Operation Manual

Chapter 1
4
The difference is that it relies more on intraframe compression where each
compressed frame will depend entirely on itself and not on data from preceding or
following frames like MPEG. However, the DV format does incorporate the use of
adaptive interfield compression where two extremely similar interlaced fields of a
frame will be compressed together to save space.
The analog generation is slowly witnessing its demise. There is still room left for
analog technology, but as the DV format perfects its compression technology and
enhances their non-linear editing (NLE) friendliness, the analog generation will soon
be outdated, fainting memories from a bygone era. Add to this the continued
popularity of video editing software and the uncompromising blazing speed of
computer processing power, and the perfect union between DV recording and
editing couldn’t be any more natural or fitting.
FireWire
In the early courting stages of video editing software and DV format recording, there
had to be an intermediary between the two technologies to make it a success,
because as you know from analog transference, there is always data lost from the
original source. FireWire, or IEEE-1394, is this unerring technology when it comes to
data loss, as in “lossless” transfer. A serial data transfer protocol and interconnection
(bi-directional) system, FireWire transmits digital video (DV) offering a higher
transfer rate and incorporating the use of hot-plugging technology (i.e. connecting
and disconnecting without shutting down the host computer).