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Canon has been keeping quiet for some time now and there has been lots of speculation about their next video camera, including many that had hoped for a 35mm sized sensor. Well this morning Canon posted a press release on their website. The main and most exciting point is that the camera under development will be full 1920×1080 and it will be 50Mb/s 4:2:2 Mpeg 2 MXF. Now this looks on paper to be an extremely similar format to XDCAM HD422. It would certainly make edit suite integration a lot simpler if the MXF files are the same as the Sony XDAM MXF’s.

Mockups of a camera seen in recent months have shown a handycam style, fixed lens camera with two slots for some type of memory card, which could possibly be express card slots. The mockup lens looks like it might be an EX1 style lens with manual and auto focus and might be big enough to accommodate 1/2″ sensors. Is this the camera that the press release refers to, or is there another camera in the pipelines? There is a lot of stuff not mentioned in the press release, like recording media. It says “file based”, this could be solid state or it could be something else, maybe optical disc. Might this be a full size XDCAM HD camcorder from Canon? The release gives no sensor or form factor information which I find a little odd. Having shown mockups of an EX1 sized camera why not a more detailed press release with info on the lens, sensors, recording media etc? (apparently there will be another press release on the 8th of Feb).

Canon make some very good video cameras, I had an XL-H1 and it was a great HDV camcorder. I have no doubt that this new camera will be very good and competitively priced. IF it is the EX1 sized camera and it has 1/2″ sensors then this would tick all of the BBC’s boxes for HD. If it’s CCD (which seems likely) it won’t have skew or flash banding. This is a very significant announcement and could push Canon to the front of the Pro Handycam pack. Here is the full press release from the Canon web site.

New Canon MPEG-2 Codec chosen for file-based professional video camcorder promises compatibility with industry-standard editing & processing software

United Kingdom / Republic of Ireland February 2nd 2010 – Canon Inc. today announces the adoption of an MPEG-2 Full HD (4:2:2) file-based recording codec for a new professional video camcorder currently under development. The Canon MPEG-2 codec will enable high-quality imaging and audio performance with up to 50 Mbps data recording and twice the colour data of HDV HDV is a standard for the recording and playback of high definition (1,440 x 1,080 pixels) video and audio on DV-format cassette tapes profile formats. File-based recording helps video operations realise greater efficiencies during post-production processing, making it an ideal format for many industry applications such as news gathering, documentary filmmaking and event videography.

MPEG-2 Full HD compression and 4:2:2 colour sampling
The adoption of MPEG-2 Full HD (MPEG-2 4:2:2 HP@HL compliant) compression enables the recording of 1,920 x 1,080-pixel full high-definition video. Additionally, compared with the 4:2:0 profile format used in HDV and other standards, 4:2:2 colour sampling offers twice the volume of colour data, providing double the level of colour resolution.

Maximum 50 Mbps data recording
With approximately twice the total data volume of HDV, the codec supports higher resolution and increased colour data to enable the recording of high-quality video.

Industry-standard MXF file format (see note (II))
MXF (Material eXchange Format) is a widely supported open source file format for the recording of video, audio and metadata, developed to suit the latest editing systems used by broadcasters.

Canon partners with major editing and processing software
With the adoption of the MPEG-2 Full HD (4:2:2) file-based recording codec, Canon is working in cooperation with Adobe Systems Incorporated, Apple Inc., Avid Technology, Inc. and Grass Valley to ensure compatibility with major editing and processing software programs widely used within the video imaging industry. Additionally, at future industry events Canon intends to demonstrate the overall video-production workflow, from initial video capture to clip-trimming and final editing. Video clips stored in a file-based recording system and industry-standard software applications will be used.

(II) A format for professional digital video and audio media defined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)

Notes to editor

Advantages of File-Based Recording

File-based recording enables video and audio data to be managed and stored by file, much in the same way as computer data. It supports efficiency throughout the production process, from initial video capture to final editing through the entire workflow. Additionally, file-based recording provides users with the flexibility to utilise different editing environments and workflow solutions without the restrictions associated with some other video recording formats, helping to reduce investment costs.

Update: PDW-700 now on BBC’s official approved list.

This is getting very confusing! Last week I was told by several different sources working on productions for Sky HD and the BBC that the BBC & Sky were going to agree to a common minimum standard of 50Mb/s with 1/2? sensors for HD production. Today I hear from a production company that is making HD programmes for the BBC that they were told at the end of last week that 35Mb/s from the XDCAM EX1, EX3 and probably the new PMW-350 is acceptable. Right now there is a lot of confusion over what is and what is not acceptable. I wish the BBC or Sky would publish, in public their HD production guidelines, I was told this would happen last Thursday but so far no-one has been able to find anything. The confusion over what is acceptable makes it impossible to plan productions or make any equipment purchases and this can only harm the industry as everyone holds off waiting to find out what they can or can not use. Come on BBC and Sky… lets us know whether 35Mb/s is acceptable. My guess, reading between the lines is that if you shoot at 50Mb/s 4:2:2 either with a PDW-700/F800 or with an EX with a NanoFlash you will be fine, whatever the BBC or Sky’s decision. I also think that 35Mb/s from the EX’s will be allowed under dispensation or with restrictions to usage and workflow. One thing that appears to be lost in this whole debate is that the EX at 35Mb/s 4:2:0 has the same compression ratio as the PDW-700 with it’s 50Mb/s 4:2:2. The extra bits used by the 700 are taken up by the extra colour information. So in terms of blockyness and robustness through the production chain there should really be little difference between the two. My feeling is that much of the confusion is caused by the older PDW-F350 type XDCAM HD cameras which recorder 1440×1080 at 35Mb/s. This “thin” raster signal causes a lot more problems in post than the full raster of the EX cameras. The re-sizing from 1440 to 1920 (and back in the case of Sky who broadcast 1440×1080) leads to soft pictures and nasty compression artefacts, so I think that these cameras will NOT be allowed while the EX might.

There’s lots of rumors flying around of a pact between Sky HD and the BBC over the minimum acceptable standards for HD acquisition. It’s been known for some time that the BBC wants a minimum bit rate of 50Mb/s and camera sensors that are 1/2 inch or bigger. At the same time there have been many Sky productions produced using XDCAM EX cameras (Road Wars for example) which are shot using XDCAM EX and are 35Mb/s. The BBC have also been using XDCAM EX within many HD productions. Now however it looks like Sky is going to follow the BBC and insist on 50Mb/s for all HD production. 50Mb/s is not a surprise, but what’s being said now is that there will no longer be any exceptions to this rule. So RawCut, the producers of Road Wars are now having to work out ways of shooting at 50Mb/s while still using their existing EX camcorders. The NanoFlash from Convergent Design is an obvious solution.

This new, stricter ruling is not good news as it makes it harder to produce HD programmes with small budgets. If HD is to grow and become the norm for TV production, excessively ridged regulations like this will not help. Surely it would be better if exceptions were allowed. Perhaps following an evaluation or consultation process to allow the use of cameras that fall outside of the 50Mbps, 1/2″ minimum criteria for shows such as Road Wars where filming inside police cars with full size cameras simply is safe or practical.

I’ve seen Road Wars on Sky HD and it always looked fine to me. What will Sky and the BBC’s view be on all the Discovery and National Geographic produced material which doesn’t meet the Sky/BBC specs?

This reminds me of when DVCAM was launched. The BBC and others all announced that DV was unsuitable for broadcast. Well look at SD production now. DVCAM is the workhorse format used by just about everyone for low budget work. The BBC owns thousands of DVCAM camcorders and even has it’s own special “DV Solutions” department. I suspect that once the BBC and Sky realise that they will be closing the door on many interesting HD projects this ruling will gradually disappear into the mists of time.