Shin-Digita Chip and Firmware Into Sony’s 60GB Removable HDD

The Shin-Digita Total Solution AV Content Manager chip and firmware has been designed into Sony‘s new 60GB removable hard drive, which was recently previewed at the IBC Conference in Amsterdam. Designated Model HVR-DR60, the new Sony hard drive is FireWire-compatible and capable of storing up to 4.5 hours of HDV, DVCAM, and/or DV content. Sony demonstrated the HVR-DR60 at IBC in conjunction with its new HVR-V1U/V1E, featuring true progressive-scan 25p or 30p video recording with an HDMI output.

According to Shin-Digita, its powerful single-chip solution enables direct-to-disk recording to make HDV recording and postproduction easier and more flexible than ever before. For example, Sony’s new HVR-DR60 allows instant random access, clip replay, and even on-camera editing. Moreover, unwanted scenes or recordings can be edited or deleted to free up additional storage capacity. Once recorded, video files can be named, organized into categories, or stored in directories and sub-directories. The Shin-Digita Total Solution also makes the Sony hard drive immune to video dropouts, a common drawback of tape drives.

The Indigita chip facilitates connectivity with virtually any computer OS using the FAT-32 file system. While the 1394 HDD mounts as a drive letter for drag-and-drop file transfers, video files can be edited directly on the drive or copied to a Mac or PC at nearly 10X realtime video HDV playback. Supported SBP-2 Protocol allows storage and access to other multimedia file types just like an internal drive. Audio/Video Command (A/V C) set is also supported, thus facilitating connection to 1394-enabled HDTV for DVR playback directly from the drive. An HDTV remote control may used to execute FF, REW, and Playback functions.

Shin-Digita’s Total Solution is a combination of a high technology HD content chip and state-of-the-art firmware packaged together to allow OEMs to get their products to market fast. Pricing depends on quantity purchased, with discounts available on OEM quantities.

The Shin-Digita product brand has emerged as a preferred choice among OEMs requiring powerful IEEE 1394 (FireWire or iLink) connectivity and storage management solutions. The Shin-Digita brand is currently being extended to encompass native 1394 and Video Streaming silicon to enable the delivery of broadband content for storage and set-top applications.