Posted by theDVshow on 05/21/06 04:03

Mini DV, DV are a consumer format that a number of manufacturers agreed
on to become the next consumer standard. It has been so good a format
that many professionals, and semi-professionals have begun using it.
The format uses ME tape. Standard lengths are 30, 60 and 80min for the
miniDV and 120, 180 (and some 270min) for the DV. There are also two
speeds in DV and miniDV, so a 80min mini can provide 120min of
recording.(Low quality)

At the same time, Sony & Panasonic brought out their professional
versions, named DVCAM and DVCPRO. Sony's professional DVCAM format,
although similar to miniDV, runs 50% faster. So, its longest tape in
the mini size is 40min. There is a 184min DVCAM tape, which will run
270 minutes in a DV machine! Recognition holes in the tape tell the
machine what tape you have loaded. In addition the professional format
of DVCPRO and DVCAM have locked audio.

Panasonic's DVCPRO runs at a faster speed than the Sony DVCAM, but its
main difference is the use of MP tape as opposed to ME. Panasonic,
inventors of miniDV and the ME tape, did not think the tape robust
enough for professional use and chose to go with MP tape. The physical
cassette size for DVCPRO is also larger than miniDV for the shorter
lengths... a kind of a 'medium' size. Long lengths use the same size as
DV. MiniDV can be used in a DVCPRO deck, but only with an adapter, and
only for playback. (SB)

[Back to original message]