The Pressure on Sony for NAB

by Robin Liss
Published on Mar 30, 2003 12:00 AM



The National Association of Broadcasters annual convention in Las Vegas Nevada kicks off this weekend. It's where the pros, especially television stations meet, shop for new equipment, and exchange ideas. It's the biggest show of the year for the professional divisions of many camcorder manufacturers. It's hard to predict what will come out of NAB that will be relevant to the prosumer videographer - however there is no doubt that there is a special amount of pressure on Sony to produce a new and innovative $2,000 - $5,000 camcorder.

In October of 2002, JVC started showing off prototypes of the first consumer (really prosumer) high definition camcorder. For under $4,000 the GR-HD1 and the more professional, GY-HD10U produce a HDTV signal on standard MiniDV tape. The GR-HD1 is expected to start shipping this month. Both the GR-HD1 and the JY-HD10U are revolutionary camcorders bringing high definition quality to an extremely low price.

Panasonic has already started shipping the AG-DVX100, a similarily innovative camcorder. The AG-DVX100 is the first camcorder to record a 24-frames progressive (film speed) signal. The camcorder records the video to standard MiniDV tapes and also sells for less than $4,000. The AG-DVX100 has been received very well by the prosumer and independent filmmaker community. Both these camcorders are very innovative, stretching the limits of existing technology to meet the demands of innovative formats.

JVC, Panasonic and Sony plus the Canon XL1S are the only major players in the prosumer, $3,000-$7,000 camcorder arenas. Right now, there is a lot of anticipation surrounding Sony's response to the AG-DVX100 and the GR-HD1 and the JY-HD10U. Sony is yet to announce their own 'alternative' MiniDV camcorder.

Whether or not Sony will announce any such camcorder at NAB is unknown - but it seems like a logical place to do it. Most likely, such a camcorder would fall under the professional division (DSR), making it seem a likely possibility to be announced at NAB.

At this point, were just going to have to wait and see until the Sony Press conference on April 6th to find out. Camcorderinfo.com will be reporting live from NAB.