Hi8 is one of three 8mm video formats developed for SECAM, PAL and NTSC TV systems. The HI8 video tape format was widely used by the amateur consumer market but also saw some use by professionals who required portable light weight video camcorders for new gathering.
The Hi8 video format was introduced in the late eighties, early nineties. Some of most well known Hi 8 cameras were made by Sony and included the very popular Sony CCD-TRV138 Hi8 Camcorder, the Sony Handycam CCD-TRV68 Hi-8 Analog Camcorder, and the Sony CCDTRV608 Hi8 Camcorder with 3.0" LCD, Video Light & USB Streaming. The HI8 was so popular because it was smaller and more compact than other video systems on the market at the time, namely s-VHS, Betamax and ED-Beta video formats.
The HI8 video format consisted of a plastic cassette not unlike VHS tapes with a magnetic tape (8mm wide) wound between the two spools. On PAL TV systems Hi8 could record up to 90 minutes and on NTSC, 2 hours of Hi8 recording was possible.
HI8 recordings are made on a helical scan drum which can both play and record the video tape. The drum rotates at high speed, up to 3000 rpm when played on a PAL camcorder and up to 3600 when played on american format NTSC camcorders. The advantages of Hi8 camcorder recordings over Video8 was improved picture quality due to improved video tape and better quality helical drum recording head. The result was an increase in HI8 luminance bandwidth making the camcorder more versatile and giving almost laser disc quality. The Hi8 camcorder format was also backwardly compatible with the Video8 format.
The hi8 camcorder video format has now almost been superceded by a variety of digital video formats including Digital8, mini DVD, miniDV and DV cam but remains popular in the secondhand market. The Digital8 video format is at present coming under a lot of pressure. Only Sony continue to manufacture it with consumers preferring miniDV and the newer mini DVD formats.
Hi8 video tapes are prone to 'drop out'. Since the tape is only 8mm wide and travels over the recording head at great speed, the magnetic coating tends to erode relatively quickly. Hi8 camcorders incorporate an advance compensating system to correct this fault isn't always successful. To improve the life of Hi8 video tapes they must kept out of direct sunlight and be kept away from damp and dusty enviroments.It is inevitable that, as with any magnetic video format, the recording will eventually be lost over time. Older hi8 tapes will start to show the drop out effect and noise (snow). Hi8 camcorder tape will also eventually become brittle and snap and if it has not been played for a number of years, will start to stick to itself. Hi8 video tapes must therefore be transferred to DVD at some stage to avoid losing the recording altogether. The same applies to miniDV tapes as well.
Hi8 video tape is an analog format and needs to be converted to digital before capture on a computer can be done. Hi8 Capture to a computer usually involves one of two methods. The first is to have an interior capture card installed in the computer. The second is to buy an exterior unit, such as the excellent and versatile Canopus unit which can convert analog signals from any source to digital. Once the Hi8 video tape has been captured to computer, editing and burning to a DVD can take place.
