It will essentially make them compatible with earlier Sony XDCAM HD codecs capturing 1440 x 1080 HD video at 35Mbps at 60i or 50i – which is still widely used for news. The 1440 x 1080 format was the standard resolution offered by HDV tape cameras (using 1440 instead of 1920 is a form of compression - the pixels are then stretched in the edit to cover the 1920 x 1080 image). It will help the XF camcorders integrate more easily with standard workflows used by some broadcasters.
Once the firmware is installed, the recording mode will be accessed through the regular mode selection menu on the camcorder and the frame rate will be automatically selected, dependent on the camcorder's PAL (50i) or NTSC (60i) setting. All previously supported XF-series video resolutions and frame rates will still remain available.
The firmware is expected to be available for download at the end of May 2012 and will be available on the individual product pages through the Canon website.
