Many within the broadcast industry may well be groaning as Sony’s MPEG IMX digital products appear on the market. The jaded tones of "oh no, not another tape format" are being heard but to do this is well…to be a bit short sighted.
MPEG IMX is more than just a tape format and to actually think of it like this is to completely misunderstand just what MPEG IMX is all about. Yes, MPEG IMX does offer recordings on tape (although there are MPEG IMX disk based products such as Sony’s MAV-555 hard disk recorder which is very popular on sport OB’s and live events), but tape should simply be viewed as a convenient low cost storage medium. That’s right ‘storage medium’, it all sounds more computing than video and the fundamental ethos behind MPEG IMX is in fact all about data.
MPEG IMX is a data compression system offering broadcast quality video recording, storage and distribution. The theme behind IMX is very much in tune with the future of digital acquisition, post production, archiving, and transmission. It is being heralded as system perfect for the digital age of broadcasting.
If all this is beginning to sound like corporate PR and you feel yourself glazing over then I can sympathise with you. I must admit to having reached a point in my career having used many broadcast cameras and VTR’s that the spark of enthusiasm I used to get in my formative years in television has dampened somewhat.
So what is Sony’s MPEG IMX really like? Conclusions usually appear at the end of reviews; however I have been so enthused by using MPEG IMX that I cannot contain myself so I’m going to tell you now in a single word it is quite simply ‘brilliant’.
Even a jaded soul like me has become so enthusiastic about Sony’s MPEG IMX system that I’ve degenerated into being like an excited school kid again. This may sound odd but using MPEG IMX is actually fun. The camera is fantastic and the studio VTR is superb with a lot of initial novelty value.
Market Position
The MPEG IMX system sits between Betacam SX and Digital Betacam and uses MPEG-2 4:2:2P@ML coding with a 50Mbs intra frame system. To the cameraman and editor t
his translates as high video quality with good multi generation performance. In reality it sits very close to Digital Betacam and the expected market is general television production from acquisition through to transmission.
In the UK Digital Betacam has established itself as the top production format in standard definition video. Many other countries are just about to take up on a digital format and quite a few of them look likely to commit to MPEG IMX. You may wonder who is actually using MPEG IMX at present but as I write this review there are over 500 MPEG IMX products in use in the UK alone, with approaching 5000 products in use throughout Europe. These are pretty impressive numbers.
One major reason for the popularity of the IMX VTR’s is that certain models allow playback of all current broadcast Beta tape formats. This means that MPEG IMX tapes, Digital Betacam, Betacam SX, Betacam SP and oxide Betacam tapes can all be replayed in one machine in both 525 and 625 (NTSC/PAL) television standards.
MSW-900P Camera
The review camera was the brand new PAL version of the MSW-900P MPEG IMX camera which is switchable between 16:9 and 4:3 operation. The layout is instantly familiar to Betacam operators but with a few extra features added.
The camera is fitted with a new CCD block known as ‘Mega-Pixel Power HAD-EX™ CCD’ and uses 12 bit digital signal processing. This is an interesting new development as it is more sensitive than Sony’s current CCD’s and enables progressive scan shooting. This block also has very low vertical smear and is similar to an FIT block in use. At -63db (PAL) the camera’s signal to noise ratio has very low noise characteristics resulting in cleaner pictures. Gain can be switched from a range of -3db to +48db. The higher settings are noisy but the settings up to +24db are good and realistically useable.
Picking up the camera it is noticeably lighter than the Digital Betacam DVW-709 I use everyday and a touch more compact. The tape loading mechanism is the same as Betacam SX and Digital Betacam as the cassette is loaded vertically. The control layout and overall looks are very similar to the Beta SX and DigiBeta range and it uses the same two inch 16:9 viewfinder as these cameras. However there are subtle differences.
Recent generations of Sony broadcast cameras allow camera setups to be stored in ‘set up’ cards. The MSW-900P uses the widely available ‘memory stick’ to perform this function. This memory stick also allows storage of metadata (such as details regarding the material being recorded) and allows software updates for the camera to be installed.
The most recent DigiBeta camera range offers an ‘assign’ switch to which certain camera function of your choice can be assigned (in my own case I use it to control ‘loop recording’ more of which later). The MSW-900P has both an assignable switch and an assignable button allowing an extra bit of flexibility. I used these functions a lot during the review period and now I’m back to just the one on my own camera I find that I really miss the second switch.
The camera is fitted with a dual filter wheel as standard, one for colour temperature and the other for ND. The camera also allows ATW to be used. This is ‘Auto Tracing White’ where the camera will automatically adjust the white balance to match the light you are shooting in. Personally I’m not a great fan of this and rarely use it as I prefer the white balances I can achieve by manually setting them. However, it is quite handy if you move from say and exterior scene into an interior scene. For example a piece to camera that starts in daylight on the street and then walking into a 
building lit inside with tungsten lights. Further to compliment this is the additional feature known as ‘shockless white balance’ whereby a 1,2 or 3 second ‘dissolve’ between the preset white balances can be used.
A great feature I liked on this camera is the automatic change of front or rear mics. If you switch in this auto change over it ensures you will never again accidentally forget to have your camera mic switched on. When the mic cable is pulled from the rear XLR input it automatically switches to the front mic. I will confess to having on occasion started shooting right after an interview to realise the recording is mute as I forgot to switch the front mic back on so I loved this feature. Like the Betacam SX range a Sony wireless receiver can be slotted into the camera body at the rear without adding bulk or the need for extra cables.
As is increasingly common many of the cameras features are to be found by using the menus. There are a massive amount of options available from setting up viewfinder information displays, customising two sets of zebra stripes, to the intimate engineering tweaks for nearly every camera parameter. The word comprehensive just about sums it up.
It is in these menus that the features that rekindled my enthusiasm in cameras were to be found. Perhaps one of my personal favourites was the realisation that this camera allowed progressive scan shooting (progressive scan allows you to shoot with a kind of ‘film look’). Sony refers to this mode as 25P. It has to be said that 25P pictures from this camera did look good but it required a change in shooting technique.
25P looked at its best when the camera was static and the action in the frame provided all the movement. I quite liked this as it made me shoot with better composition as it required a touch more thought initially but looked great when replayed. 25P would work very well on TV drama shoots, especially if the budget was tight, you can get a real quality result with a filmic feel. I soon became hooked on this feature as did other cameramen and editors I showed it to. Not everyone likes progressive scan and it does blur the picture if the camera is panned or zoomed quickly. It works okay on slower camera moves but take it easy! I think it is a fantastic feature and it will revolutionise low cost programme making providing the camera operator is sensible and avoids rapid camera movement. 25P is not inhibiting, it is different and the on screen look is good.
Continue to Page 2
