DV is a format for storing video, audio, and digital metadata such as subtitles and subtitles. It was released in 1995 thanks to the joint efforts of several camcorder producers. DV uses lossy video compression while audio is stored uncompressed. An intra-frame video compression scheme is used to compress video frame-by-frame. All DV variants, except DVCPRO Progressive, are recorded on tape within an interlaced video stream. Film-like frame rates are possible through film-to-video scrolling transfer.

DVCPRO, also known as DVCPRO25, is a variation of DV developed by Panasonic and introduced in 1995 for use in electronic news gathering (ENG) equipment. In 1996, Sony responded with their own professional version of DV called DVCAM. Like DVCPRO, DVCAM uses blocked audio, which prevents the audio sync drift that can occur in DV if multiple generations of copies are made.

DVCPRO50 was introduced by Panasonic in 1997 for high-value electronic news gathering and digital cinema and is often described as two DV codecs operating in parallel. Comparable formats include Sony’s Digital Betacam, released in 1993, and MPEG IMX, released in 2001. DVCPRO Progressive was introduced by Panasonic for news gathering, sports journalism, and digital cinema. Like HDV-SD, it was thought of as an intermediate format during the transition time from standard definition video to high definition video.

DVCPRO HD, also known as DVCPRO 100, is a high definition video format that can be thought of as four DV codecs working in parallel. Although technically DVCPRO HD is a direct descendant of DV, it is used almost exclusively by professionals. Tape-based DVCPRO HD cameras exist only in shoulder mount variant. JVC offers a similar format, Digital-S (D-9 HD), which uses video tapes with the same form factor as VHS. DVCPRO HD’s main competitor is HDCAM, offered by Sony. It uses a similar compression scheme but at a higher bit rate.

Tape-based DV variants, with the exception of DVCPRO Progressive, do not support native progressive recording, so progressively acquired video is recorded within an interlaced video stream using the drop-down transfer technique, the same technique used on television to broadcast movies.

DV was originally designed to record on magnetic tape. The tape is included in small, medium, large and extra large video cassettes. Any DV cassette can record any variant of DV video. However, manufacturers often label cassettes with DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, or DVCPRO HD and indicate the recording time relative to the published label. With the proliferation of video recordings with tapeless camcorders, DV video can be recorded onto optical discs, sold-out flash memory cards, and hard drives and used as computer files. This allows for easy file sharing for uses such as archiving and transcription.

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