Media Format Glossary: A list of various electronic media formats and
processes including audio, video, optical, magnetic, and digital.
1/4” Audio: The tape decks of the 1950s were mainly designed to use tape 1/4"
wide and to accept one of two reel formats :
Ten and a half inch reels and also a variety of smaller Reels of up to seven
inches in diameter, The smaller reels dominating domestic applications. The
most common sizes of the smaller reels were seven, five and three inches in
diameter.
Reel-to-reel was the main recording format used by audiophiles and
professionals up to and through the 1980s, until digital audio recording
techniques began to allow the use of other types of media (such as DAT
cassettes and hard disks). Even today, many artists of all genres swear on the
analog tape's 'musical', 'natural' and especially 'warm' sound. Due to harmonic
distortion, bass can thicken up, creating the illusion of a fuller sounding mix. In
addition, high end can be slightly compressed, which is more natural to the
human ear. It's not uncommon for artists to record to digital and dump the tracks
to analog reels for this effect of 'natural' sound. In addition to all of these
attributes of tape, tape saturation is a unique form of distortion that many rock
and blues artists find very pleasing.
As well as 1/4" tape, studio and multitrack machines used recording tape widths
of 1/2", 1" and 2". At least one machine utilizing 3" wide magnetic tape was
available for a time. There was also a 35mm width. The earliest magnetic
recording stock was in the form of spools of thin wire.
1/2” Video: The first versions of this type of videotape were open reel, not
enclosed in a cassette. Much of the success of videotape as a recording media
can be credited to the Sony company, which in 1964 introduced a new video
recorder/playback machine that enabled the user to stop action, advance the
tape in slow motion, and ultimately advanced the technology so that portable
videotape equipment could be used. In the area of portable 1/2” reel-to-reel
machines, Sony introduced popular models such as the AV-3600 and AV-3650,
which brought video recording to the average consumer.
The 1/2” video size is still in use today although not as an open-reel format. JVC
co-opted it in designing the greatly popular VHS standard, the VHS cassette
using a form of 1/2” video tape.
1” Video: There are three versions of 1” video tape:
1" type A (designated Type A by SMPTE) is an open-reel videotape format
developed by Ampex in 1965, that was one of the first standardized open-reel
videotape formats in the 1" width (most others of that size at that time were
proprietary).
Type A was developed as mainly a industrial & institutional format (where it saw
the most success). It was not widely used for broadcast television, since it did not
meet Federal Communications Commission specifications (at the time) for
broadcastable videotape formats (the only format passing the FCC's muster at
the time was the then-industry-standard 2" Quadruplex)
1" type B (designated Type B by SMPTE) is an open-reel videotape format
developed by Bosch in Germany in 1976. It never saw much success outside
Europe however, due to the format being unable to perform any "trick-play"
functions, such as still, shuttle, or variable-speed playback.
This was due to the fact that, unlike 1" type C which recorded one field per helical
track on the tape, Type B segmented each field on multiple helical tracks.
1" Type C (designated Type C by SMPTE) is a professional open-reel videotape
format co-developed and introduced by Ampex and Sony in 1976. It became the
replacement in the professional video & television broadcast industries to the
then incumbent Quadruplex (2" Quad for short) open-reel format, due to the
smaller size & slightly higher video quality of 1" type C.
1" Type C is capable of "trick-play" functions such as still, shuttle, and variablespeed playback. These were capabilities that 2" Quad was not capable of, due to
its segmented nature of recording the video tracks onto the tape. Also, 1" Type C
VTRs required much less maintenance (and used less power & space) than
those for 2" Quad.
Despite being a composite format like U-matic or VHS, 1" Type C has very high
video quality, almost approaching the quality of component analog videotape
formats like Betacam.
The quality and reliability of 1" Type C made it a mainstay in television &
professional video for almost 20 years, before being supplanted by more
compact formats like Betacam, DVCAM, and DVCPro.
2” Video: 2" Quadruplex (also called 2" Quad, or just quad, for short) was the
first practical and commercially successful videotape format. It was developed
and released for the broadcast television industry in 1956 by Ampex, an
American company situated in Redwood City, CA. This format revolutionized
television broadcast operations and production, since the only medium available
to the TV industry before then was motion picture film used for kinescopes, which
was much more costly to utilize, had lower image quality than videotape, and
took time to develop as well.
Nowadays, 2" Quad is no longer used as a mainstream format in TV
broadcasting and video production, having been supplanted by more modern,
easier-to-use, more practical and less maintenance-prone formats like 1" Type C,
U-matic, Betacam, DVCAM, DVCPro, and HDCAM.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
A reel of 2" quad videotape compared with a modern-day miniDV videocassette
3/4” Video: First introduced as “U-matic” a videocassette format developed by
Sony in 1969. The videotape in the U-matic cassette was 3/4" wide, so the format
is often known as 'three-quarter-inch' or simply 'three-quarter'. U-matic was
named after the shape of the tape path when it was threaded around the helical
video head drum, which resembled the letter U.
8mm Film: The standard 8 mm film format was developed by the Eastman
Kodak company during the Great Depression and released on the market in
1932 to create a home movie format less expensive than 16 mm. The film spools
actually contain a 16 mm film with twice as many perforations along each edge
than normal 16 mm film, which is only exposed along half of its width.
8mm Video: AKA “Video8”. The 8mm video format refers informally to three
related videocassette formats for the NTSC and PAL/SECAM television systems.
These are the original Video8 format and its improved successor Hi8 (both
analog), as well as a more recent digital format known as Digital8.
16mm Film: 16 mm film was initially created in the 1920s as an inexpensive
amateur alternative to the conventional 35 mm film format. Thanks to the
compact size and lower cost, 16 mm was quickly adopted for use in professional
news reporting, corporate and educational films, and other uses, while the home
movie market switched to even less expensive 8 mm film.
16 mm was extensively used for television production in countries where
television economics made the use of 35 mm too expensive. Digital video tape
has made significant inroads in television production use, even to the extent that
in some countries, 16 mm (as well as 35 mm) is considered obsolete as a TV
production format by broadcasters. Nevertheless, independently produced
documentaries and shorts (intended mainly for TV use) may still be shot on film.
Double-sprocket 16 mm film has perforations down both sides at every frame
line. Single-sprocket only has perforations on one side of the film. The picture
area has an aspect ratio of 1.33, and there is space for a monophonic
soundtrack. Double-sprocket 16 mm stock is slowly being phased out by Kodak,
as single-sprocket film can be used by both 16 mm and Super 16 productions.
35mm Film: 35 mm film is the basic film format most commonly used for both
still photography and motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its
introduction in 1889 by Thomas Edison. The photographic film is cut into strips 1
3/8 inches wide, with six perforations per inch along both edges. The format was
initially called Edison size. The flattened perforations were introduced by Bell &
Howell around 1900, which remain to this day for camera original film. KodakStandard perforations were introduced some ten years later for projection use.
70 mm film: See IMAX
Betacam: An analog format using 12.5mm tape developed by Sony and derived
from the earlier Betamax. Also includes Betacam SP (SP= “Superior
Performance”), and digital versions- Digital Betacam and Betacam SX (SX= “S
eXtreme”).
Betamax: Sony's Betamax is the 12.7 mm (0.5 inch) home videocassette tape
recording format derived from the earlier, professional 19.1 mm (0.75 inch) Umatic video cassette format. Like the video home recording system VHS
introduced by JVC in 1976, it had no guard band, and used azimuth recording to
reduce cross-talk. The Betamax cassette is smaller than the VHS cassette, and
the format produces a sharper picture, although the difference was not always
obvious to the home consumer, as both technologies progressed
Improvements/changes to the Betamax format include the following (in order of
introduction to the market:

Beta II and Beta III record-modes (increased recording-time, already
resolved by the introduction into Europe)

Stereo audio (linear audiotrack)



Beta Hi-Fi (AFM) Stereo (near CD-quality audio)
SuperBeta (incremental picture-quality enhancement, ~280 TV/lines)
Super HiBand Beta I record-mode (incremental picture-quality
enhancement, ~300 TV/lines). Not released in Europe.
ED Beta format (vastly improved picture-quality, not backward-compatible, ~500
TV/lines). Not released in Europe.
BSP: an abbreviation for BetaSP, a video format that is occasionally used by
vendors to deliver video content on. Not considered to provide a quality as good
as Digital Betacam. Often the format received when source footage is sent to
Discovery from vendors.
CD / CD-ROM: Compact disc (or CD) is an optical disc used to store digital data,
originally developed for storing digital audio. The format reached its peak of
popularity during the 1990s after the discontinuation of vinyl record disks and
before the boom of MP3 files, but continues to be the standard for albums as of
2005.
A standard compact disc, often known as an "audio CD" to differentiate it from
later variants, stores audio data in a format compliant with the Red Book
standard. An audio CD consists of up to 99 stereo tracks stored using 16-bit
PCM coding at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. As audio CDs are recorded in a
different standard, they are effectively a different media type from CD-ROMs, i.e.,
optical discs that hold
D1: Digital tape format using the CCIR 601 standard to record 4:2:2 component
video on 19mm-width video tape. The first digital video tape format, hence the
name “D1”.
D2: Digital tape format using the 4fsc method to record composite digital video.
Uses 19mm-width video tape and a cassette enclosure similar to D1. The second
digital tape format, hence the name “D2”.
D3: Digital tape format using the same 4fsc composite signals as D2, but
recorded on a narrower 12.5mm-wide (1/2-inch) video tape. The 3rd digital video
tape format introduced to the market, hence the name “D3”.
D4: Does not exist. Following WWII, a special adjunct in the Geneva Treaty
(requested by the eastern bloc countries) specifically banned the use of the term
D4 in identifying any video recording format in order to further stabilize the thencurrent geopolitical situation. The same adjunct was later cited by Henry
Kissinger as a major influence in his theory of “realpolitic”, and the subsequent
secret bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam Engagement. Henry Kissinger
was not known to involve himself with recording media, but he did rise to national
prominence during his time in the employ of U.S. President Richard Nixon, who
was found to be an avid enthusiast of electronic recording and editing
techniques.
D5 / HD D5: Digital video tape format using CCIR 601, 4:2:2 video. Uses the
same cassette enclosure as D3. Do not call this format D4. D4 does not exist.
HD D5 uses standard D5 video tape cassettes to record HD material, using a
intra-frame compression with a 4:1 ratio. HD D5 supports the 1080 and the
1035 interlaced line standards at both 60 Hz and 59.94 Hz field rates, all 720
progressive line standards and the 1080 progressive line standard at 24, 25
and 30 frame rates. Four uncompressed audio channels sampled at 48 kHz,
20 bits per sample, are also supported. HD D5 has a datarate of 250
Megabits/second.
DA88: An audio tape format containing up to eight channels of audio, currently
serving (circa 2005) as the requested standard by Discovery from its vendors as
the preferred audio master format.
DAT: Digital Audio Tape. Also known as R-DAT. Used for broadcast quality
audio recording and often contain VO (Voiceover) and music elements used in
editing.
DBC: An abbreviation for Digital Betacam, a video tape format. As of 2005, the
generally-required tape format for vendors to deliver their video program content
on.
Digital 8: Introduced in the late 1990s, Digital8 is a digital-video (miniDV) codec
using Hi8 media. Digital8 uses the same cassette-media as 8mm/Video8, but
otherwise bears no resemblance to the Video8 analog-video system. Some
Digital8 equipment can play (not record) Hi8/Video8 recordings, but this is not a
standard feature of Digital8 technology
Digital Betacam: A digital video tape format using the CCIR 601 standard to
record 4:2:2 component video in compressed form on 12.5mm (1/2-inch) tape.
DV: Digital Video. Not a tape format itself, rather, a system of recording data to
tape.
DVC: Digital Video Cassette. A digital tape recording format using approximately
5:1 compression to produce near-betacam quality on a very small cassette.
Originated as a consumer product, but since has been used professionally,
examples being Panasonic’s variation, DVC-Pro, and Sony’s variation, DVCam.
DVCam: Sony's DVCAM is a semiprofessional variant of the DV standard that
uses the same cassettes as DV and MiniDV, but transports the tape 50% faster,
leading to a higher track width of 15 micrometers. The codec used is the same as
DV, but because of the greater track width available to the recorder the data is
much more robust, producing 50 % less errors known as dropouts. DVCAM is
now also available in HD mode.
DVCPro: Panasonic's specifically created the DVCPRO family for ENG use
(NBC's newsgathering division was a major customer), with better linear editing
capabilities and robustness. It has an even greater track width of 18 micrometers
and uses another tape type (Metal Particle instead of Metal Evaporated).
Additionally, the tape has a longitudinal analog audio cue track. Audio is only
available in the 16 bit/48 kHz variant, there is no EP mode, and DVCPRO always
uses 4:1:1 color subsampling (even in PAL mode).
DVCPro50: DVCPRO50 is often described as two DV-codecs in parallel. The
DVCPRO50 standard doubles the coded video bitrate from 25 Mbit/s to 50
Mbit/s, and improves color-sampling resolution by using a 4:2:2 structure.
DVCPRO50 was created for high-value ENG compatibility. The higher datarate
cuts recording-time in half (compared to DVCPRO25), but the resulting picturequality is reputed to rival Digital Betacam, a more expensive studio format.
DVCPRO HD: Also known as DVCPRO100, uses four parallel codecs and a
coded video bitrate of 100 Mbit/s. Despite HD in its name, DVCPROHD
downsamples native 720p/1080i signals to a lower resolution. 720p is
downsampled from 1280x720 to 960x720, and 1080i is downsampled from
1920x1080 to 1280x1080 for 59.94i and 1440x1080 for 50i. Compression ratio is
approximately 7:1. To maintain compatibility with HDSDI, DVCPRO100
equipment internally downsamples video during recording, and subsequently
upsamples video during playback. A camcorder using as special variableframerate (from 4 to 60 frame/s) variant of DVCPRO HD called VariCam is also
available. All these variants are backward compatible but not forward compatible.
DVCPRO cassettes are always labeled with a pair of run times, the smaller of the
two being the capacity for DVCPRO50. An "M" tape can hold up to 66/33 minutes
of video. The color of the lid indicates the format: DVCPRO tapes have a yellow
lid, longer "L" tapes made specially for DVCPRO50 have a blue lid and DVCPRO
HD tapes have a red lid.
DVCPRO VCRs can play (but not record) DV and DVCAM tapes. MiniDV tapes
can be played with a cassette-adaptor.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
DV cassettes, left to right: DVCAM-L, DVCPRO-M, MiniDV
DVD: Digital Video Disk (or Digital Versatile Disk). A recording format for putting
full-length movies on a 5” CD, using MPEG-2 compression for improved quality
over VHS.
Floppy Disk: A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a
circular piece of thin, flexible (i.e. "floppy") magnetic storage medium encased in
a square or rectangular plastic wallet. Floppy disks are read and written by a
floppy disk drive or FDD, the latter initialism not to be confused with "fixed disk
drive", which is an old IBM term for a hard disk drive.
HDCAM: HDCAM tape cassettes are black with orange lids. HDCAM, introduced
in 1997, is an HDTV version of Digital Betacam, also using 10-bit DCT
compressed 4:2:2 recording, but in 720p or 1080i-compatible (1440x1080)
resolution, and adding 24 and 23.976 PsF modes. The recorded video bitrate is
144 Mbit/s. Audio is also similar, with 4 channels of AES/EBU 20-bit/48 kHz
digital audio. It is used for Sony's cinematic CineAlta range of products.
HDCAM SR: HDCAM SR tapes, manufactured as black cassettes with cyan
(blue) lids, introduced in 2003. HDCAM SR uses a higher particle density tape
and is capable of recording in 4:4:4 RGB with a bitrate of 440 Mbit/s. The
increased bitrate (over HDCAM) allows HDCAM SR to capture much more of the
full bandwidth of the HDSDI signal. Some HDCAM SR VTRs (SR camcorders are
not available) can also use a 2x mode with a even higher bitrate of 880 Mbit/s,
allowing for a single 4:4:4 stream at a lower compression or two 4:2:2 video
streams simultaniously. HDCAM SR uses the new MPEG-4 Studio Profile for
compression, and expands the number of audio channels up to 12.
HDV: High Definition Video (HDV) is a video format designed to record
compressed high-definition video on standard DV media (DV or MiniDV cassette
tape).
Henry Kissinger: Not a tape format, rather, a former diplomat and statesman,
admirer of “realpolitik”.
Hi-8: Also known as Hi-Band Video8. An improved recording format of 8mm
video, using the same cassette enclosure. Like SVHS, Hi8 utilized improved
recorder electronics and media-formulation to increase picture detail. Hi8 (along
with VHS-C) is still used for some entry-level camcorders aimed at consumers,
but elsewhere has been almost entirely superceded by digital formats, such as its
successor Digital8, and miniDV.
IMAX: Not to be confused with IMX, IMAX (for Image Maximum) is a film
projection system that has the capacity to display images of far greater size
and resolution than conventional film display systems. A standard IMAX
screen is 22 m wide and 16 m high (72.6 x 52.8 ft), but can be larger. IMAX is
the most successful large-format special-venue film presentation system.
The intent of IMAX is to dramatically increase the resolution of the image by
using much larger film stock at a resolution of 38720 x 24120. To do this, 70
mm film stock is run "sideways" through the cameras. While traditional 70 mm
film has an image area that is 48.5 mm wide and 22.1 mm tall (for Todd-AO),
in IMAX the image is 69.6 mm wide and 48.5 mm tall. In order to expose at
standard film speed of 24 frames per second, three times as much film needs
to move through the camera each second.
IMX: see MPEG IMX.
MPEG IMX: MPEG IMX is a 2001 development of the Digital Betacam format. It
uses the MPEG compression system, but at a higher bitrate than Betacam SX.
The IMX format allows for a CCIR 601 compliant video signal, with 8 channels of
audio as well as cue and timecode tracks.
Compression is applied in three different formats: 30 (6:1 compression), 40 (4:1
compression) or 50 Mbit/s (3.3:1 compression) which allows different
quality/quantity ratios. Video is recorded at MPEG-2 4:2:2 Profile @ ML.
With its new IMX VTRs, Sony introduced some new technologies including SDTI
and e-VTR. SDTI allows for audio, video, timecode, and remote control functions
to be transported by a single coaxial cable, while e-VTR technology extends this
by allowing the same data to be transported over IP by way of an ethernet
interface on the VTR itself.
IMX VTRs such as the MSW-2100M are capable of playing back Digital Betacam
cassettes as well as analog Betacam SP cassettes, but can only record to their
native IMX cassettes. S tapes are available with up to 60 minutes capacity, and L
tapes hold up to 184 minutes.
MPEG IMX tapes are a muted green, however, the new XDCAM format allows
recording of MPEG IMX on a tapeless format, Professional Disc.
Professional Disc: A new XDCAM format that allows recording of MPEG IMX
on a tapeless format, called “Professional Disc” (likely termed “prodisc” by
adoptive users). Each Professional Disc has allocated space for 500MB of pure
data storage into which users can put any information they need (for example
Word documents, Excel files, etc). Many companies, such as Avid, Pinnacle and
Quantel, have announced their support for XDCAM Professional Disc and have
already demonstrated their interoperability with this new system at NAB and IBC.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Sony’s “Professional Disc”, pictured here, a 12cm (5 inch) single-sided,
rewritable optical disc with a capacity of 23.3GB.
ProHD: ProHD is JVC's extension of the HDV video format, and adds provision
for 24p (24 frames per second, progressive scan.) ProHD extends HDV's 480p
and 720p recording-modes by adding provision for 24p (24 frames per second,
progressive scan.) ProHD does not add 24p for HDV's 1080i mode. For
productions attempting a "film look" on video, or which will ultimately be output to
film or digital-cinema, 24p mode is a tremendous advantages over HDV's
interlaced modes. This is due to 24p's elimination of deinterlacing and inversetelecining in the production flow, steps normally required to import interlacedvideo into a 24p environment.
Realpolitik: Not a tape format, and completely irrelevant to the subject at hand.
SVHS: With the same size cassette enclosure as a VHS cassette, S-VHS was
introduced in Japan in 1987, as an improved version of the VHS standard for
consumer video cassette recorders. In the US market, the mainstream consumer
market had largely ignored the release of S-VHS, probably due to SVHS’
unnecessary function as an answer to the next iteration of Betamax. With the
Betamax market already in sharp decline, a "format war" for the next generation
of consumer-market video simply did not materialize. Jack Gregory recorded his
senior thesis on SVHS stock.
U-matic: U-matic is the name of a videocassette format developed by Sony in
1969. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a
cassette, as opposed to the various open-reel formats of the time.
The videotape was 3/4" wide, so the format is often known as 'three-quarter-inch'
or simply 'three-quarter'. U-matic was named after the shape of the tape path
when it was threaded around the helical video head drum, which resembled the
letter U. Betamax used this same type of "U-load" as well.
VHS: Video Home System, a 1/2” format created by JVC for the home consumer
market. The Video Home System, first released in 1976, better known by its
acronym VHS, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders
(VCRs), developed by JVC (with some of its critical technology under lucrative
licensing agreements with Sony) and launched in 1976. VHS officially stands for
Video Home System, but it initially stood for Vertical Helical Scan, after the
relative head/tape scan technique. Some early reports claim the name originally
stood for Victor Helical Scan System.
VHS became a standard format for consumer recording and viewing in the 1980s
and 1990s after competing in a fierce format war with Sony's Betamax and, to a
lesser extent, Philips' Video 2000. Overall, the technological race resulted in a
draw. Except for SuperHiBand Betamax, VHS had an effective counter for each
of Betamax's improvements.
Videocassette: Introduced successfully into the commercial market in 1969 by
Sony, the first videocassette was the 3/4” wide composite U-matic system. Sony
continued its hold on the professional market with its ever-expanding 1/2" (1.27
cm) component video Betacam family (introduced in 1982), which, in its digital
variants, is still among the market leaders. Panasonic had some limited success
with its MII system, but never compared to Betacam in terms of market share.
VYVX: This is not actually a tape format, but a type of data transfer. However,
the term can be used in such a way that it can sound to the uninformed listener
like a tape format. Example: “I’m looking for the VYVX of “Shark Week Live”. This
would mean that the individual is requesting any dub that was made DIRECTLY
from the VYVX feed of that particular program.
Zip / Zip Disk: A magnetic media disk, similar in appearance to a larger version
of a floppy disk, that can hold between 100-250 megabytes of data. The Zip disk
uses smaller media (about the size of a 9cm (3.5") microfloppy, rather than
the compact disc-sized Bernoulli media), and a simplified drive design that
reduced its overall cost.
Notes on Media Glossary v.2, Sept. ‘08
Version 2: The current document covers ALL audio, video, film, and digital media standards. Any
overlooked formats should be pointed out.
Version 3: should include images of the media formats, as well as basic recording terms to further
illustrate differences of recording standards ("magnetic media", "optical media", "digital media",
"film media" etc.)
Version 4: should be a hyperlinked PDF, with links to supporting online references
Version 5: should be an online site page with all previous content as well as a downloadable
resource.
jgreg@umd.edu,
jack1@mac.com 9/3/08