CES 2009: High-def video predictions refined

By Brian Dipert, Senior Technical Editor -- 1/6/2009

Last time I was in Las Vegas (as you read this, I'll be winging my way to Sin City for two days at Storage Visions prior to the Main Event), I was providing observations and predictions regarding various digital-video-camera formats, as well as putting my money where my mouth...umm...wasn't. As such, it seems appropriate to revisit the topic nine months later, as the kickoff writeup for my 2009 Consumer Electronics Show coverage series.

Back last April at NAB, I suggested that the eventual demise of tape-based video capture was a matter of when (specifically, a soon when), not if. So why did I turn around one day later and buy a tape-based HDV camcorder, Canon's HV30, which had been introduced at the 2008 CES three months before? I'll sum it up in two words: image quality.

HDV camcorders, because they employ archaic MPEG-2 as their video codec, require cost-effective tape (or, alternatively, a built-in HDD or optical disc burner) in order to deliver adequately long recording times without simultaneously burning holes in consumers' wallets. Conversely, the more advanced H.264 (aka MPEG-4 Part 10, aka MPEG-4 AVC, aka MPEG-4 JVT) codec used by AVCHD camcorders delivers a ~2× compression efficiency advantage versus its MPEG-2 predecessor, enabling camcorder designers to leverage flash-memory storage and thereby creating the opportunity for substantially smaller, lighter, and more battery-thrifty form factors.

However, H.264's comparative immaturity versus MPEG-2 is reflected in the comparatively poor results its image-processor engines have to date delivered (as noted in numerous reviews; I commend Camcorderinfo to your perusal as a particularly good starting point). As such, in spite of tape's numerous shortcomings, I found myself unable to resist the Siren Song coming from B&H's NAB booth, although had I known I'd be migrating to a FireWire-less laptop in less than a year, I might have been more impervious.

To that point, HDV's reliance on IEEE 1394 will, as much as any other factor, assure its eventual demise. Even Apple, a longstanding computing mainstay of videographers, is aggressively phasing the interface out of its various product lines. Apparently, though, enough customer (and potential customer) demand still exists for Canon to try turning the HDV screw one final time; yesterday the company unveiled (along with several high-def H.264-based camcorders, plus a few miniDV standard-definition models) the HV40 (pictured at the top of this article). And here I thought all those recent HV30 firesales were simply indicative of a general product-line phase-out.

The HV40 makes tangible albeit not substantial advancements over its HV30 predecessor; a more robust 24-fps "film" capture mode (see here for an exhaustive description of the 24-fps kludge used by the HV20 and HV30), multiple-function-to-single-button mapping capabilities, a claimed improved lens design (albeit with comparable zoom range to its predecessor), and a 2.96-megapixel sensor useful for passable-resolution still-image capture (albeit the same still-image resolution as the sensor in its predecessor). To that latter point, and indicative of the fast improvement pace that H.264-centric silicon is on as it strives to overtake legacy MPEG-2, I'll also draw your attention to another announcement yesterday, this one from Ambarella, unveiling its latest-generation A5 image processor family (whose development Ron Wilson did a nice job of describing).

Ambarella's long been an advocate of the merged hybridization of still and video capture functions within a single hardware platform, as company co-founder Les Kohn described in detail during a mid-2008 interview with me (see here for the full transcript). The A5 series, derived from a common sliver of silicon but with varying performance metrics (and corresponding product yields, therefore price tags), brings the company ever closer to that tantalizing goal. Consider this excerpt from the product press release:

The A5 family consists of three products: A530, A550 and A570. Each is available with a full reference design. The A530 integrated circuit can capture 10 [megapixel] still pictures while generating and compressing high-definition video in both 720p60 and 1080p30 formats. The A550 in addition supports the standard HD broadcast format 1080i60. The A570 captures as many as 5.3 [megapixels] at 60 frames per second. This allows full HD video recording while concurrently storing 5.3 [megapixel] still images (16:9 aspect ratio) without interrupting the video recording.

A5 family members also support "face detection" focus and exposure algorithms, and they can simultaneously capture high-resolution (for archive) and "mobile"-resolution (i.e. VGA-or lower, for YouTube, etc) video sequences. How serious is Ambarella about achieving its hybridization goal? Consider another press release quote:

Ambarella expects that consumer hybrid cameras based on the A5 platform can be priced under the critical US $199 price threshold in 2009.

Considering that mainstream units such as Creative Labs' Vado HD, Kodak's Zi6, and Pure Digital's Flip MinoHD are already there and 2009 has already begun, I wouldn't call Ambarella's boast particularly prophetic. But I do agree that it's a critical threshold that needs to be broken through to ensure broad market adoption, particularly in these tough economic times. And the timing is particularly good given that the looming NTSC shutoff will give a notable chunk of the U.S. population its first taste and inevitable appreciation of true high-definition digital video in the form of ATSC reception...well, except for the folks who cash in their standard-definition-only converter box coupons, that is.

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