Re: [AG-TECH] Sony EVI-HD1 camera

[John I Quebedeaux Jr <johnq@xxxxxxx>]

Well, that camera does specify the type of output that Ultragrid works with on that HD-SDI connection (SMPTE-292M output)... i suspect then the details get down to the hardware on the computer side and networking, etc. It has other outputs, but not IEE1394 (firewire) which is where most HD cameras do onboard mpeg2 encoding/lag that Brian spoke of. I'm... guessing? that HD-SDI is uncompressed.

My concerns in meetings get back to having an "environment" of human presence @ multiple sites that can interface naturally - which includes video sources from the front and back of the room (what I call "environmental feedback") - typically called the "presenter camera" in the back of an AG room. I can possibly see having an HD camera in the front and back of the room to do this... then maybe another for... i've always felt you can't have enough cameras!

-John Q.

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John I. Quebedeaux, Jr.; Louisiana State University

Computer Manager LBRN; 131 Life Sciences Bldg.

e-mail: johnq@xxxxxxx; web: http://lbrn.lsu.edu

phone: 225-578-0062 / fax: 225-578-2597

On Mar 8, 2007, at 4:11 PM, Colin Perkins wrote:

We've done some work with uncompressed HD conferencing which might be relevant: http://ultragrid.east.isi.edu/

Colin

On 8 Mar 2007, at 21:14, Brian Corrie wrote:

Hi John,

Interesting... Does anyone know anything about SDI HD capture cards. We are looking at HD as well (but no direct experience yet) and the trick seems to be to get video off of the camera avoiding the onboard encoding of the video, which often adds significant latency (which is not good for AG of course). Does anyone know if the SDI out of this camera either has onboard hardware encoding (so low latency) and/or whether the SDI out is uncompressed video (I don't know anything about SDI other than that it is a broadcast oriented standard). Since this is a video conferencing camera one would assume the SDI is raw video (it looks like it base on my reading). So once one gets it out of the camera how does one get it to the computer... There must be an HD SDI capture card available.

We are looking at the Sony HDR-HC7 prosumer HD camcorder as a possibility. They aren't available yet, but any day now... They have HDMI out, which is uncompressed video. There is a HDMI capture card that can handle raw uncompressed HD video at 1080i available from Black Magic that looks promising... The camera is around $1500 and the card is $250.

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/

We are going to be purchasing this pair as soon as the camera is available, so I will let everyone know how this works out. If it does work its a pretty inexpensive HD solution!

Cheers,

Brian

John I Quebedeaux Jr wrote:

Someone asked me about this camera for HD use on the AG: http://www.picturephone.com/products/sony_evi_hd1.htm

Anyone have any experience with it? I'm wondering if it was used, how to best "capture" it into a system for use on the AG... interest in using HD is high here. I'm more concerned about logistical issues with high resolution images on displays that don't have that much "resolution" space - particularly if several sites are involved.

-John Q.

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John I. Quebedeaux, Jr.; Louisiana State University

Computer Manager LBRN; 131 Life Sciences Bldg.

e-mail: johnq@xxxxxxx; web: http://lbrn.lsu.edu

phone: 225-578-0062 / fax: 225-578-2597

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Colin Perkins

http://csperkins.org/