OT--differance between dv, dvcpro25, and dvcam

I have had a coleague of mine lately telling me that there is a differance between dv, dvcpro25, and dvcam that I guess I need some clarification of. He tells me that the dcvpro25 and dvcam work at 25mbs transfer rate and that dv is only 12mbs. I know that dv doesn't have a 25mb transfer rate, but I didn't think there was that big of a differance between dv, and the other formats.
If someone could please re-enlighten me I would appreciate it.

thanks, bret

There are subtle differences - none of them really effect image quality though, apart from DVCPro25 in PAL.

DV, DVCAM and DVCPro25 are all based around the very same codec. They are all 25mb/s. In NTSC they're all 4:1:1. In PAL DV and DVCAM are 4:2:0, but DVCpro25 is 4:1:1. That's the only exception.

DVCAM (and I think DVCPro25) have "locked" audio. DVCAM has a faster tape speed (less dropouts) than DV. DVCPro25 has a nicer tape formulation to make it more robust (less dropouts) than DV.

So, your colleague is wrong.

Graeme

[www.nattress.com] - Plugins for FCP-X

To be thorough, DVCAM also stores timecode in a different location on tape, and uses a better lubricant as well as a better tape.

For SD, love DVCAM. The only thing better, IMHO, is tapeless.

- Loren
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You can also use DVCAM tape to record DV to get the best quality tape. I wonder where your friend got the idea that DV runs at 12mbs. I'd never seen that one before.

I was under the impression that DVCPro 25 runs at a faster tape speed than DVCam. I seem to remember reading that somewhere. Is this not true?

Andy

DVCam runs 50% faster than Mini DV thus a better choice for avoiding drop outs. Thats only dif.

Michael Horton
-------------------

And just to add, LP is the same quality as SP in DV, but as the tape runs slower, it's more prone to dropout, but if there's no dropout, being digital, the quality is identical. The problem comes on playback where head alignment needs to be precise and it "may" only "reliably" play back on the deck or camera that originally recorded it.

Graeme

[www.nattress.com] - Plugins for FCP-X

Bret to add to this; make sure you don't get your MegaBytes and Megabits confused...

There are also Decimal and Binary versions to further confuse you.

Read up here: [en.wikipedia.org]

Data transfer rates are often expressed in "Mega bits per second" or Mbps



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Thanks to everyone who answered my question.
Is there an artical or web site that explains this a little more in depth. I will need to have something in hand when I confront him with this info. And yes, unfortunatly this is one of those petty times I will need more than the words out of my mouth.

thanks,
bret

A google search found me this.

DV, DVCam, DVCPro Technical Details

However, solid proof probably involves getting the tech info from the companies that developed the formats. Panasonic for DVCPro, and Sony for DVCam.

This site has some links at the bottom to the actual DV Standards documents. Have fun reading...

Andy

Thanks! That's what I needed!

> DVCAM (and I think DVCPro25) have "locked" audio.

Doesn't DV have locked audio these days?

Brett,

There are two excellent PDF's by a guy called Bob Pank of Quantel called Digital Factbook and Digital film. They are an Aladdin's cave of jargon busting Info and well worth the free download.

Unfortunately, i don't have the link on hand, but their easy to find and very useful.

Get Googling.

D