PDW-700 XDCAM HD 422 Camcorder

Sony expanded the XDCAM family with the PDW-700, top-of-the-range XDCAM HD camcorder recording HD material at up to 50Mb/s onto Dual Layer Disc – Three 2/3-inch CCD sensors, Full 1920 x 1080 4:2:2 operation and 1080/720 switchable.

The XDCAM production system was first introduced in 2003, offering revolutionary file-based acquisition onto optical Professional Disc. In 2006, XDCAM HD was launched with camcorders and decks recording high definition pictures at up to 35Mb/s onto the same 23.3GB Professional Discs.

At IBC 2007, Sony demonstrated the latest status of development of products to expand the top end of the XDCAM HD line up – the PDW-700 camcorder and the PDW-HD1500 recorder.

The PDW-700 will take XDCAM HD performance to a new level. It will record stunning quality HD images at up to 50Mb/s onto 50GB Dual Layer Professional Discs. The PDW-700 will have three 2/3-inch progressive CCD sensors each with full 1920 x 1080 resolution using newly developed “Power HAD™ FX” technology. 14 bit A/D conversion, 4:2:2 sampling and recording, and advanced digital signal processing will ensure superb picture quality. The PDW-700 will also support recording in both 1080 and 720-line formats.

The PDW-700 has been designed to increase the appeal of XDCAM HD for applications such as news, European TV drama, documentary and mainstream entertainment programmes that required a high quality look.

File-based acquisition onto Professional Disc, with thumbnail and proxy operation will also make the PDW-700 ideal for fast-turnaround news and live applications where speed of production is a critical requirement.

Camcorder Features

  • Three 2/3-inch Power HAD™ FX CCDs for RGB image capture, each with 2.2Mpixel resolution
  • Support for existing XDCAM HD and XDCAM SD formats
  • 4 channels of digital audio
  • Dual-layer Disc (50GB) and Single-layer Disc (23.3GB) support
  • 3.5-inch colour LCD
  • Thumbnail operation
  • Proxy recording and metadata
  • Compact and lightweight at 4.2kg (without viewfinder, lens, microphone and battery)
  • Dual HD/SD-SDI output and composite/HD-Y output
  • Built-in up-conversion to HD from SDI input when recording
  • HD/SD conversion and cross conversion between 1080 and 720 at the camcorder output during playback
  • Pool-feed input (HD/SD-SDI and composite) option
  • Ethernet interface
  • i.LINK interface
  • New Digital Wireless Stereo Diversity receiver Audio system (option)