By: Preethi Ramkumar
Meaning of Hi8 – “High-band 8mm video system” is an analog video recording and playback format for camcorders that uses enhanced 8mm videocassettes (metal evaporated or metal particle tape). With 400 lines of horizontal resolution, Hi8 provides superior quality to the original 270-line 8mm format as well as VHS tape. Hi8 cartridge sizes are 30, 60 and 120 minutes. If a Hi8 tape player is not available, the camcorder can be cabled directly to the VCR or TV for large-screen display.
Like other consumer-video systems, Video8 uses a helical-scan head-drum to read/write video to the recording media (magnetic tape.) The drum rotates at high-speed (1800 or 3600rpm) while the tape is pulled along the drum's path. Because the tape and drum are oriented at a slight angular offset, the recording tracks are laid down as diagonally horizontal stripes. The recordings are analog. This is in direct contrast to the DAT system (digital audio tape), which uses similar media, but a different head/tape orientation (perpendicular) and additional digital-coding with the recording-modulation.The 8mm magnetic tape is wound between two spools, held in a hard-shelled cassette. Video8 cassettes share similar size and appearance with the audiocassette, but the mechanical operation is much closer to the VHS videocassette. Video8 cassettes come with recording-times of 60 minutes or 120 minutes (NTSC).
The audio-quality of Video8's standard audiotrack is superior to that of the full-size formats. In VHS/Beta, the standard audio is recorded on linear-tracks along the edge of the tape, where they are especially vulnerable to tape-damage. In Video8, the standard-audio is modulated onto a carrier so that they can be recorded in the same manner as the video. This technique is called audio frequency modulation (AFM.) By the time of Video8's
introduction, VHS/Beta had already incorporated AFM technology, marketing it as "Hi-Fi stereo." While VHS/Beta AFM was superior in fidelity (and always implemented in stereo), stereo was a rarity on any camcorder. Meanwhile, Video8 has always supported a standard mono AFM-track, and later high-end units offered stereo. Linear-audio does offer a capability not available with AFM -- VHS/Beta linear tracks can be independently re-recorded, without disturbing the underlying video, known as Audio Dub. This feature is available on some high-end Hi8 edit decks by virtue of a digital PCM audio track.
Video8's only significant drawback was incompatibility with VHS equipment; tapes made with Video8 hardware could not be played on VHS hardware (and vice versa.) This problem could be overcome by "dubbing" the video; using the VCR to make a copy of the original video, as it was played by the camcorder. Each dubbing generation degrades the copied-signal, placing an upper limit on the number of times a master can be VCR-dubbed.
“…High-band 8mm video system (Hi8) The 8mm Video Format (official name: Video8) is an analog video recording format for the consumer televisions (NTSC and PAL.) In 1983, Sony of Japan introduced the Handycam, one of the first Video8 cameras. Much smaller than the competition's VHS and Betamax video cameras, Video8 became very popular in the consumer camcorder market.
” [Wikipedia]
“…Used for the more professional type of recording, Hi8 falls between domestic and industrial quality. It is used by Sony, Canon, Sanyo and other manufacturers in their Hi8 camcorders.
” [ Paul Hudson]
“…high-band 8mm) Improved version of 8mm videotape format characterized by higher luminance resolution for a sharper picture. Compact "conceptual equivalent" of Super-VHS.”
[Olympic Technology]
