Sony DCR-IP7 Handycam Incompatible With FireWire [Updated]
Date: Wednesday, November 28th, 2001, 23:05
Category: Archive
Updated 05 December with new information on FireWire specs.
There are two issues: 1) The format of the camcorder data on FireWire is specified by IEC-61883. There are six sections to this spec. The DV data format is specified by sections two (standard definition) and three (high definition). The MPEG format is covered in section four. Question: Does the DCR-IP7 conform to IEC-61883-4? 2) If the answer to the above is ‘yes’, then the next question is "When will Apple support IEC-61883-4?" Despite Apple having invented FireWire, Microsoft is far ahead in taking advantage of it. Apple needs to move quickly to catch up. If Sony is conforming to the published specs for data transport on FireWire, then lack of compatibility with the Macintosh is (largely) an Apple problem. [JOC]
