Editing DV (video format) (section)

{{Short description|Digital video codecs and tape formats}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox storage medium
| name          = DV
| logo          = [[File:DV Logo.svg|class=skin-invert|frameless|upright=0.5]]
| image         = DV tape sizes 2.jpg
| caption       = DV cassettes: DVCAM-L, DVCPRO-M, MiniDV
| type          = [[Magnetic cassette tape]]
| encoding      = DV
| capacity      = 
| read          = [[Helical scan]]
| write         = Helical scan
| standard      =
| owner         = [[Sony]]<br />[[Panasonic]]
| use           = [[Camcorders]], [[Home movies]]
| extended from = 
| extended to   = 
| released      = {{Start date and age|1995}}
}}

'''DV''' (from ''Digital Video'') is a family of [[codec]]s and [[Videotape|tape]] formats used for storing [[digital video]], launched in 1995 by a consortium of [[camcorder|video camera]] manufacturers led by [[Sony]] and [[Panasonic]]. It includes the recording or cassette formats DV, MiniDV, [[HDV]], DVCAM, DVCPro, DVCPro50, DVCProHD, [[Digital8]], and [[Digital-S]]. DV has been used primarily for video recording with camcorders in the amateur and professional sectors.

DV was designed to be a standard for home video using digital data instead of [[Analog video|analog]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mannes |first=George |date=December 1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2YEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57 |title=Double Your Bits |magazine=Popular Mechanics |publisher=Hearst Magazines |issn=0032-4558 |via=Google Books |page=57 }}</ref> Compared to the analog [[8 mm video format|Video8/Hi8]], [[VHS-C]] and [[VHS]] formats, DV features a higher video resolution (on par with professional-grade [[Digital Betacam]]); it records uncompressed 16-bit [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] audio like [[Compact Disc Digital Audio|CD]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=DV Technology |url=https://www.manifest-tech.com/media_pc/dv_tech.htm |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=www.manifest-tech.com}}</ref> The most popular tape format using a DV codec was '''MiniDV'''; these cassettes measured just 6.35 mm/¼ inch, making it ideal for video cameras and rendering older analog formats obsolete.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DV was strongly associated with the transition from [[analog video|analog]] to digital [[desktop video]] production, and also with several enduring "[[prosumer]]" camera designs such as the [[Sony DCR-VX1000|Sony VX-1000]].<ref name="spec_TheC">{{cite web |title=The Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame: Sony DCR-VX1000 - IEEE Spectrum |work=IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News |date=3 January 2019 |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-consumer-electronics-hall-of-fame-sony-dcrvx1000 |access-date=27 June 2021 }}</ref> 

In 2003, DV was joined by a successor format called [[HDV]], which used the same tapes but with an updated video codec with [[high-definition video]]; HDV cameras could typically switch between DV and HDV recording modes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/dhc725.html |title=HV10 - Canon Camera Museum |website=Global.canon |access-date=7 July 2024 }}</ref> In the 2010s, DV rapidly grew obsolete as cameras using [[memory card]]s and [[solid-state drive]]s became the norm, recording at higher [[Bit rate|bitrates]] and [[image resolution|resolutions]] that were impractical for mechanical tape formats. Additionally, as manufacturers switched from [[interlaced]] to superior [[Progressive scan|progressive]] recording methods, they broke the [[interoperability]] that had previously been maintained across multiple generations of DV and HDV equipment.