Sony USB Streaming
Sony USB Streaming Sony has released yet again a bunch of new digital video cameras the most interesting of which is probably the DCR-IP55 since it uses the new MicroDV cassettes like the DCR-IP7.

But, more interesting is Sony's new push for "USB Streaming" as they call it. All of the new cameras (and some of the older ones) can be connected to a computer through USB. Of course you can hook them up through iLink/Firewire but as Sony points out, unless you are a pro or you are going to make a DVD it's just not that useful. 30 seconds of video from an iLink cable will take 100meg on your hard drive. 1 hour of video would take 12 gigabytes of space!!! That's 18 CDs worth of space.

So, Sony's solution is to allow you to download video over USB in a much much more compressed format. Sure, it's not as pretty as iLink but it's useful. Files are small enough to e-mail to friends or post on your website. Check out some examples. They have the software and cables here.

It makes alot of sense to me. On impulse a couple of years ago I bought a digital video camera. I've pretty much never used it. It's too much of a pain in the ass. And, even when I have used it I've pretty much almost never gone back and watched the videos. It's too much work. Get out the camera, connect it to the TV, find the tape, fast-foward to the area I want to watch etc. I've converted a few things to the computer but it's a pain. After getting them in the machine you've got to convert them to other formats to be of any use to anybody else.

On the otherhand I have a digital still camera, the Sony DSC-F505 which has a short movie mode. It will take low-res 320x240 15 second movies with sound. It's surprising how often I look at those. The reason is they are all on my hard drive with my other pictures. Several times a month I am looking for a picture or downloading more pictures to my hard drive. I organize my pictures with Thumbsplus and so it's easy to just click around and see my old pictures and short movies.

On top of all that with the new Sony cameras, once you connect the camera to the computer you can use it for real-time video chatting. Video chatting is built into Windows and has been since Windows 95 but there were not enough people with fast connections and the right equipment. That's changing though. As the world becomes more and more connected stuff like that will get more and more common I think.
Comments:

Thanks [ e ]

Thanks for this info, it was great and you tell it like it is. Very cool.

posted by anon_JennaJune 7, 2003 at 15:16

Cables [ e ]

Interesting and well written article. I am looking for a cable to download from my camera dcrtrv25e to my laptop. Do I use a firewire to usb cable. The link for cables and software brings me to a Japanese page. I was hoping to find a part number for the relevant lead. I installed the usb driver but only seem to be able to download the contents of the flash card. Any advice would be appreciated.

posted by anon_LorcanJuly 8, 2003 at 5:56

USB Cables [ e ]

I purchased a Sony DCR-PC101E which came with a USB cable. I used it a few times and then left it behind me when I was abroad. I have today ordered a replacement cable direct from Sony in the UK (0208 283 2700) at a cost of ｣47.00, with a 2 week delivery. Sony told me that you will not find this cable on the internet as it is not considered an accessory.

posted by DaveWallAugust 18, 2003 at 8:40

[ e ]

In New Zealand

 part VMC-14UMB2 for $40NZ

posted by craigOctober 8, 2003 at 1:17

HandyCam to PC thru USB [ e ]

Hi All,

I have Sony D8 HandyCam and wants to capture movie into Celeron PC thru USB. Its too much slow and the downloaded movie is also slow. Displays like frames by frames. How can I capture with the same speed in which it is in the camera? Is there any software which will accelarate the speed and quality? Or any new hardware I have to buy?

Please help.

Tejas

posted by TejasJDecember 3, 2003 at 1:50

You need a fireware port [ e ]

Some computers all ready have them so you should check if yours does or not.  If not you can add one with a card.  They are as cheap as around $25.  You'll also need a fireware cable to connect your D8 to your PC.  Here's one.

note that there are 3 names for this stuff

Apple calls them "firewire" and many companies use that term as well.  Sony calls them "iLink" and other companies call them "IEEE-1394".

posted by greggmanDecember 3, 2003 at 19:08

Thanks [ e ]

OK. But do I need to know whether my motherboard / processor supports that or not. Also I want to sppedup the stuff not only timewise but quality wise also..

Thanks for the help..

Tejas

posted by TejasJDecember 3, 2003 at 20:32

hardware... [ e ]

I wrote this post actually to HandyCam to PC thru USB but the the greggman site crashed or something and i couldent post it.

 

From my experience this sounds like old hardware or you havent just confiigured the recording program to max fps(frames per second) I had problems watching movies on my old piece of junk 500mhz amd, it had lots of ram, about 327 megs and a fairly good video card(acutally is sucks i have never had more problems with video card then with than one, its diamond viper 2 card based on s3 chip) Running movies on my amd athlon xp 2700+ with 1gigs of ram and g4ti4400 works flawless.

If you want some new hardware for your comp i recommend you to buy pieces one  by one, then it gets cheaper and you can decide what ever you want to have and not some crap package from compaq or something in that way. Its not very hard to build the comp yourself when you have all the pieces, just read the manual or ask someone/friend or someone at your local comp store, if they dont know the store clerks shouldent be *clerks*.

There are also many good websites selling hardware for comps and they usualy have far better prices then your local store, but the only problem with them is that you dont really have a warranty for what you have bought.

Well if you decide to build a new comp by your self heres some info on what you need.

1. First of all you need a chassi, There are different kind of chassis, and these days design and cooling has become more important, but you can manage without the hottest chassi in town. Then you need a power box(suplies the motherboard with power).

2. A motherboard is needed, you can manage without it, cpu(gives the computer speed), then you need Ram memory for you comp, so basicly just log on the motherboards manufacturer website and look for what memories are the best for your motherboard. You can ask the store if they now what memorie works best with your comp.

3. The cpu need cooling or it will melt, i use a copper cooling flense, copper is a good metall, leads away heat better than most other metalls. Dont forget a to buy a fan, If you dont care about the noise you can buy a fan with about 4000+rpm, but i recommend you to use a silent mode fan, it barely gives out noise and it cooles very well. I my self bought a Aluminium Mg chassi with 5 fans and 2 side windows and many other funktions, so i have about 7 or 8 fans, but computer for your need dosent need more then about 3-4.

Dont forget to find a chassi that is effektiv on driwing out hot air comming from the cpu, there are also sevral powerboxes with 2-3 fans helping driwing the heat generated by the computer components.

You cant manage with out a harddrive, I my self have 2*120 gig hardrives but if you wont use your comp for anything else than watching movies about 40-60 gig hardrives are ok. Make sure that they do 7200 rpm, these are the fastet these days and if you really want fast hardrives go with those that have 8 mb cach memory.

There are ofcourse faster harddrives but these break faster and are way to expensive for dayly basis.

If you are planning to buy cdrom, i recommend you to buy a cdrw, it has all the functions a cdplayer has and you can record with it to, i dont know if they still sell standard cdroms these days but i doubt it.

 Video card, They eyes :/ the video card is needed to be able to see anything on your monitor, or even plug in the computer the screen so this a important part, if you are looking for a gaming card you will have to spend atleast between 350-500 dollars.

Dont forget a mouse and keyboard, sound cards and netowrk adaptors are usually built in on the motherboard so you dont have to worrie about that except speakers. 

Dont forget that the motherboard cant have any contact with the chassi or you will get a circuit break, this can damage your motherboard seriously, I encounterd this problem by mistake, luckylie my power box broke. There is much more tell about this, but i think i managed to tell eveything that you need to know.

//Kristofer/sweden

posted by ZehgernanDecember 5, 2003 at 2:54

Oops.... [ e ]

Thanks Zehgernan, for so much info about PC and its components..But I just wanted to know whether you want any slot for that Firewire card. Later I got to know you need PCI slot on the motherboard. Also my hardware man said even if you increased the RAM , which is 128 MB currently to more..that will not serve the purpose..

Its nice to have all that described stuff but frankly I dont need it and just want the capture card..which greggman suggested. Hope that will fulfill my requirement.

Thanks guys..Will defintly let you know when my home video display properly..

Zehgernan..can I have you mail id..so that we can communicate..

posted by TejasJDecember 5, 2003 at 5:19

Mr. [ e ]

I've bought the VMC-14UMB2, however I've not discovered the driver for this as yet.
Therefor I'm a bit dubious as to whether it works yet, though I've not tried it.

Surely there's bespoke drivers?

posted by Mad_Man_MoonNovember 16, 2004 at 23:30

USB Streaming [ e ]

I have a Sony - Handycam DCR-DVD505 - Is it possible to get an accesory or something to use it as a webcam? Tks.

posted by ALFNovember 22, 2007 at 21:34