Lost Remote: JVC launches hard drive camcorders
Doc Searls linked to Cory Bergman’s Lost Remote, and scanning the site I came across this post: “You can record up to 60 minutes of DVD-quality video on the internal hard drives of JVC’s new Everio line of camcorders. Rather nifty. ‘I think most consumer recording technology should move to hard drives as soon as possible,’ writes Gizmodo.”
It records in MPEG-2, which is a bear to edit, except with the latest and high-end systems. Tape is a good archiving format for most, and equipment capable of editing DV with minimal hassle is now approaching ubiquity. The capability of down-market computers (i.e. non-Apple, low-end PCs aimed at the education market) to edit MPEG-type Group-of-Picture video is still dubious. Hard-drive based recording is too new and video standards and formats still too much in play for schools to go after one of these new formats for some time. Inexpensive tape-based MiniDV cameras and editing systems are the way to go for the time being.
But keep an eye on things: H.264/MPEG-4 is coming down the pike, and hard drives keep getting smaller and less expensive.——-