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Miniature Audio-Video Memory Machine—The Sharp MPEG-4 Digital Recorder Model VN-EZ1U
by By George Margolin, Former Technical Editor of Popular Photography NOCCC , inventor@pobox.com - March 18, 2000 at 03:19:51:
A peek at the Future EYES and EARS of Pocketable Camcorders, Cameras and ComputersWhat it is—what it isn’t—and what it WILL surely become
What it IS—A Reporter’s “Dream Machine,” A Traveler’s Delight and the Future of Digital Camcorders—All in a device about the size of a pack of cigarettes—and it won’t cause Cancer!
Where else can you find a fit-in-your-shirt-pocket Digital Camera-Camcorder-Voice Recorder? And, a device that is capable of producing LOTS of still pictures of quality adequate for use on a Web Site. And, a useful, if limited archival video stream as a visual record of an interview or an event. Also Streaming Video for use on the Internet. And, an adequate Sound Recorder of interviews up to an hour on four AA cells using a 32 MB Smart Memory Card. Much longer if you bring more postage stamp-sized 32 Mg Smart Memory Cards and batteries.
All of the above is contained in a miniature marvel I consider to be the first generation of the future. A new breed of Camcorders. Designated by Sharp as an “Internet ViewCam,” it automatically creates Streaming Video using the Microsoft Media Player, which is part of all the later Windows systems. The format is called ASF (Automatic Streaming Video). Its files are stored in about ¼ the space of a normal compressed AVI file. The still photos are stored in the new MPEG4 format for smaller file size. NOTE: The current image quality of these two new compression formats greatly limits picture quality, but such algorithms are getting better every day. You’ll have pictures you might never have gotten without this little pocket portable gem. Another way to talk about the size vs. quality tradeoff is—“Give a little in quality, and get a little camera that you can always carry with you.”
In the Beginning … The story of how I found it, and how I got hold of one for this article, is interesting in itself. At COMDEX my wife Cathy, who is also a computer person and writer, and I were passing the Sharp booth. Since we were gathering information on the latest digital cameras and camcorders for our website, www.netsurfernews.com, I asked if Sharp had a digital camera they could show us for possible inclusion in our show coverage.
The person behind the counter said, “Well, we don’t have a digital camera. But we have some kind of Internet Viewcam at the other end of the booth.” So Cathy and I walked over to the counter and were startled by a group of marvelously small and handy little cameras. “Are they still cameras?” I asked. “Yes, and they also do streaming video for use on the Internet.” “How many minutes of video?” “An hour.” “AN HOUR???” “Yes, an hour using a 32Mb Smart Memory Card and a set of 4 alkaline AA cells.”
Well, that really got me interested, because, as a reporter, it would be fantastic to have a way of recording both sound and pictures during an interview. And with the still picture capabilities of this camera, one could also record shots of the person being interviewed or the products they are talking about.
I decided instantly that I wanted to get my hands on one of these little beauties and write it up if it worked AT ALL as it had been described. But no luck—they had none to loan to the press. “Sad!” But we exchanged cards and I thought that when I got to New York for the New Year’s Ball Drop on Times Square, perhaps I could borrow one to shoot the Ball Dropping with crowds screaming.
So this story is a result of my having gotten to New York, borrowed one of the cameras, stood on Times Square for 6 ½ HOURS, in the cold, without any potty facilities for any of the 2 MILLION like-minded die hards. And we did use the little Sharp to capture the noise and madness of the crowd at the midnight stroke of the Millennium, as well as for general picture taking and interviewing all over the country since then.
Below we’ll tell you what this camera IS and what it ISN’T. But whatever its current limitations—every time I show it to anyone and take their picture—and show them the results—on the spot—people ask me where they can buy one. This little camera is a turn-on despite some serious current technical limitations. Its tiny size means you can always carry the camera with you and have it ready for instant shooting.
What is it?
• A shirt pocket-sized, sight, sound and streaming video record keeper.
• A journalist’s digital scratch pad
• A reporter’s “instant recall”
• A pocket tape recorder with imaging capabilities
• A fully random access recording device, since it doesn’t use tape
• A full hour of mono sound and low res pictures on a 32 Mb Smart Card
• A barely adequate but always available snapshot shooter for two hundred eighty eight, 640X480 photos on a 32 Mb Smart Card
• A unique and very useful product.
• A really fun product to use
• The FIRST generation of the future of photography and video capture!!!
What it isn’t—
• A “real” camcorder capable of playing on a large TV screen
• A digital camera capable of generating 8X10 photorealistic prints
• An MP3 quality stereo sound recorder capable of blasting your eardrums out
• A heavy, clunky, hard to park, hard to hold, hard to use Digital Camcorder
• A camera that will produce National Geographic quality nature pictures and landscapes
And it isn’t very useable in bright sunlight without a means to shade its ONLY viewfinder—the little LCD screen on the back. For that you should carry a floppy hat.
What it will be—The beginning of the end of “large” camcorders for consumers
• Imaging chips are getting smaller
• Imaging chips are getting denser with ever higher resolution
• Imaging chips are becoming increasingly more sensitive (faster) for lower light use
• Memory chips are growing in capacity while staying the same size or getting smaller
• Memory devices like the IBM Microdisk, which is already 340 Mb—will quickly increase in capacity to multi gigs in a Flash Memory format—the size of a quarter—and smaller.
• Camera electronics will greatly increase in speed and capability permitting greater and faster compression for storage and decompression for viewing
• True Camcorder/Digital Still cameras with hours of SVHS (or greater) quality in a device the size of this Sharp device.
In Short—This device or its descendents will merge and meld with Palm Pilot-like hand-held computers and become the EYES and EARS of computing cellphones and GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) devices, capable of two way wireless communication. This convergence is happening NOW and will be available within the next few years. Very FEW years.
It’s all converging. It WILL converge. This is just the BEGINNING!
As a case in point—below is a “Gee Whiz” tech story from my local paper just this morning after I had written the above two paragraphs. The future is coming much faster than you might believe. And for those of us who love Videography—as my fellow readers of this magazine do—it is going to be a Fantastic Future of Hugely Capable Miniature Camcorder-like devices. And Camcorder & Computer Video magazine will bring the latest news to you first.
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