PDW-70MD
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Sony's PDW-70MD XDCAM HD recorder gets official
We'll admit, we too noticed the stark irony in Sony -- the firm at least somewhat responsible for recalling millions of potentially harmful batteries -- releasing a gizmo to benefit the medical field, but regardless, we can't deny the impressiveness of the PDW-70MD XDCAM HD recorder. While we caught wind of this thing awhile back, it's now getting official with a full list of specs and a hefty pricetag to boot. Taking high definition recording to a field that can genuinely benefit from more detailed captures, the device can "record and store up to two hours of MPEG2 video on a 23GB PFD-23 XDCAM disc" (wasn't this another failed attempt by Sony's proprietary format department?), which is sealed to help prevent scratches and "preserve data with minimal degradation for more than 50 years." Doctors can store HD video of medical procedures in crisp 1,440 x 1,080 resolution, view colored thumbnails of the footage on the 3.5-inch LCD monitor, and control the action with the bevy of front-mounted controls. Of course, the two biggest factors that prove the PDW-70MD is tailored for medical use is the inability to use a recordable format that the general public can acquire (and afford), and moreover, the $14,995 pricetag that only cash-generating hospitals are likely to glance over.[Via MedGadget]
Sony rolls out HD for the OR
Lest we forget, Sony does more than just Blu-ray and SXRD. At the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in Chicago it's showing off a collection of HD monitors and video equipment to make sure that when students go over your "minor surgery" gone horribly wrong, it is all recorded in crisp 1080i. Sony plans to show off the LMD-2140MD monitor shown here and its first XDCAM HD medical-grade 1080i video recorder, the PDW-70MD, with the IPELA videoconferencing platform to demonstrate high definition video streaming over IP. Some may question the need for high-def in medicine but we see this as an extremely necessary tool for training. Next time you make a trip out of the country for cheap surgery, make sure your fly by night quack surgeon earned his internet degree training in HD.
