The North American Sony HVR-V1U

Nearly two weeks ago, at IBC, Sony introduced the HVR-V1E. The HVR-V1E being a 3 CMOS 1080 25p/50i HDV camcorder. It's obvious that it is intended for European use. And yesterday, Sony introduced us to the HVR-V1U.

The HVR-V1U features 1080 24p/30p/60i based HDV recording. The resolution of the CMOS sensors is actualy 960x1080 but the pixels are placed in a diaganol pattern. By placing extra pixels in between the actual pixels, you get a more efficient way of interpolation. The signal is interpolated to 1920x1080, then downsized to 1440x1080 for recording (see here).

While this camera actualy shoots 24p, it records it as 60i by using the 2:3 pulldown. It shows one 24p frame in two 60i fields, then the next 24p frame in the next three 60i fields. With 30p it is much the same way, it records one 30p frame in two 60i fields and then again for the next frame. The 60i actualy is shot in 60i and shows half of one frame in one field, then half of the next frame in the next field, at 60Hz. Now here's how the progressive scan works: If you record 30p it records one half of the frame in one field and the other half of the frame in the next field. The field rate is alway 60Hz. It is much the same way with 24p, only using the 2:3 pulldown.

And finally the HDD recorder. Sony has an optional HDD recorder for the V1U (HVR-DR60). It features a 60GB hard disk, which can hold four and a half hours of HDV or DVCAM video. You can actually use the same batteries that power your camcorder to power your HDD recorder. Files are saved as M2T(HDV) or AVI(DVCAM).

I would really like to get this camera. It is only $4,800. It has all the features I could ever want in a camera that price. It records in 1080i60 HDV, so you can edit in pretty much any NLE.