Mpeg Imx - Betacam

Post, Sept, 2002

AND MADE IT BETTER

If you own Betacam SP[R] equipment, if you have a library of Betacam[R] tapes, and you're considering the best way to go digital, Sony has the best possible news. Presenting MPEG IMX[TM] camcorders, VTRs, and tape: the digital successor to the Betacam SP system.

Get ready for a quantum leap in video quality: 4:2:2 component digital at 50 megabits per second. Get ready for four channels of 20-bit digital audio in the camcorders -- and eight channels of 16-bit audio (or four channels of 24-bit) in the studio VTRs.

Get ready for progressive scan as well as interlace recording. For production systemization that's far more comprehensive. For better ways of managing meta-data. For streamlined transport of content around your facility and around the world.

Advanced as it is, the MPEG IMX camcorder still looks, feels and works much like the Betacam SP gear you already have. And MPEG IMX VTRs bristle with new digital features. But they'll still play your analog Betacam SP and Betacam Oxide tapes going all the way back to 1982, when we developed the recorders and tape that established the Betacam format.

MPEG IMX recording is not just about better video. It's also a fundamental enhancement of your workflow. Which makes for better business.

PROGRESSIVE ERA.

Acknowledging the multi-format era of DTV, Sony's MSW-900 camcorder captures video at both 60 fields Interlace scan or 30 frames progressive. The companion PAL MSW-900P captures 50 fields or 25 frames progressive.

AND KEPT IT COMPATIBLE.

MPEG IMX studio decks support the full library of Sony's Betacam legacy tapes. Which means that your existing Betacam Oxide, Betacam SP, Betacam SX[R] and Digital Betacam recordings have a clear migration path into the future. It also means that you can continue to shoot on your existing Betacam SX and Betacam SP camcorders, confident that the material you acquire today will still be available, accessible and compatible tomorrow.

This compatibility is no accident, it's by design. It's been true since we first migrated from Betacam Oxide to Betacam SP recording. And now that the world has over 200 million of Sony's Betacam family tapes, the MPEG IMX system gives you continued access to those tapes for years to come.

Some users have jumped into digital. Some are proceeding slowly. By supporting the entire Betacam recording platform, Sony builds no barriers--only bridges. No traps on the road to DTV--only helpful choices. By giving your analog libraries (and analog camcorders) an easy transition to the digital future, Sony lets you migrate at the best possible pace. Your own.

WE ARE FAMILY.

Sony MPEG IMX tape and VTR heads were designed at the same time and by the game engineers. The bit rate, tape speed and track pitch of Sony hardware are optimized for the recording density of Sony tape. There's no batter was to provide reliability. MPEG IMX tape can give you up to 184 minutes of recording time.

AND MADE IT AFFORDABLE.

There is one area in which MPEG IMX equipment falls below expectations. The price.

In the field, the new MSW-900 camcorder is actually priced less than the BVW-D600 it replaces, even though it offers so much more. Like 4:2:2 component digital capture. Like advanced Digital Signal Processing with a wide range of picture-making controls never possible in Betacam SP camcorders. There's Loop Recording, 3 Skin Tone Detail and more. You even have a choice of 30 frame progressive or 60 field interlaced capture. Or choose between 25P and 50i with the MSW-900P.

In the studio, the MSW-M2000 VTR is priced the same as the BVW-D75. Yet it offers eight channels of digital audio and switchable playback of 525/60i/30P or 625/50i/25P. Plus crucial production capabilities like Dynamic Motion Control and Pre-Read. Plus playback of all those Betacam legacy tapes.

In the office, the low-profile J-2 player accommodates Betacam, Betacam SP, Betacam SX and MPEG IMX tapes for a suggested list price of just $8,450. While the J-3 adds Digital Betacam playback for a suggested list price of $10,920.

Higher performance lower cost everybody wins. That's the full promise of digital.

THE J TEAM.

At a suggested list price of just $8,450, the J-2 multi-format office player can warm the heart of the chilliest CFO. Yet the machine plays back Betacam SP, Betacam SX and MPEG IMX tapes.

AND MADE IT A SYSTEM.

Welcome to a production system that's far more comprehensive than analog systems could ever be. Thanks to SDI and SDTI-CP connections, you can record, process, edit and play without ever leaving the digital domain. Thanks to MPEG, there is no need to decode and re-encode. That means no generation loss. No buildup of noise. No sacrifice in resolution.

Start with a choice of comcorders, the MSW-900 at 525/60 or the MSW-900P at 625/50. Select your studio VTRs, the MSW-2000, A2000, and M2000. They all handle both 525/60 and 625/50 tapes.

Then accelerate your productions with the MAV-555A digital disk recorder. Streamline your workflow with Sony's XPRI[TM] nonlinear editor. Play to air with the MAV-70XGI server. And connect to compatible solutions from industry leaders like Avid, Grass Valley, Leitch, Quantel and many more. Then play back on Sony's low-cost office players, the J-2 and J-3.