Sony Broadcast Announces HVR-Z1 HDV Camcorder with PAL and NTSC Support, No 24P

At a press conference today at the Sony building in New York City, Sony Broadcast announced the debut of the HVR-Z1 HDV professional camcorder and a variety of accessories designed to work with the HDV format. The HVR-Z1 is an upgrade of Sony consumer's HDR-FX1, which was released announced in September. The HVR-Z1 records 1080 lines interlaced video at 60 or 50 fields per second onto MiniDV tape using the HDV high definition video specification (25Mbps MPEG2 Transport Stream).

"We've just built a total high definition production system for under $20,000 dollars," said Bob Ott, Senior Vice President of Technology for Sony Pictures Digital Networks.

The HVR-Z1 has specifications nearly identical to the HDR-FX1, but with a few upgrades included. Sony stated that there are forty additional professional features and capabilities above those present on the HDR-FX1. The major change, however, is the camcorder's versatility in recording modes. While the HDR-FX1 only records at 1080 lines of resolution at 60 frames-per-second (as well as standard DV), the HVR-Z1 can record 1080 lines of resolution at 60 interlaced fields per second, 50 interlaced fields per second, 30 progressive frames per second, or 25 frames per second. The 50 fields interlaced and 25 frames progressive settings allow the camcorder to be used both in NTSC and PAL countries, and are eagerly desired by independent filmmakers.

In the presentation, Sony stated that the camcorder had 24 frames-per-second recording capability. However, after being pushed for a few minutes by questioners, they revealed that the 24 frames mode on the HVR-Z1 is the same as that on the HDR-FX1, which means that it will likely suffer from the same problems and artifacts, and not be considered "true" 24 progressive.

Another issue that has arisen with the HDR-FX1 is the problem of "dropped frames." Because the HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1 use MPEG recording, which depends on groups of pictures, the dropping of even one frame will cause a half-second of video to be frozen. Ott and other Sony representatives said that they experienced no dropouts; however, they conceded that they were using high-end Sony tapes.

"Very advanced error correcting mechanisms," added Huge Gaggioni, chief technology officer for Sony Broadcast and Production Systems Division.

Sony has added the same microphone as the HDR-FX1 has, along with a variety of audio upgrades, including two balanced XLR inputs and separate manual control of the left and the right channels. They've also added standard SMPTE time code (with user configurability and user assignable bits), adjustable gamma, increased color correction ability, three additional assign buttons (for a total of six), simultaneous operation of the LCD screen and viewfinder, an all-scan mode (underscan view mode), auto exposure override, a black stretch function, a 4:3 output option for output of the 16:9 image letterboxed, setup level for NTSC, AF assist, external record control, white balance shift, additional outdoor white balance preset, hyper gain, all display off, various zoom display options, selectable peaking levels, time date stamp, safety zone markers, and other audio control options. Sony has also added DVCAM recording for recording standard definition video.

Assignable functions include color bars, display ON/OFF, record preview, audio dub, index mark, steady shot stabilization ON/OFF, allscan mode, marker, hyper gain, white balance outdoor level increase/decrease, auto exposure override, back light, and fader. These may be assigned to any of the six buttons.

Like the HDR-FX1, the HVR-Z1 features a 12x Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar Zoom Lens, optical image stabilization, and three 1/3-inch 16:9 aspect-ratio Megapixel CCDs, the same core specifications as the HDR-FX1. The HVR-Z1 also includes the same 2.5-inch hybrid LCD screen as the HDR-FX1.

Users will have to wait until February 2005 for the HVR-Z1. The camcorder will sell for around $4,900, a mere $1,200 more than the HDR-FX1.

Sony also announced the upcoming HVR-M10U portable HDV-VCR playback and recording 1080i deck. The deck plays back the full HDV spectrum, both the interlaced 1080 line resolution video and the progressive 720 lines of resolution video. The deck comes with a 3.5-inch LCD screen. At the press conference, Ott stated that he saw the deck running for around 5 straight hours using the power of a single camcorder battery. The deck will retail for $3,700 and be available in February 2005. The camcorder also has support for SD playback. The deck has a FireWire component, composite (output only), and S-Video input and output

Sony demonstrated Vegas Video 5.0, their professional video editing software. Although they displayed HDV support in Vegas Video, it was done with a third-party plug-in made by CineForm called ConnectHD. The plug-in is not available yet, but will be necessary to transfer HDV and transcode it into an editable form.

Sony also announced upgraded Luma Series LCD Monitors for high definition video. These monitors can take FireWire output directly from a camcorder, and are the newly revamped versions of the existing Luma line. Sony will have three monitors available: a 17-inch for $3,400, a 23-inch for $4,000, and a 32-inch for $7,200. Each monitor has a remote control unit that can be rack mounted and can control up to nine Luma monitors at once. Sony emphasized that the monitors are not computer monitors; they are made for video work, with full color control and the ability to drop channels.

The HZR-FZ1 camcorder's major competitors are the Canon XL2 and the Panasonic AG-DVX100, both standard definition camcorders. However, both the XL2 and the AG-DVX100 offer 24 frames progressive scan recording, a feature which uses the same progressive scan frame rate and film. This feature has been widely requested and endorsed by the independent filmmaking community because of its ability to give the look of "film" and be converted easily to 16mm or 35mm film. The HDR-FX1 includes a CineFrame24 mode that attempts to replicate the motion effects of 24 fps progressive video in the 60 frames interlaced specification. However, the CineFrame 24 mode has been criticized by some users for being jerky and being difficult to convert to true 24 frames progressive video.

CamcorderInfo.com asked Bob Ott about Sony's strategy for fulfilling the needs of independent filmmakers looking for a 24P camcorder under $5,000. "First of all, they have to understand what they're demanding in 24P.... Some of the products that they're getting aren't 24P; they've just had that moniker attached to them. Sony, because we are using an interlaced chip to originate, will not call the finished product 24P. However, the outputted image -- one of the issues of interlace is you can see the two fields and they'll jostle back and forth -- [in] all the tests that we have run so far, they're gone. We can eliminate that in the 2:3 pull down process." He continued, saying, "I think that we have well established 24P in HDCAM and HDCAM-SR, and if somebody wants to use our product to shoot a movie, more power to them."

The HVR-Z1 and HVR-M10U will be available in February 2005 for $4,900 and $3,700 respectively.

Matt Culler and Kerr Cook contributed to this article.