[P1] DVD region codes?

[George Slusher]

>Have you ever compared the size of the VHS tape cartridge and the 
>digital cartridge?

That's not what I said. I am NOT talking about a VHS tape. I do know the 
difference. 
 Please read this again:

>> Ever notice that an 8mm digital tape only holds 1 hour,
>> whereas an analog camcorder can record 2 hours on the SAME tape? The
>> reason is simple:


I mean the very SAME tape. IOW, the same physical object--take it out of 
one camcorder and put it into another. (In fact, my Digital 8 camcorder 
will play, but not record, 8mm and Hi-8 tapes.) If you take that same 
cartridge and put it in an 8mm analog camcorder, it will record 2 hours. 
If you put it in a digital camcorder, it will record only 1 hour. Why is 
it exactly 1 hour, rather than some odd number, which would be the case 
if it were merely a difference of data density? The tape runs through the 
camcorder twice as fast. That's not necessary, as shown by the mini-DV, 
which packs the same time into a much smaller package and shorter tape.

Joe Jones added:

>There are two sizes for the DV format - MiniDV and full size DV. The 
>mini ones are the most common, since they suit the camcorder market 
>very well. As noted before, they are only 60 minutes long. This is a 
>technical limitation imposed by the amount of tape they can squeeze 
>into it.
and

>On the large format tapes, there are more varied running times. I don't 
>have any large format consumer DV tapes, but I have plenty of pro DVCAM 
>tapes, they range from 60 minutes right up to 184 minutes, they are 
>about half the volume of a normal VHS tape (about half as deep, 2/3 as 
>wide and 2/3 across). Again, if you flip the DVCAM deck into consumer 
>DV mode, recording time goes up by a third or more due to the decrease 
>in the track width.

I am talking about the _Digital 8_, not the Mini-DV. It uses the same 
size cartridge (and, indeed, can use the SAME cartridges, unless you buy 
the manufacturer's bs that it requires a "high grade" tape) as 8mm and 
Hi-8 camcorders. Here are the dimensions of the cartridges:

VHS   7-3/8" w x 4-1/16" deep x 15/16" thick (volume about 28.1 cu in)

8mm   3-23/32" w x 2-7/16" deep x 17/32" thick (volume about 4.82 cu in)

(FWIW, using your numbers, 1/2 deep x 2/3 wide x 2/3 across = 2/9 of the 
volume, not 1/2. That's 22% vs 50%. An 8mm cartridge is about 17% of the 
volume of a VHS cartridge.)

Sony's original digital camcorders used this cartridge and many still do. 
I can't give you a direct link, as Sony's website adds session IDs to the 
URL, so that it's 4-5 lines long. Start at:

http://www.sonystyle.com/

Click on the digital cameras/camcorders link on the left. On the next 
page, click on "Camcorders." Notice that there are mini-DV and Digital 8 
camcorders shown on that page, with the Hi8 camcorders below.

I ran into this same confusion about two weeks ago, with a guy who is a 
certified DV producer (works for a local public-access channel). He, too, 
talked about mini-DV (which he had with him) and the pro version. I 
showed him my camcorder. His initial reaction was that it wasn't digital. 
"Gee, why does it say, 'Digital 8' right on the body?" I can run my Sony 
TRV-110 right into iMovie with a 6-pin-to-4-pin FireWire cable. The guy's 
reaction was, "Is this something new?" No, it's several years older than 
mini-DV. I don't think that it's "broadcast quality," but it is certainly 
digital.


George Slusher/Eugene, OR
gslusher at rio.com