Tapeless recording
In video technology, tapeless recording is the term used to describe professional digital alternatives to professional recording of moving images . Tapeless recording supplements or replaces film or video cassettes as a recording medium for moving images .
Most television and cinema productions are made on tape or film, but tapeless methods offer some advantages, but also disadvantages.
Almost all relevant manufacturers of professional cameras offer devices for tapeless recording, including Canon , Sony , Grass Valley , Panasonic , Red Digital Cinema Camera Company , Ikegami and ARRI .
media
In contrast to tape-based and film-based recording, no recording medium has yet been able to establish itself as a standard. While the DV tape in the formats DV, HDV, DVCAM , DVCPRO for TV production in the semi- professional environment and the half-inch tape in the formats Betacam , Digital Betacam , DVCPROHD and HDCAM together have a market share of over 90%, tapeless Production no uniform standard for media in sight.
Most manufacturers offer different media. Memory cards ( CompactFlash , P2 , SxS ), hard disk storage ( IDE , SATA , REV) and optical storage ( Blu-ray Disc , DVD , Professional Disc ) are used. Each storage medium offers different advantages.
- Memory cards are very robust, have no moving parts, but they offer the worst price-performance ratio and have the shortest recording time.
- Hard drives are sensitive to vibrations, have moving parts subject to wear and tear, but offer the best value for money and have the longest recording time.
- Optical storage lies between the other two solutions in all respects.
What makes the rapid spread of tapeless media even more difficult is the fact that many manufacturers design the storage media in a proprietary manner and use the supplier monopolies that this entails in order to achieve excessive prices for the media, in contrast to tape-based formats, for which lively competition regulates the prices.
Formats and video codecs
The recorded image and sound tracks are saved on the storage media in different, always data-reduced file formats. As of September 2007, no standard has yet been established here either. All manufacturers offer their own proprietary formats, which in turn are not compatible with those of other providers. The formats used include classic digital video formats MPEG-2 , DV , DVCAM , JIF as well as formats from the IT world, for example from the manufacturers Adobe , Avid , Apple , which in turn can be saved on different media.
In order to create a smooth tapeless production process, the medium and the format stored on it must be compatible.
List of providers
| Manufacturer | model | media | Sensor formats | Sensor resolution / MP | Formats | Frame rate | bayonet | Color depth | Models | since | price | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canon | Cinema EOS | CompactFlash memory card, non-proprietary, at 4K with C500 external hard drive | S35mm CMOS | C100 / 300: 1 * 8.29 MP, C500: 1 * 8.85 | Material eXchange Format, MPEG-2 422, C500: RAW, RGB 444 | PAL, C500: RAW 4096x2160 50p, C100 / C300 / C500 50Mbps u. 35 Mbps: 1,920 × 1,080 / 50i, 25p, 1,280 × 720 / 50p, 25p; 25 Mbps: 1,440 × 1,080 / 50i, 25p | 35 mm Arri PL or Canon EF | C100: 8bit YUV420, C300: 8bit YUV422, C500: 12bit YUV444 | C100, C300, C500 | January 2012 | C100: from 6725 €, C300: from 13000 €, C500: from 24000 € | [1] |
| Canon | XF | CompactFlash memory card, not proprietary | 16: 9 1 * 1/3 CMOS, 16: 9 3 * 1/3 CMOS | 1 * 2.07 MP, 3 * 2.07 MP | Material eXchange Format, MPEG-2 422 | PAL, 50 Mbps and 35 Mbps: 1,920 × 1,080 / 50i, 25p, 1,280 × 720 / 50p, 25p; 25 Mbps: 1,440 × 1,080 / 50i, 25p | not changeable | 8bit YUV422 | XF 100/105, XF 300/305 | June, 2010 | from 2520 € | [2] |
| Panasonic | AVCCAM | SDHC memory card | 16: 9 1 / 4.1 (3 *) CCD or CMOS; | (3 *) 960 * 540 (offset) | MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 | 720 @ 1-60p (?), 1080 @ 50, 60i, 1080 @ 1-60p | not changeable, Micro Four Thirds | 8bit YUV420 | AG-HMC40 / 41, AG-HMC70 / 71, AG-HMC150 / 151, AG-AC130, AG-AC160, AG-HMR10 (AVCCAM recorder), AG-HCK10G (finger camera for AG-HMR10), AG-AF100 / 101 | 2008 | from € 2,400 | [3] |
| Panasonic | P2 | internal memory card, proprietary | 16: 9 1 / 3-2 / 3
3 * CCD; 3 * 1/3 CMOS |
1280 * 720 or 1920 * 1080 | DVCPRO50, DVCPRO HD, AVC-Intra 100, AVC-Intra 50 | PAL, 720 @ 1-60p, 1080 @ 1-24p | fixed or 1/3 or 2/3 | 8bit YUV422, 10bit YUV422 | HPX171, HPX250, HPX371, HPX500, HPX2700 / 3700, HPX2100 / 3100 | 2004 | from 5000 € | [4] |
| Ikegami | Editcam 3 | internal memory card / disk, proprietary | 16: 9 3 * 2/3 CMOS | 1024 * 576 | DV 25/50, IMX 30/40/50, JFIF | PAL, 720 @ 1-60p, 1080 @ 1-24p | B4 2/3 | 8bit YUV422 | DNS33W | 2006 | from € 35,000 | [5] |
| Ikegami | Editcam HD | internal memory card / disk, proprietary | 16: 9 3 * 2/3 CMOS | 1920 * 1080 | Avid DNxHD | 1080 / 59.94i, 1080 / 50i, 1080 / 23.98p, 720 / 59.94p, 720 / 50p | B4 2/3 | 8bit YUV422 | HDN-X10 | 2007 | from € 55,000 | [6] |
| RED | One | non-proprietary: internal CompactFlash memory card, proprietary: hard disk , docked. | S35mm CMOS | 12.6 MP, 4900 × 2580 | Quicktime, RedCode | PAL, NTSC, 720, 1080: 1-120p, 4k 1-60p. | 35 mm Arri PL , Canon, Nikon , 2/3 | 10bit RGB444, 12bit RAW | One | 2007 | from € 20,000 | [7] |
| Sony | NXCAM | Memory stick memory card, SDHC memory card, hard disk | 16: 9 1/3 u. 1/5
(3 *) CMOS; 1 * CMOS (MC50) |
(3 *) 1.03 MP | MPEG-4 AVC / H.264, MPEG-2 PS | PAL, 720 @ 1-60p, 1080 @ 1-24p | not changeable | 8bit YUV420 | HXR-MC50, HXR-MC1P, (HDR-AX2000), HXR-NX5 | 2010 | from € 1,400 | [8th] |
| Sony | XDCAM | internal optical medium , not proprietary | 16: 9 1 / 2-2 / 3
3 * CCD |
3 * 1.5 MP | DV, DVCAM, IMX30 / 40/50, MPEG HD422 | PAL, 720 @ 1-60p, 1080 @ 1-30p | B4, 1/2 u. 2/3 | 8bit YUV420, 8bit YUV422 | PDWF355L, PDW530, PDW700, PDWF800, PMW500 (recording on SxS) | 2004 | from ~ 12,000 € | [9] |
| Sony | XDCAM EX | SxS memory card, not proprietary | 16: 9 1/2 a. 2/3
3 * CMOS |
3 * 2 MP | DVCAM , XDCAM HD | PAL, 720 @ 1-60p, 1080 @ 1-24p | Sony 1/2 ", B4 2/3" | 8bit YUV420 | PMW EX1 / EX1R, PMW EX3, PMW 320, PMW350 | 2007 | from € 5,200 | [10] |
| Thomson Grass Valley | Infinity | Compact Flash memory card, Rev hard drive, both non-proprietary | 16: 9 2/3
3 * CCD |
3 * 2 MP | DV25, JPEG 2000, MPEG-2 | PAL, 720 @ 1-60p, 1080 @ 1-24p | B4 2/3 | 8bit YUV422 | Infinity | 2007 | from € 25,000 | [11] |
advantages
Despite the media and format chaos, tapeless production offers numerous advantages and is used, albeit largely as an isolated solution within a broadcasting location or a production company. Most of the devices still have teething troubles but are just leaving them behind. Relevant advantages are:
- There is no playing. With tapeless production, a contribution or a program can be edited directly on the recording medium.
- Non-linear access: While tape can only be accessed sequentially, tapeless storage media can selectively replace one recorded image with another.
- Copying at high speed: Tape-based systems usually only offer single, rarely double or quadruple copying speed. Tapeless systems offer considerably higher speeds here, especially in television resolutions.
disadvantage
Tapeless systems still have some disadvantages, but it can be expected that these will weaken considerably over the next 10 years.
- Price: The storage media are considerably more expensive than tape-based formats. While tapes typically cost dozens of dollars, there are a ton of tapeless media that cost hundreds.
- Archive: In many environments the recorded image material is archived, and tapeless formats have to struggle with numerous implementation and acceptance problems.
- Format diversity: Due to the struggle between the different providers for their own standards, there is almost everywhere a complete incompatibility between the individual sub-standards.
- Standard and delivery: Most broadcasters accept tape-based masters, least of them tapeless, and if so often only in a special media / format combination. Accordingly, many suppliers in turn deliver on tape, which leads to a considerable slowdown in the spread of tapeless production. This is a classic chicken and egg problem.