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Digital Betacam Player with Firewire
i-Link outputs

Plays back Betacam, Betacam SP and Betacam SX, DigiBeta and MPEG-2 IMX formats. It features a jog shuttle dial to enable easy searching, and handles both S and L-size cassettes. Has SDI and firewire outputs for capturing. Perfect for digitizing to Quicktime or to Final Cut Pro and Avid.
Video Conversions
Video encoding is one of those important steps in a video that will determine whether the output looks good or bad. The technical term for this process is 'encoding' but is often referred to as 'conversion' or 'converting'.

Not all video is the same. Digital video can exist as any number of formats, using any number of settings. When a digital video file does not meet the specifications, or the file type is bad for the intended use, it must be converted to the proper format, using video encoder software.

Formats? Specifications?

The word "format" is used for many things in video, but it tends to confuse people for this very reason.

- VIDEO FORMAT: This include filetypes, like MPEG-1, MPEG-2, Quicktime, RealMedia, Windows Media, etc

- PLAYBACK FORMAT: Examples include DVD-Video (DVD), VideoCD (VCD), Super VideoCD (SVCD), etc

- SPECIFICATIONS: For example, DVD-Video uses MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 with certain resolutions only. See the UNDERSTANDING YOUR SOURCE capture guide for more info on the various digital specs for disc-based MPEG, such as allowed resolution and bit-rates.

When encoding video, one must consider the original source and capture methods, any later encodes that were performed, and then the intended output. Only by analyzing those aspects, and then considering all the options, can a high quality encode be performed. Converting video is not simply a matter of pressing the "just do it" button in an encoder.