Definition: DVCPRO

Panasonic's variant of the DV (Digital Video) format. Developed for professional use, DVCPRO provides higher quality by increasing tape speed and track pitch. The increased track size uses more tape because DV tracks are recorded on the diagonal (see helical scan). Introduced in 1995, DVCPRO uses metal particle (MP) tape for added reliability and also adds cueing tracks for enhanced editing. In addition, it "locks the audio," which prevents the audio from drifting out of sync with the video.

DVCPRO tape decks play the larger DVCPRO cassettes, as well as MiniDV cassettes with an adapter.

DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO HD (DVCPRO100)
DVCPRO50 doubles the transfer rate of standard DV, while DVCPRO HD (DVCPRO100) quadruples the rate and boosts the SD 720x480i resolution to HD resolutions of 960x720x60p/50p and 1280x1080x60i or 1440x1080x50i. DVCPRO HD also supports 24 fps recording. See DV, SD formats and HD formats.

A DVCPRO Video Tape Recorder (VTR)

This tape deck accepts Medium-size cassettes (M-cassetes), and the adapter (currently inserted) is used to play smaller S-cassettes.

DV Cassettes

Mid-size DVCPRO metal particle (MP) tape cassettes record two hours of DVCPRO (DVCPRO25), one hour of DVCPRO50 and 30 minutes of DVCPRO HD.