Full 10-bit Video support

High quality SDI inputs use 10-bit video quantization (e.g. Digital Betacam). MPEG-2 coding only supports 8-bit quantization which means a significant loss of quality due to 10/8-bit-rounding or cutoff. High end processing like color correction or color keying demand 10-bit resolutions to maintain signal quality. Coding schemes like AVC-Intra, or JPEG 2000 support 10-bit resolutions. Visually and mathematically lossless compression can be implemented.

Native codec support

Open codecs, like DVC-Pro are directly processed and wrapped into files. Additional transcoding steps or DA/AD conversions used in VTRs can be avoided by transparent digital software processing.

Multiple metadata creation and support

Creating a comprehensive set of metadata during the transfer process is essential for further storage and meaningful retrieval of archived content. In digital systems automatic generation of even more technical metadata is possible, like coding parameters, picture size, sampling structure, etc.

Channel condition monitoring

Digital VTRs normally provide channel condition information which can be evaluated, logged and used for creation of quality control information. Channel condition indicators allow judgment of the playback quality and how much error correction and concealment schemes are active during playback.