Basic Information About the MiniDV Tape Format

The MiniDV tape format is one of the industry standards for tape-based recording used in many consumer and professional videos. A number of consumer and prosumer cameras use this tape to record video footage. For more high-end cameras used for broadcast work, other formats including Beta SP, DVCAM, DigiBeta, DVCPRO HD, and HDCAM SR tapes are often used. These days, aside from tape-based cameras, there are also a number of file-based cameras that store footage in discs, memory cards, and camera hard drives.

Predecessors

The MiniDV came out after the tape formats Hi8, Digital8, and Video8. Unlike its analog predecessors (except for the Digital8), MiniDV is a digital video format that generally offers higher video quality than the older formats. It also deviates from the 8mm size of these older tapes as it is more compact with a 6mm tape size.

Tape Settings

Depending on the camera used, a video footage recorded using a MiniDV tape can be in widescreen or full screen format. Widescreen means a longer aspect ratio (usually 16:9 or 2:35), or in simpler terms, a screen frame with a longer rectangular shape when recording footage compared to a full screen format. Full screen refers to the 4:3 aspect ratio which yields to an almost square size of screen frame -- as seen in older CRT TVs.

The frame rate captured by a MiniDV footage is usually in 24fps (frames per second) or 30fps. 24fps is the standard used in movie productions, while 30fps is widely used in NTSC-based TV productions like those in the United States. Meanwhile, countries using the PAL system requires a frame rate of 25fps. Frames per second refers to the number of still frames differing incrementally every one second of video shown on screen. This means that 60 seconds worth of footage set with a frame rate of 24fps is composed of 1,440 still images (60 times 24) sequentially played to provide the illusion of movement in the video.

Recording Time

One MiniDV tape can be used anywhere from one to two hours of recorded footage. To edit your movie, your video footage is digitized or transferred to the computer using a video-editing program. When using your tape at Standard Speed (SP) during the digitizing process, each still image that comprise the video will have a file size of about 3.6MB per second. This is about 13GB per one hour of footage captured from the tape to the computer.

Although it is not recommended because of the deterioration of video quality when it is used, the Long Play (LP) option in your camera enables your tape to prolong its recording time. This is ideal during emergency cases that you don't have additional tape to use for shooting an important scene that isn't possible or practical to recreate or reshoot at another time. This increases the amount of tape you can use by about 50 percent.

MiniDV Cameras

MiniDV cameras typically provide different programs, functions, digital effects, and shot transitions to provide more technical and creative options for users. These vary depending on the camera model and camera manufacturer used. The button names and the locations of these buttons may vary per camera, but essentially, their functions are similar, if not exactly the same.