Digital8

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Digital8

Media type	Magnetic cassette tape
Encoding	NTSC, PAL
Read mechanism	Helical scan
Write mechanism	Helical scan
Standard	Interlaced video
Developed by	Sony
Usage	Home movies
Extended from	Hi8
Released	1999

Digital8 (or Di8) is a consumer digital recording videocassette for camcorders developed by Sony, and introduced in 1999.^[1] It is technically identical to DV cassettes, but uses physical Hi8 tapes instead.

The Digital8 format is a combination of the earlier analog Hi8 tape transport with the digital DV codec. Digital8 equipment uses the same videocassettes as analog recording Hi8 equipment, but the signal is encoded digitally using the industry-standard DV codec, which means it has identical digital audio and digital video specifications compared with DV.

To facilitate digital recording on existing Hi8 video cassettes the helical scan video head drum spins 2.5× faster. For both NTSC and PAL Digital8 equipment, a standard-length 120-minute NTSC/90-minute PAL Hi8 magnetic tape cassette will store 60 minutes of Digital8 video (Standard Play) or 90 minutes (Long Play). There are 90-minute versions marketed specifically for Digital8, but these use thinner tape than the 60-minute ones. LP is model specific, such as the TRV-30, TRV-40, and others. Digital8 recordings can be made on standard-grade Video8 cassettes, but this practice is discouraged in the Sony user manuals, and Hi8 metal-particle cassettes are the recommended type for Digital8 recording. Most Hi8 tapes sold after the introduction of D8 are marked for both Hi8 and Digital8 usage.