AVCHD ( Advanced Video Coding High Definition ) is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video . It is H.264 and Dolby AC-3 packaged into the MPEG transport stream , with a set of constraints designed around camcorders.
95-462: Developed jointly by Sony and Panasonic , the format was introduced in 2006 primarily for use in high definition consumer camcorders . Related specifications include the professional variants AVCCAM and NXCAM . Favorable comparisons of AVCHD against HDV and XDCAM EX solidified perception of AVCHD as a format acceptable for professional use. Both Panasonic and Sony released the first consumer AVCHD camcorders in spring of 2007. Panasonic released
190-664: A 70 percent share of the market when it decided to pull the plug on the format in 2010. Sony still develops magnetic tape storage technologies along with IBM , and are one of only two manufacturers of Linear Tape-Open (LTO) cartridges. In 1998, Sony launched the Memory Stick format, the flash memory cards for use in Sony lines of digital cameras and portable music players. It has seen little support outside of Sony's own products, with Secure Digital cards (SD) commanding considerably greater popularity. Sony has made updates to
285-557: A Blu-ray Disc player without re-encoding. Interlaced video had been originally designed for watching on a cathode-ray tube television set. Material recorded for interlaced presentation may exhibit combing or ghosting when it is rescaled , filmed out or watched on a computer or another progressive-scan device without proper deinterlacing . Some AVCHD 1080i camcorders can capture progressive video and record it within interlaced stream borrowing techniques from television industry. In particular, Progressive segmented frame (PsF)
380-469: A Blu-ray Disc video title does not require re-encoding of AVCHD audio and video streams. The resultant disc plays in any Blu-ray Disc player, including those that do not explicitly support AVCHD. Many software vendors support AVCHD mastering. In particular: Although AVCHD shares many format similarities with Blu-ray Disc, it is not part of the Blu-ray Disc specification. Consequently, AVCHD-playback
475-787: A DVD. Such AVCHD discs are incompatible with regular DVD-Video players, but play in many Blu-ray Disc players. A conventional single-layer 12 cm DVD can store 35 minutes of video recorded at the maximum bitrate the AVCHD specification allows for DVD media—18 Mbit/s. A hard disk drive was added as an optional recording medium to AVCHD specification shortly after the new video standard had been announced. Presently, capacity of built-in HDDs ranges from 30 GB to 240 GB. Pros: Cons: Many AVCHD camcorders employ Secure Digital or " Memory Stick " memory cards as removable recording media. Solid-state memory cards offer rewritable storage in
570-453: A Super Famicom with a built-in CD-ROM drive, named the "Play Station" (also known as SNES-CD ). However, a day after the announcement at CES, Nintendo announced that it would be breaking its partnership with Sony, opting to go with Philips instead but using the same technology. The deal was broken by Nintendo after they were unable to come to an agreement on how revenue would be split between
665-812: A compact form factor with no moving parts. Panasonic and Sony chose removable flash memory as the sole type of recording media in their professional AVCHD lineups, specifically AVCCAM and NXCAM. Until 2010, Sony insisted on usage of its own memory card format - Memory Stick. Since 2010, Sony has allowed using both Memory Stick as well as Secure Digital cards in its consumer and professional camcorders. Panasonic as well as other manufacturers of AVCHD camcorders use Secure Digital cards as removable flash media. Most models accept Secure Digital High Capacity cards (SDHC), while some models are also compatible with Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) cards, which offer higher transfer speed and capacity. Pros: Cons: Some AVCHD camcorders come with built-in solid-state memory either as
760-783: A completely separate financial entity owned by Sony, so as to retain the project and maintain relationships with Philips for the MMCD development project (which helped lead to the creation of the DVD ) In 2021, the WIPO 's annual review of the World Intellectual Property Indicators report ranked Sony's as ninth in the world for the number of patent applications published under the PCT System . 1,793 patent applications were published by Sony during 2020. This position
855-579: A computer by connecting the camcorder via the USB connection. Removable media like SDHC and Memory Stick cards or DVDs can be read on a computer directly. Copying files from an AVCHD camcorder or from removable media can be performed faster than from a tape-based camcorder, because the transfer speed is not limited by realtime playback. Just as editing DVCPRO HD and HDV video once demanded an expensive high-end computer, AVCHD editing software requires powerful machines. Compared to HDV, AVCHD requires 2-4 times
950-624: A department store building in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo . The company started with a capital of ¥190,000 and a total of eight employees. On 7 May 1946, Ibuka was joined by Akio Morita to establish a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo ( 東京通信工業 , Tōkyō Tsūshin Kōgyō , Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) . The company built Japan's first tape recorder , called the Type-G. In 1958,
1045-457: A focus on reducing the major losses from the television business. In February 2014, Sony announced the sale of its Vaio PC division to a new corporation owned by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners and spinning its TV division into its own corporation as to make it more nimble to turn the unit around from past losses totaling $ 7.8 billion over a decade. Later that month, they announced that they would be closing 20 stores. In April,
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#17327935263171140-513: A format war with DVD-Audio . Still, neither gained a major foothold with the general public. CDs had been preferred by consumers because of the ubiquitous presence of CD drives in consumer devices until the early 2000s when the iPod and streaming services became available. In 2015, Sony introduced LDAC , a proprietary audio coding technology which allows streaming high-resolution audio over Bluetooth connections at up to 990 kbit/s at 32 bit/96 kHz. Sony also contributed it as part of
1235-447: A higher frame rate without needing more bandwidth. This results in smoother motion, especially for content with moderate to fast movement, like sports broadcasts. However, interlacing also has some drawbacks. Since the two fields are captured at slightly different times, fast-moving objects can appear misaligned between the two fields. This creates a visual artifact called "combing." This can reduce image quality, especially in scenes with
1330-551: A leading standard for HDTV broadcasts. Many broadcasters worldwide adopted it. The ATSC ( Advanced Television Systems Committee ) standards and the DVB ( Digital Video Broadcasting ) standards allowed for the transmission of 1080i video signals. The adoption of 1080i was particularly significant in sports broadcasting. The higher resolution allowed for more detail and clarity, especially in large stadium shots and fast-paced action. The format's efficiency in utilizing available bandwidth made it
1425-456: A lot of motion. Modern display devices often use deinterlacing algorithms to combine the two fields into a single progressive image before displaying it. The frame rate of 1080i is usually 50 or 60 Hz. It depends on the region. In areas using the PAL or SECAM standards, like Europe and parts of Asia, the frame rate is 50 Hz. In regions using NTSC , like North America and Japan, the frame rate
1520-480: A name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval. According to Schiffer, Sony's TR-63 radio "cracked open the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics." By the mid-1950s, American teens had begun buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel
1615-667: A part of any traditional keiretsu , Sony has a weak tie to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), which traces its roots to the Mitsui zaibatsu . This connection dates back to the 1950s when it was the only bank the company dealt with. Sony is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (in which it is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indeces) with an additional listing in
1710-529: A per unit sold basis). Another difference is location of the BDMV directory, which contains media files. On a DVD-based camcorder the BDMV directory is placed at the root level, as on the Blu-ray Disc. On the HDD-based Canon HG10 camcorder the BDMV directory is located in the AVCHD directory, which is placed at the root level. Solid-state Panasonic and Canon camcorders nest the AVCHD directory inside
1805-470: A practical choice for broadcasters. However, it required more complex processing on the receiving end to deinterlace the image for display on progressive-scan screens. Overall, 1080i played a crucial role in the early days of HDTV. It bridged the gap between standard-definition broadcasts and the high-definition future that would soon become the norm. While its use has diminished with the rise of 1080p and 4K resolutions, 1080i remains an important milestone in
1900-731: A slogan known as "make.believe" in 2009. Despite some successes, the company faced continued struggles in the mid- to late-2000s. In 2012, Kazuo Hirai was promoted to president and CEO, replacing Stringer. Shortly thereafter, Hirai outlined his company-wide initiative, named "One Sony" to revive Sony from years of financial losses and bureaucratic management structure, which proved difficult for former CEO Stringer to accomplish, partly due to differences in business culture and native languages between Stringer and some of Sony's Japanese divisions and subsidiaries. Hirai outlined three major areas of focus for Sony's electronics business, which include imaging technology, gaming and mobile technology, as well as
1995-658: A sole media, or in addition to other media. Pros: Cons: Panasonic and Sony developed several brand names for their professional as well as simplified versions of AVCHD. AVCHD Lite is a subset of AVCHD format announced in January 2009, which is limited to 720p60, 720p50 and 720p24 and does not employ Multiview Video Coding . AVCHD Lite cameras duplicate each frame of 25fps/30fps video acquired by camera sensor, producing 720p50/720p60 bitstream compliant with AVCHD and Blu-ray Disc specifications. As of 2013, AVCHD Lite seems to have been all but replaced with other formats. For example,
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#17327935263172090-469: A subsidiary and, at the same time, a holding company for Sony's music businesses, along with SMEJ . 1080i 1080i is a term used in high-definition television (HDTV) and video display technology. It means a video mode with 1080 lines of vertical resolution. The "i" stands for interlaced scanning method. This format was once a standard in HDTV. It was particularly used for broadcast television. This
2185-795: A variety of ways: A DVD disc with AVCHD high-definition video recorded on it is sometimes called an AVCHD disc . AVCHD discs cannot be played in a standard DVD player, but can be played in many Blu-ray Disc players. Smooth playback is not guaranteed if overall data rate exceeds 18 Mbit/s. It is possible to create simple menus similar to menus used for DVD-video discs. AVCHD content can also be recorded on SDHC cards and played by many television sets, Blu-ray Disc players and media consoles. The AVCHD specification does not officially support Blu-ray Disc media, though some software packages allow authoring AVCHD content on Blu-ray Discs. For better compatibility with Blu-ray Disc players AVCHD video can be authored on Blu-ray Disc media as Blu-ray Disc video. Authoring
2280-570: A wholly owned subsidiary through a takeover bid. On 1 April 2021, Sony Corporation was renamed Sony Group Corporation. On the same day, Sony Mobile Communications Inc. absorbed Sony Electronics Corporation, Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc., and Sony Home Entertainment & Sound Products Inc. and changed its trade name to Sony Corporation. Sony has historically been notable for creating its own in-house standards for new recording and storage technologies, instead of adopting those of other manufacturers and standards bodies, while its success in
2375-688: Is 60 Hz. The frame rate refers to how often a new field is shown per second. At 50 Hz, 50 fields are shown each second. This results in 25 full frames per second when the odd and even fields are combined. At 60 Hz, 60 fields are shown per second. This results in 30 full frames per second. Interlacing affects how motion is perceived in 1080i. Since each field represents a slightly different moment in time, motion can appear smoother compared to lower frame rate progressive scans. However, this also means 1080i can struggle with fast-moving scenes. The interlaced fields might not perfectly align, leading to motion artifacts. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) prefers to use
2470-455: Is because it can deliver high-resolution images without needing excessive bandwidth. This format is used in the SMPTE 292M standard. The number "1080" in 1080i refers to the number of horizontal lines that make up the vertical resolution of the display. Each of these lines contributes to the overall detail and clarity of the image. The letter "i" stands for interlaced . This is a technique where
2565-480: Is either repeated twice or a special flag in the video stream instructs a decoder to play every frame twice to adhere to output rate of 50 or 60 frames/s. Many of the digital compact cameras made by Panasonic, such as the DMC-ZS3/DMC-TZ7, DMC-FT1, DMC-FZ35/DMC-FZ38, and DMC-ZS-7/TZ-10 offer 720p video recording with effective frame rate of 25 or 30 frames/s in a format called AVCHD Lite (see below). Until
2660-478: Is essential to maintain image quality. The increased resolution is particularly noticeable in fine details such as textures, text, and intricate patterns. These can be rendered with much greater accuracy than in lower-resolution formats. The "i" in 1080i stands for interlaced. This refers to how each video frame is displayed. Instead of showing the entire frame at once, the interlacing technique divides each frame into two separate fields. The first field contains all
2755-505: Is largely offered in two forms, either chips embedded in smartphones or plastic cards with chips embedded in them. Sony plans to implement this technology in train systems across Asia. In 2019, Sony launched the ELTRES, the company's proprietary low-power wide-area wireless communication ( LPWAN ) standard. Until 1991, Sony had little direct involvement with the video game industry. The company supplied components for other consoles, such as
2850-724: Is not universally supported across Blu-ray Disc players. Blu-ray Disc players with "AVCHD" logo play AVCHD discs authored either on 8 cm or 12 cm DVDs. Players without such a logo are not guaranteed to play AVCHD discs. Sony Sony Group Corporation (formerly Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. and Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo , Japan. The Sony Group comprises entities such as Sony Corporation , Sony Semiconductor Solutions , Sony Entertainment (including Sony Pictures and Sony Music Group ), Sony Interactive Entertainment , Sony Financial Group , and others. Sony
2945-443: Is organized into the following business segments: Game & Network Services (G&NS), Music, Pictures, Electronics Products & Solutions (EP&S), Imaging & Sensing Solutions (I&SS), Financial Services, and Others. Usually, each business segment has a handful of corresponding intermediate holding companies under which all the related businesses are folded into, such as Columbia Records being part of Sony Music Group ,
AVCHD - Misplaced Pages Continue
3040-405: Is particularly useful in broadcasting, where bandwidth efficiency is crucial. The frame rate is typically 50 or 60 fields per second, depending on the region. This effectively means 25 or 30 frames per second when the fields are combined. A key difference between 1080i and 1080p is how the lines of resolution are displayed. Both offer 1920x1080 pixels, but the display method is different. In 1080p,
3135-440: Is similar to DVD-video, allowing access to individual videos from a common intro screen. Slide shows are prepared from a sequence of AVC still frames, and can be accompanied by a background audio track. Subtitles are used in some camcorders to timestamp the recordings. Audio, video, subtitle, and ancillary streams are multiplexed into an MPEG transport stream and stored on media as binary files. Usually, memory cards and HDDs use
3230-420: Is supported. Audio data rate can range from 64 kbit/s to 640 kbit/s. In practice, data rates of 256 kbit/s and 384 kbit/s have been observed. Some professional models allow recording uncompressed linear PCM audio . AVCHD specification allows using recordable DVDs, memory cards, non-removable solid-state memory and hard disk drives as recording media. When the AVCHD standard was first announced, recordable DVD
3325-573: Is up from their previous ranking as 13th in 2019 with 1,566 applications. Best known for its electronic products, Sony offers a wide variety of product lines in many areas. At its peak, it was dubbed as a "corporate octopus", for its sprawling ventures from private insurance to chemicals to cosmetics to home shopping to a Tokyo-based French food joint, in addition its core businesses such as electronics and entertainment. Even after it has unwound many business units including Sony Chemicals and Vaio PC, Sony still runs diverse businesses. As of 2020, Sony
3420-596: Is used in the shoulder-mount Panasonic HDC-MDH1, as well as on its North American AG-AC7 cousin. A successor model – the AG-AC8, is also capable of recording in AVCHD-SD mode. Several models from JVC like the consumer camcorders GZ-HM650, GZ-HM670 and GZ-HM690 as well as the professional camcorder JVC GY-HM70 can record AVCHD-SD video. AVCHD-SD is not compatible with consumer DVD players, because it employs AVC video encoding instead of MPEG-2 Part 2. AVCHD-SD can be played on
3515-453: Is utilized in some Panasonic (25p Digital Cinema), Canon (PF25, PF30) and Sony camcorders. The 2:3 pulldown technique is used in some 60 Hz versions of Canon (PF24) and Panasonic (24p Digital Cinema) camcorders for recording 24-frame/s progressive video. Most editing tools treat progressive video recorded within an interlaced stream as interlaced, though some editing systems and most standalone Blu-ray Disc players are capable of recognizing
3610-579: The ATRAC brand, against the more widely used MP3. Until late 2004, Sony's Network Walkman line of digital portable music players did not support the MP3 standard natively. In 2004, Sony built upon the MiniDisc format by releasing Hi-MD . Hi-MD allows the playback and recording of audio on newly introduced 1 GB Hi-MD discs in addition to playback and recording on regular MiniDiscs. In addition to saving audio on
3705-824: The Android Open Source Project starting from Android 8.0 " Oreo ", enabling every OEM to integrate this standard into their own Android devices freely. However the decoder library is proprietary , so receiving devices require licenses. On 17 September 2019, the Japan Audio Society (JAS) certified LDAC with their Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification. Currently the only codecs with the Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification are LDAC and LHDC , another competing standard. Sony demonstrated an optical digital audio disc in 1977 and soon joined hands with Philips, another major contender for
3800-635: The Crystal LED Display. Sony used the Compact Cassette format in many of its tape recorders and players, including the Walkman , the world's first portable music player. Sony introduced the MiniDisc format in 1992 as an alternative to Philips DCC or Digital Compact Cassette and as a successor to the Compact Cassette. Since the introduction of MiniDisc, Sony has attempted to promote its own audio compression technologies under
3895-545: The FAT file system, while optical discs employ UDF or ISO 9660 . At the file system level, the structure of AVCHD is derived from the Blu-ray Disc specification, but is not identical to it. In particular, it uses legacy " 8.3 " file naming convention, while Blu-ray Discs utilize long filenames (this may be caused by the fact that FAT implementations utilizing long file names are patented by Microsoft and are licensed on
AVCHD - Misplaced Pages Continue
3990-480: The H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard, supporting a variety of standard, high definition, and stereoscopic (3D) video resolutions. For audio compression, it supports both Dolby AC-3 (Dolby Digital) and uncompressed linear PCM audio. Stereo and multichannel surround (5.1) are both supported. Aside from recorded audio and video, AVCHD includes many user-friendly features to improve media presentation: menu navigation, simple slide shows and subtitles. The menu navigation system
4085-450: The TR-55 transistor radio , appeared in 1955, but the company name did not change to Sony until January 1958. At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters to spell its name instead of writing it in kanji . The move was not without opposition: TTK's principal bank at the time, Mitsui , had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for
4180-535: The Video8 format . Video8 and the follow-on hi-band Hi8 format became popular in the consumer camcorder market. In 1987 Sony launched the 4 mm DAT or Digital Audio Tape as a new digital audio tape standard. Sony held a patent for its proprietary Trinitron until 1996. Sony introduced the Triluminos Display, the company's proprietary color reproduction enhancing technology, in 2004, featured in
4275-401: The "p" stands for progressive scan . Each frame is drawn line by line, from top to bottom, creating a complete image in a single pass. This results in a sharper and more stable picture, especially in fast-moving scenes. On the other hand, 1080i uses an interlaced method. The two fields that make up a frame are captured at slightly different times, leading to a misalignment in fast-moving parts of
4370-490: The 1080i format. Many ABC affiliates owned by Hearst Television and former Belo Corporation stations owned by Tegna , along with some individual affiliates of those three networks, air their signals in 1080i and upscale network programming for master control and transmission purposes, as most syndicated programming and advertising is produced and distributed in 1080i/p, removing a downscaling step to 720p. This also allows local newscasts on these ABC affiliates to be produced in
4465-523: The Memory Stick format with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Micro . The company has also released USB flash drive products, branded under the Micro Vault line. Sony introduced FeliCa , a contactless IC card technology primarily used in contactless payment , as a result of the company's joint development and commercialization of Near-Field Communication (NFC) with Philips. The standard
4560-549: The PRIVATE directory. Following a standard agreed upon by many still camera manufacturers, solid-state camcorders have a root-level DCIM directory for still images. AVCHD is compatible with the Blu-ray format and can be authored without re-encoding on Blu-rays or DVDs, though not all Blu-ray Disc players are compatible with AVCHD video authored on DVD media, a format known as AVCHD disc . AVCHD recordings can be transferred to
4655-584: The Panasonic DMC FZ-200 offers AVCHD Progressive recording mode (50fps/60fps acquisition and stream rate) as well as MP4 mode (25fps/30fps acquisition and stream rate). Formerly known as "AVCHD with professional features," AVCCAM is the name of professional AVCHD camcorders from Panasonic's Broadcast division. Some of these professional features listed in early Panasonic advertising materials included 1/3-inch progressive 3CCD sensor, XLR microphone input, solid-state media and capability of recording at
4750-418: The advent of AVCHD Progressive mode, native progressive-scan video for 1080-line resolution had been available only in 24 frames/s variant. In 2010, Panasonic introduced a new lineup of consumer AVCHD camcorders with 1080-line 50p/60p progressive-scan mode (frame rate depending on region). Panasonic advised that not all players that support AVCHD playback could play 1080-line 50p/60p video. In 2011, this mode
4845-613: The bandwidth required for transmission. In the United States, 1080i is the preferred format for most broadcasters, with Warner Bros. Discovery , Paramount Global , and Comcast owned networks broadcasting in the format, along with most smaller broadcasters. Only Fox - and Disney -owned television networks, along with MLB Network and a few other cable networks, use 720p as the preferred format for their networks; A&E Networks channels converted from 720p to 1080i sometime in 2013 due to acquired networks already transmitting in
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#17327935263174940-412: The board. Eventually, Sony President Ohga decided to retain the project after being reminded by Kutaragi of the humiliation he suffered from Nintendo. Nevertheless, due to strong opposition from a majority present at the meeting as well as widespread internal opposition to the project by the older generation of Sony executives, Kutaragi and his team had to be shifted from Sony's headquarters to Sony Music ,
5035-522: The brand as a mix of two words: one was the Latin word " sonus ", which is the root of sonic and sound, and the other was " sonny ", a common slang term used in 1950s America to call a young boy. In 1950s Japan, "sonny boys" was a loan word in Japanese, which connoted smart and presentable young men, which Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka considered themselves to be. The first Sony-branded product,
5130-471: The camcorder is "shaped for Pro-Style shooting in Full-HD" with shoulder-mount type body being "preferred by professionals". NXCAM is the name of Sony's professional video lineup employing the AVCHD format. NXCAM camcorders offer 1080i, 1080p and 720p recording modes. Unlike AVCCAM, not all NXCAM camcorders offer film-like frame rates—24p, 25p, 30p—in 720p mode. Recorded AVCHD video can be played back in
5225-572: The company announced that they would be selling 9.5 million shares in Square Enix (roughly 8.2 percent of the game company's total shares) in a deal worth approximately $ 48 million. In May 2014 the company announced it was forming two joint ventures with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group to manufacture and market Sony's PlayStation game consoles and associated software in China. In 2015, Sony purchased Toshiba's image sensor business. It
5320-430: The company changed its name to "Sony". Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo founders Morita and Ibuka realized that to achieve success and grow, their business had to expand to the global market, which required labeling their products with a short and easy brand name. While looking for a romanized name, they at first strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko
5415-425: The company's struggling media businesses, encouraging blockbusters such as Spider-Man while cutting 9,000 jobs. He hoped to sell off peripheral business and focus the company again on electronics. Furthermore, he aimed to increase cooperation between business units, which he described as "silos" operating in isolation from one another. In a bid to provide a unified brand for its global operations, Sony introduced
5510-469: The discs, Hi-MD allows the storage of computer files such as documents, videos and photos. In 1993, Sony challenged the industry standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound format with a newer and more advanced proprietary motion picture digital audio format called SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound). This format employed eight channels (7.1) of audio opposed to just six used in Dolby Digital 5.1 at
5605-487: The early years owes to a smooth capitalization on the Digital Compact Cassette standard introduced by Philips , with which Sony went on to enjoy a decades-long technological relationship in various areas. Sony (either alone or with partners) has introduced several of the most popular recording formats, including the 3.5-inch floppy disk , compact disc and Blu-ray disc. Sony introduced U-matic ,
5700-590: The evolution of television technology. The core of 1080i is its resolution. The resolution is 1920x1080 pixels. This means that each video frame has 1,920 pixels horizontally and 1,080 pixels vertically. This results in over two million individual pixels per frame. This high resolution is why 1080i is called "high-definition". It offers a significant improvement over standard-definition formats, which typically have much lower pixel counts. The 1920x1080 resolution allows for greater detail and clarity in images. This makes it ideal for larger screens where higher pixel density
5795-523: The film studio. According to one report, Sony was set to make a final decision on the possibility of the merger of the TV, film, & gaming businesses by the end of its fiscal year in March of the following year (2017). In 2017, Sony sold its lithium-ion battery business to Murata Manufacturing . In 2019, Sony merged its mobile, TV and camera businesses. On 1 April 2020, Sony Electronics Corporation
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#17327935263175890-511: The first AVCHD camcorder aimed at the professional market in 2008, though it was nothing more than the (by then discontinued) FLASH card consumer model rebadged with a different model number. In 2011 the AVCHD specification was amended to include 1080-line 50-frame/s and 60-frame/s modes (AVCHD Progressive) and stereoscopic video (AVCHD 3D). The new video modes require double the data rate of previous modes. AVCHD and its logo are trademarks of Sony and Panasonic. For video compression, AVCHD uses
5985-612: The fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5 million units by the end of 1968. Sony co-founder Akio Morita founded Sony Corporation of America in 1960. In the process, he was struck by the mobility of employees between American companies, which was unheard of in Japan at that time. When he returned to Japan, he encouraged experienced, middle-aged employees of other companies to reevaluate their careers and consider joining Sony. The company filled many positions in this manner, and inspired other Japanese companies to do
6080-619: The form of American depositary receipts listed in the New York Stock Exchange (traded since 1961, making it one of the oldest Japanese company to be listed on an American exchange), and was ranked 88th on the 2021 Fortune Global 500 list. In 2023, the company was ranked 57th in the Forbes Global 2000 . Sony began in the wake of World War II. In 1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in Shirokiya,
6175-399: The home video game console PlayStation in 1994, which was the first of the eponymous brand . In Japan, Sony expanded into the financial sector. In 2021, Sony transformed into a holding company, handing over the name Sony Corporation to its subsidiary as the electronics company. Sony, with its 55 percent market share in the image sensor market, is the largest manufacturer of image sensors,
6270-413: The image is not displayed all at once. Instead, the frame is split into two fields. One field contains the odd-numbered lines, and the other field contains the even-numbered lines. These fields are displayed in rapid succession, giving the appearance of a full image to the human eye. The interlacing technique was developed to improve the motion portrayal of images without doubling the required bandwidth. This
6365-430: The image. This can cause artifacts like " combing ," where fast-moving objects appear to have a serrated edge. However, 1080i has been preferred in broadcast television due to its lower bandwidth requirements, making it more efficient for over-the-air or cable transmission. The origins of 1080i can be traced from Multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding , a Japanese analog high-definition television system. 1080i emerged as
6460-520: The marketbase and became the worldwide standard for consumer VCRs. Betamax is, for all practical purposes, an obsolete format. Sony's professional-oriented component video format called Betacam , which was derived from Betamax, was used until 2016 when Sony announced it was stopping production of all remaining 1/2-inch video tape recorders and players, including the Digital Betacam format. In 1985, Sony launched their Handycam products and
6555-537: The maximum AVCHD bitrate – 24 Mbit/s. The aforementioned features are not exclusive to AVCCAM. Moreover, some of these features like CCD sensor technology have been dropped by Panasonic, while 24 Mbit/s recording rate is widely available from rival manufacturers even on consumer models. Panasonic uses "AVCHD Pro" moniker to describe camcorders like the HDC-MDH1, which combines consumer internal parts and controls with shoulder-mount type body. Panasonic touts that
6650-410: The odd-numbered lines (1, 3, 5, etc.), and the second field contains all the even-numbered lines (2, 4, 6, etc.). These two fields are displayed one after the other. The odd lines are shown first, followed by the even lines. This happens very quickly, around 50 or 60 fields per second. The human eye sees these two fields as a single, continuous image. The main advantage of interlacing is that it allows for
6745-417: The position of president over to his co-founder Akio Morita. Sony began a life insurance company in 1979, one of its many peripheral businesses. Amid a global recession in the early 1980s, electronics sales dropped and the company was forced to cut prices. Sony's profits fell sharply. "It's over for Sony", one analyst concluded. "The company's best days are behind it." Around that time, Norio Ohga took up
6840-406: The processing power for realtime playback, placing a greater burden on the computer's CPU and graphics card. Improvements in multi-core computing and graphics processor acceleration bring AVCHD playback to mainstream desktops and laptops. AVCHD supports a variety of video resolutions and scanning methods, which was further extended with the 2011 amendment of the specification. The licensing body of
6935-442: The pulldown pattern to recover the original frames using the process known as inverse telecine . Since the very beginning, the AVCHD specification had supported 720-line progressive recording mode at frame rates of 24 and 60 frames/s for 60 Hz models and 50 frames/s for 50 Hz models. Frame rates of 25 frames/s and 30 frames/s are not directly available in 720p mode, but can be simulated with frame repeating, when every frame
7030-508: The resolution and frame rate (not field rate) separated by a slash , as in 1080i/30 and 1080i/25 , likewise 480i/30 and 576i/25. Resolutions of 1080i60 or 1080i50 often refers to 1080i/30 or 1080i/25 in EBU notation. The 1080i video signals can be carried by four main digital television broadcast systems: ATSC , DVB , ISDB and DTMB . In both ATSC and DVB systems, the 1080i signal is compressed using codecs like MPEG-2 or H.264 to reduce
7125-552: The role of president. He encouraged the development of the compact disc (CD) in the 1970s and 1980s, and of the PlayStation in the early 1990s. Ohga went on to purchase CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989, greatly expanding Sony's media presence. Ohga would succeed Morita as chief executive officer in 1989. Under the vision of co-founder Akio Morita and his successors, the company had aggressively expanded into new businesses. Part of its motivation for doing so
7220-525: The same. Moreover, Sony played a major role in the development of Japan as a powerful exporter during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, supplying the U.S. Military with bomb parts used in the Vietnam War . It also helped to significantly improve American perceptions of "made in Japan" products. Known for its production quality, Sony was able to charge above-market prices for its consumer electronics and resisted lowering prices. In 1971, Masaru Ibuka handed
7315-410: The second largest camera manufacturer, and is among the semiconductor sales leaders. It is the world's largest player in the premium TV market for a television of at least 55 inches (140 centimeters) with a price higher than $ 2,500 as well as second largest TV brand by market share and, as of 2020, the third largest television manufacturer in the world by annual sales figures. Although not being
7410-662: The sound chip for the Super Famicom from Nintendo , and operated a video game studio, Sony Imagesoft . As part of a joint project between Nintendo and Sony that began as early as 1988, the two companies worked to create a CD-ROM version of the Super Famicom, though Nintendo denied the existence of the Sony deal as late as March 1991. At the Consumer Electronics Show in June 1991, Sony revealed
7505-598: The specific use of archival data storage, in 1986 and 1988 respectively. In the early 1990s, two high-density optical storage standards were being developed: one was the MultiMedia Compact Disc (MMCD), backed by Philips and Sony, and the other was the Super Density Disc (SD), supported by Toshiba and many others. Philips and Sony abandoned their MMCD format and agreed upon Toshiba's SD format with only one modification. The unified disc format
7600-439: The specification defines a variety of labels for products compliant with specific features. Most AVCHD camcorders support only a handful of the video and audio formats allowed in the AVCHD standard. AVCHD supports both standard definition (AVCHD-SD) and high definition (AVCHD 1080i ) interlaced video. AVCHD 1080i is available on most AVCHD camcorders. For some models this is the only recording mode offered. AVCHD-SD
7695-572: The storage technology, to establish a worldwide standard. In 1983, the two company jointly announced the Compact Disc (CD). In 1984, Sony launched the Discman series, an expansion of the Walkman brand to portable CD players. Sony began to improve performance and capacity of the novel format. It launched write-once optical discs (WO) and magneto-optical discs which were around 125MB size for
7790-505: The technologies developed for the company's optical disc products. In 1983, Sony introduced 90 mm micro diskettes, better known as 3.5-inch (89 mm) floppy disks , which it had developed at a time when there were 4" floppy disks, and many variations from different companies, to replace the then on-going 5.25" floppy disks. Sony had great success and the format became dominant. 3.5" floppy disks gradually became obsolete as they were replaced by current media formats. Sony held more than
7885-515: The time. Ultimately, SDDS has been vastly overshadowed by the preferred DTS ( Digital Theatre System ) and Dolby Digital standards in the motion picture industry. SDDS was solely developed for use in the theatre circuit; Sony never intended to develop a home theatre version of SDDS. Sony and Philips jointly developed the Sony-Philips digital interface format ( S/PDIF ) and the high-fidelity audio system SACD . The latter became entrenched in
7980-491: The two companies. The breaking of the partnership infuriated Sony President Norio Ohga , who responded by appointing Kutaragi with the responsibility of developing the PlayStation project to rival Nintendo. At that time, negotiations were still on-going between Nintendo and Sony, with Nintendo offering Sony a "non-gaming role" regarding their new partnership with Philips. This proposal was swiftly rejected by Kutaragi who
8075-455: The world's first LED-backlit LCD televisions. It was widely used in other Sony's products as well, including computer monitors, laptops, and smartphones. In 2013, Sony released a new line of televisions with an improved version of the technology, which incorporated quantum dots in the backlight system. It was the first commercial use of quantum dots. In 2012, the company revealed a prototype of an ultrafine RGB LED display, which it calls
8170-518: The world's first videocassette format, in 1971, but the standard was unpopular for domestic use due to the high price. The company subsequently launched the Betamax format in 1975. Sony was involved in the videotape format war of the early 1980s, when they were marketing the Betamax system for video cassette recorders against the VHS format developed by JVC . In the end, VHS gained critical mass in
8265-471: Was called DVD and was introduced in 1997. Sony was one of the leading developers of the Blu-ray optical disc format, the newest standard for disc-based content delivery. The first Blu-ray players became commercially available in 2006. The format emerged as the standard for HD media over the competing format, Toshiba's HD DVD , after a two-year-long high-definition optical disc format war . Sony's laser communication devices for small satellites rely on
8360-477: Was established as an intermediate holding company to own and oversee its electronics and IT solutions businesses. On 19 May 2020, the company announced that it would change its name to Sony Group Corporation as of 1 April 2021. Subsequently, Sony Electronics Corporation would be renamed to Sony Corporation. On the same day the company announced that it would turn Sony Financial Holdings (currently Sony Financial Group), of which Sony already owns 65.06% of shares, to
8455-442: Was established in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita . This electronics company, known for creating products such as the transistor radio TR-55 , the home video tape recorder CV-2000 , the portable audio player Walkman , and the compact disc player CDP-101 , embarked on diverse business ventures. In 1988, Sony acquired CBS Records , and in 1989, it acquired Columbia Pictures . The company also introduced
8550-546: Was facing increasing criticism over his work with regard to entering the video game industry from within Sony. Negotiations officially ended in May 1992 and in order to decide the fate of the PlayStation project, a meeting was held in June 1992, consisting of Sony President Ohga, PlayStation Head Kutaragi and several senior members of Sony's board. At the meeting, Kutaragi unveiled a proprietary CD-ROM-based system he had been working on which involved playing video games with 3D graphics to
8645-411: Was known as TTK. The company occasionally used the syllabic acronym "Totsuko" in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that was tried out for a while was "Tokyo Teletech" until Akio Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name. The name "Sony" was chosen for
8740-624: Was officially included into the AVCHD specification as part of 2.0 addendum, and has been called AVCHD Progressive. This mode uses the same AVCHD folder structure and container files for storing video, with the maximum bitrate of 28 Mbit/s. In 2011, Sony introduced consumer and professional AVCHD models capable of AVCHD Progressive recording. In 2012 JVC announced the GY-HMQ10 model, which also can record AVCHD Progressive video. Most AVCHD camcorders record audio using Dolby Digital (AC-3) compression scheme. Stereo and multichannel audio
8835-483: Was reported in December 2016 by multiple news outlets that Sony was considering restructuring its U.S. operations by merging its TV & film business, Sony Pictures Entertainment, with its gaming business, Sony Interactive Entertainment. According to the reports, such a restructuring would have placed Sony Pictures under Sony Interactive's CEO, Andrew House, though House would not have taken over day-to-day operations of
8930-637: Was the only recording medium. To reduce camcorder size, manufacturers opted for an 8 cm disc, sometimes called miniDVD . Recording capacity of an 8 cm disc ranges from 1.4 GB for a single-sided single layer disc to 5.2 GB for a double-sided double layer disc. Pros: Cons: As the capacity of memory cards grew and their price dropped, DVDs use for recordable media declined. No DVD-based AVCHD camcorders have been produced since 2008. While DVDs are no longer used for acquisition, they remain popular as distribution media. Many authoring programs offer "AVCHD" profile for recording high definition video on
9025-492: Was the pursuit of "convergence", linking film, music and digital electronics via the Internet. This expansion proved unrewarding and unprofitable, threatening Sony's ability to charge a premium on its products as well as its brand name. In 2005, Howard Stringer replaced Nobuyuki Idei as chief executive officer, marking the first time that a foreigner had run a major Japanese electronics firm. Stringer helped to reinvigorate
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