Reexamining Compromises in Shoulder-Mount HDTV Camera-Recorder Systems

Since the introduction of high-definition television (HDTV) cameras and recorders; imagers, microprocessors, integrated circuits, and encoding schemes have all advanced in pace with the IT industry. Meanwhile, HD production has become the rule rather than the exception, as HDTV standards have matured. Image acquisition innovations have recently been focused on either expanding the HD market with smaller and more affordable cameras or pursuing ``Digital Cinematography,{''} which has inspired abandonment of the constraints of broadcast-type HD standards to emulate legacy 35mm film production and digital intermediary infrastructure. So what then can be accomplished with current technologies when they are applied to systems designed specifically for HD production and broadcast standards? In particular, what can be accomplished for the 2/3-in. 3 CCD shoulder-mount camera recorder? Can compromises made years ago be renegotiated? Advanced encoding schemes and recording methods can obviate the need for horizontal pre-filtering and additional color sub-sampling typical of in-camera recorders. Bit depth reduction is no longer necessary, and full 10-bit sampling, which was once reserved for master recording, can now be employed in a shoulder-mount camera recorder; therefore a 1920 x 1080 10-bit video signal can be recorded at the full 1920 x 1080 10-bit quality. Communications with digital lenses enable optical performance improvements in lightweight electronic field-production (EFP) style lenses. Electronic and optical improvements can work together to approach the performance of more cumbersome lens architectures. This paper examines some of the performance penalties of the formerly necessary design compromises and outlines specific newly-available innovations that allow us to revisit these compromises. Specific innovations that are highlighted include the AVC-Intra 100 Mbit/sec compression (AVC Intra-Frame coding at a bit rate of 100 Mbits/sec), and electronic chromatic aberration correction (CAC) technologies.