D2 (video format)

:For other uses of the name D2, see the disambiguation page.

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D2 is a professional digital video tape format created by Sony as a lower-cost alternative to their proprietary D1 format. Like D1, D2 video is uncompressed; however, it saves bandwidth and other costs by sampling a fully-encoded NTSC or PAL composite video signal, and storing it directly to magnetic tape, rather than sampling component video. This is known as digital composite.

Related Topics:
Digital video - Tape format - Sony - D1 - Uncompressed - NTSC - PAL - Composite video - Magnetic tape - Component video - Digital composite

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D2 used 19mm (¾) tape loaded into cassettes. PCM-encoded audio and timecode are also recorded on the tape. Although the tapes are similar to the D1 format, they are not interchangeable.

Related Topics:
Cassette - PCM - Timecode - D1

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D2 had a relatively brief heyday. As of 2003, only a handful of broadcasters use the D2 format, and even then only to access materials recorded when the format was more popular.

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Panasonic's equivalent format is known as D3.

Related Topics:
Panasonic - D3

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