIA speed in a MacBook Pro or other ExpressCard laptop. Goes for around $100. Not quite as streamlined as having the slot in the computer to begin with, but it's a decent workaround.
Panasonic offers up 32GB P2 memory card {Engadget}
Sep 18th 2007 12:05AM Except that XDCAM (EX or HD), while certainly more efficient in bitrate than DVCPRO HD, is not necessarily the better codec. It's basically the pro version of HDV, so it's still a 4:2:0, long-GOP MPEG2 compression, compared to 4:2:2, Intraframe DVCPRO HD. On that PMW-EX1 you're talking up, the SP quality setting actually is just HDV video with uncompressed audio. HQ mode bumps up the bitrate by 10mbits, but you're still dealing with the same limitations.
Not saying DVCPRO HD is always better-- the lower disk space requirements of XDCAM definitely make it a more affordable option, and in terms of straight resolution, the EX1 will beat the HVX, but you're making a tradeoff in ease of chroma keying (reduced colorspace) and fast motion scenes (higher compression) that could easily be a dealbreaker for a lot of projects.
You are absolutely right that bitrate is irrelevant compared to image quality, but there's a lot more to image quality than just resolution, so to say that XDCAM is universally the higher-quality codec just isn't true. Perhaps you should heed your own advice and do a little more research before making blanket statements?
Panasonic offers up 32GB P2 memory card {Engadget}
Sep 17th 2007 9:13PM I was confused about their recording times, as well, until I realized that those times listed are for a AJ-HPX3000 or HPX2000 with FIVE cards installed, not storage time per card. So, the capacity of a 32GB card is actually up to 30 minutes in AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD and 1 hour in AVC-Intra 50 or DVCPRO 50.
Panasonic offers up 32GB P2 memory card {Engadget}
Sep 17th 2007 5:16PM What do you mean by "no longer supported"? It's still, and always has been, only supported by Panasonic. And they're rather attached to it, so I don't see them giving up on it for at least a little while longer.
There's no getting around the expense of P2. The cards are expensive, you need expensive hard drives to replace cheap tape backups, and it generally calls for an extra crew member on set to act as a P2 card wrangler. Despite that, the alternative for acquiring footage at this quality is full-size DVCAM tape like what the larger Varicams use, which are big, unwieldy cameras that go for $60,000 (not to mention $25,000 for a DVCPRO HD deck)
The HVX200 is a fantastic camera. Expensive, yes, but for under $10,000, I don't think you can find a camera that produces better footage.
