JP/17/HDTV

JP/17/HDTV

hi the bit in yellow Chisato is checking on, the other bolded bits can you check with writer or get him to read through, thnks Sony launches world's first high-definition compatible camcorder

To promote its HDV 1080i compatible video camera recorder, Sony held a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 8. Scores of journalists from the Asia-Pacific region were invited, including Hyginus Hardoyo of The Jakarta Post:

Have you ever wished your television's picture was a little sharper, so that scenes from around the world sprang to life, and you could really imagine you were there?

Don't worry, high-definition television (HDTV) technology, a new broadcasting standard that is a complete departure from the existing broadcast formats of NTSC, PAL and SECAM, will blow your socks off.

To be more specific, Sony introduced early this month a high- definition handycam, called the HDR-FX1.

It weighs two kilograms and is set to be priced at between US$3,600 and $4,500.

Ideal for home or professional usage, the Sony HDR-FX1 records and plays back images through 1080i scanning lines, the most widely used for high-definition technology applied in HD broadcast.

The HDR-FX1 is the latest addition to Sony's handycam family and is expected to revolutionize the industry.

Masahiro Tamura, managing director of Sony Electronics Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., said the worldwide trend in digital broadcasting was for high definition.

In Japan, the United States and Europe, he said, high-definition TV is gathering momentum, and this revolution is set to take off in the Asia-Pacific region as well.

High-definition TV broadcasting is already available in Australia, Korea and Hong Kong, with China predicted to start using it in the near future.

According to Sony, DV format is gaining popularity in Singapore and Taiwan, while camcorder sales are accelerating in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Expectations are high that camcorder sales in the Asia- Pacific will reach the 3 million mark this year. Sony holds up to 50 percent of the market share in the region.

"The Asia-Pacific, comprising South East Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa, has constituted a very important region for Sony,

"We see tremendous market potential and we are continuously stepping up our efforts to provide the latest products and technology to consumers in the region, which has a population of over three billion," Tamura said.

Sony expects to sell 5,000 units of the HDR-FX1 in October alone. It will hit stores in the United States in November and be available in Asia and Europe by the end of the year.

"With high-definition technology more widely available, we envision that it will become a standard for people -- not just for viewing TV, but for recording and sharing their memories," Tamura said.

Until now, high-definition has mainly been used by professionals.

"The HDR-FX1 Sony makes video shooting more fun, enabling consumers to capture their memories as highly defined images." Tamura said.

The new handycam resembles the type of units perched on the shoulders of cameramen at outdoor locations, rugged -- yet lighter and slimmer. It is equipped with a wide screen, balanced grip, big view finder, new cassette-loading function and manual controls.

Sony said users of the new handycam would enjoy the clearest and smoothest high-definition video images available at a resolution of 1440 pixels x 1080 lines (compared to conventional DV formats of 720 pixels x 480 lines in the case of NTSC). Applying inter-frame compression through MPEG2 encoding technology, the HDV format is recordable on digital video tapes.

The new handycam can be utilized to make home movies look like professionally shot films. The Cinematone Gamma and Cineframe functions on the handycam enable high-quality picture processing and 24 frames/second or 30 frames/second shooting.

Smooth, seamless, professional-looking shot transitions are achieved using the Shot Transition function. With settings to control focus, zoom, iris, gain shutter and white balance, focus can gradually shift from the front of the screen to a deeper subject, or vice versa, enabling a smooth depth-of-field transition. Transitions may be linear, soft stop or soft transition.

Not only does the HDR-FX1 record and play back superb images, but the wide-range stereo microphone provides superior audio quality. Wind noise is minimized through the camera's own shape, and sound adjustments, previously adjusted via a menu, can now be directly adjusted via the external audio level meter.

Once limited to the world of digital broadcasting, the HDR-FX1 takes advantage of Sony's proprietary HD Codec engine to bring HDV recording and playback to the consumer. This highly advanced processing circuit efficiently compresses data, while maintaining the quality of the digital images. The unique 1080i HD CCD separates light into the three primary colors and with 1.12M total pixels, more defined HD images are achieved.

Masashi Imamora, Sony's senior general manager, said that the main message of the launching of the new product was the creation of a kind of a bridge between standard and high-definition formats.

"The HDR-FX1 plays back simple DV recorded tape and down- converts high-definition pictures to standard definition," he said.

Is compatible editing software available?

Yes, no matter what functions or settings are employed, users can edit footage via a Mac or PC using the rapidly expanding range of compatible HDV editing software.

Adobe Systems Inc., for example, is planning to introduce an HDV plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 later this year. Other companies, including Apple, Avid Technology Inc., Canopus Corporation and Pinnacle Systems and Ulead Systems Inc. have also expressed their commitment to supporting Sony's new handycam for the non-linear editing of personal HD content.

With such support, Sony's intention of revolutionizing documentary film making and other film production should materialize -- but in stages.