[MacDV] Crystal ball department

[Steve Robertson]

On Thursday, March 17, 2005, at 09:41  AM, lloyds wrote:
> In this case, I'm wondering about HDTV dvds -- which would entail 
> buying
> an HD middv camcorder. I'm very pleased with my Sony TRV 900, and would
> want the equivalent.  What is the HD equivalent, and approximately what
> would it cost?   And will an HD dvd play in non-HD players?

Sony's newest - the HDR-FX1 ($3,700) - records in a format called HDV 
(1080i) on standard miniDV cassettes. Apple's newest versions of Final 
Cut Express and iMovie will capture and edit HDV, but currently Apple 
is suggesting that the finished HDV movie should be downsampled to SD 
for burning on a current DVD. Apple says that starting with HDV will 
produced higher resolution, better looking SD DVDs. I'm assuming we 
will be able to burn DVDs for full resolution on HDTV as soon as the 
industry settles the debate on standards (Blu-Ray against whatever the 
other format is). Wonder how many days it will take to burn an HD DVD? 
<g>

There's a huge monetary gap up to the next possibility. Apple's Final 
Cut Pro HD was designed to work well with footage from Panasonic's base 
HD camcorder - which I think starts at about $45,000.
>
> I'm also curous about double-layer dvds and dvd burners.  Forgive my
> ignorance, but will they play on ordinary dvd players?  I have a 
> Pioneer
> 105 in my GF dual.  What might I replace it with to burn double-layer
> dvds, and what would it cost?

I think dual layer DVDs will play in most current DVD players, but the 
drawback is the high cost of blank disks.

Steve R.