Sony Digital 8

Supreme Video + Electronics

What is Sony's Digital 8?

Digital8

Fast forward to Sony Digital8 Handycam camcorders and experience a revolutionary new technology that delivers all the advantages of digital recording with all the convenience and familiarity of today's analog cassettes. There's nothing quite like it. Because there's no other camcorder that captures digital information on a standard 8mm or Hi8 tape¹. With Sony Digital8 camcorders, you'll see brilliant, sharp images with up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution². You'll hear rich, digital quality sound. You'll enjoy virtually unlimited editing possibilities. And you'll record it all on the most popular cassette format within the camcorder industry - 8mm tapes - while still being able to play back all your current 8mm and Hi8 tapes. With Sony Digital8, you can fast forward to the digital future without leaving your past behind.

Digital 8 Picture Quality

Digital 8 Picture Quality

Your videos will reveal details like the bluest of blue in a baby's eyes, the delicate pattern of lace on a wedding gown, or the name on your kid's baseball uniform when he's in the field. Colors will be truer, with vivid reds and purples that typical analog camcorders just can't match. Which means that with Digital8, your memories will look better than ever.

Digital8 delivers up to twice the sharpness and up to three times the color information of VHS². And Digital8 compression enables you to record up to one hour of video on an affordable P6-120 8mm cassette!

Digital 8mm video

Fast forward to Sony Digital8 without leaving your past behind!

Digital8 is simply the latest enhancement to 8mm - America's most popular camcorder format. And to prove the point, every Sony Digital8 camcorder will also play back your existing library of standard 8mm and Hi8 cassettes! Sony even provided analog video inputs, so you can copy your old VHS tapes to Digital8 for archiving and editing. Compatibility with the tapes you have now is one more way Sony provides a Worry Free upgrade to the world of digital.

Digital8 camcorders record on highly affordable Hi8 or 8mm ¹ blank tapes! They're much less expensive than comparable DV tapes. Digital recording acquires much more information than analog. However, Digital8 compression enables you to capture a full hour of high-resolution video on a standard 120 minute 8mm cassette! And because 8mm tapes are so widely available, buying them involves traveling no farther than the typical supermarket.

Digital8 Camcorders achieve spectacular performance on affordable Hi8 or 8mm blank tapes. For best results, we recommend Sony's Hi8 tape, which features Digital8 recording times on the package.

Digital 8 Audio

It Sounds Like Life

The typical VHS and VHS-C "linear" audio tracks sound about as good as AM radio. In comparison, Digital8 offers the same 16-bit PCM stereo sound quality as compact disc! The difference is night and day.

You'll enjoy the entire dynamic range - from your baby's softest sighs to the full blare of your son's marching band. You'll hear wide frequency response - from the thunder of Niagara Falls to the highest squeaks of your daughter's first violin recital. Digital8 audio is the way sound was meant to be.


"Linear" VHS audio tracks only sound about as good as AM radio.	Digital8 camcorders give you digital stereo sound for clarity that's comparable to Compact Disc!

Digital 8 and i Link

Your digital link to creativity.

With Digital8, shooting video is just the beginning. Every Digital8 Handycam Camcorder incorporates the i.LINK (IEEE 1394) digital interface. So you can edit your videos on a PC with i.LINK ports and editing software. You'll get professional looking results. Or put a Digital8 single-frame picture of your children onto your next holiday greeting card. Or put a Digital8 image into a PowerPoint^Ž presentation, E-mail or website. Sony's VAIO^TM Digital Studio^TM PCs with DVgate^TM software enable you to perform easy, non-linear editing³. They'll set your creativity free!

There's more. With the i.LINK interface, you can make pristine digital-to-digital copies to another Digital8 Handycam Camcorder, Digital Video (DV) recorder or even a Sony professional DVCAM^TM deck. Since Digital8 uses the same compression and editing protocols as DV, the formats are compatible for editing and dubbing. And unlike VHS, Digital8 copies are clones of the original. With Digital8, your tenth generation copy will look as good as the first!

You can also bring color, emotion and laughter to your E-mail when you attach or include a JPEG image from Digital8. Whether you use a Sony PC or a Sony plug-in board for your existing PC, it's easy to get great results.

Computer

Transfer your Digital8 still images onto a Macintosh^Ž or Windows^Ž PC with Sony's DVBK-2000 PCI Capture Board. For Windows^Ž laptops, Sony's DVBK-CW200 slides right into a standard PCMCIA Type II slot.

Digital8: A Digital8 Digital Handycam camcorder can record "digitally" using either a Hi8 (Metal Evaporated of Metal Particle) or standard 8mm tape. Hi8 tape is recommended to achieve optimal performance. If a standard 8mm tape is used, the same camcorder should be used for recording and playback. Hi8 and Standard 8mm tapes that contain "analog" recordings can be played back on any Digital8 Handycam camcorder.
Maximum resolution only when recorded through the video inputs.
Digital Editing on a computer: Videotape acquired on a Digital8 Handycam camcorder is compatible with most types of Digital Video editing applications. Analog video, (i.e. 8mm, Hi8, etc.) must be recorded onto the Digital8 Handycam camcorder before attempting PC based digital editing applications. Please consult the manufacturer of other brands of editing equipment and computers for compatibility questions.