Another major advantage of AVC-Intra is 10-bit compression at 4:2:2 recorded with no subsampling. If the production is working with a green screen or in grading suites, a much enhanced picture quality is achieved even after several digital processes.

Panasonic also cited the advantage of working in AVC-Intra when it comes to re-purposing content. The H.264 basis of the codec means it translates very easily into other mediums such as IPTV, video gaming and the web, which also uses H.264 compression codecs.

RED’s Redcode RAW comes with two variants, one with a maximum data rate of 28 MB/s (224 megabits) and one with a maximum data rate of 36 MB/s (288 megabits). Compared with the uncompressed data captured by the camera’s sensor, these bit rates represent compression ratios of about 12:1 and 9:1, respectively.

Because Redcode RAW is a wavelet codec, similar to CineForm RAW and JPEG2000, the blocking artifacts associated with other digital video compression algorithms are absent. Redcode RAW is a mathematically lossy codec, meaning that decompression does not fully restore the original image data captured by the camera.

RED, however, claims the codec is “visually lossless,” meaning that the information loss is not visible to the naked eye when images are viewed. Recording raw data allows white balance, gamma and other image processing parameters like sharpening to be set during postproduction.

Adjusting these settings directly on camera does not impact the raw data that is actually recorded. Such adjustments only influence live monitoring outputs, but are attached to the recorded data as metadata.

Editing the very high-resolution 4K files directly is too hardware demanding for most current computers. However, Redcode RAW files contain several lower resolution versions of the video. That means a 4K file can easily supply 2K, 1K, or even 0.5K footage directly, without decoding the full 4K resolution data followed by scaling.

In Final Cut Pro, the user may import QuickTime reference files that have pointers to the parts of the 4K file that contain the lower resolution version. This way work is done with speedy low-resolution video without need for a separate low-resolution copy.

This summer, Apple upgraded its Final Pro Studio, giving it wider file support for camcorders from Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Canon. Now there is native support for AVC-Intra, Sony XDCAM EX, DVCPRO HD from P2 cards, AVCHD and RED’s Redcode RAW. Sony’s free XDCAM Transfer software can be used to ingest XDCAM, 18-, 25-, and 35-Mbps XDCAM HD, and XDCAM HD 422 media into the Final Cut Pro applications.

Avid’s Media Composer also provides full native support including metadata integration and card/disc support for Panasonic’s P2, Sony’s XDCAM-HD/EX formats and RED’s Redcode RAW.

While the manufacturers choose their codecs for a variety of reasons, the good news for the end user is the differences are quickly vanishing. Most codecs are now invisible in daily use, though it’s still important to understand why the manufacturer chose a certain codec before you buy.