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ARW at a glance
ARW
As Sony expanded from consumer electronics into serious camera bodies and sensors, ARW became part of the broader shift that put Sony raw support on the critical path for many photo applications.
PMD at a glance
PMD
The .pmd extension appeared in Sony's prosumer and professional recording device output alongside other Sony-proprietary formats like MQV, serving as a companion metadata or media descriptor file.
Format comparison
| Feature | ARW | PMD |
|---|---|---|
| File type | Image | Video |
| Extensions |
|
|
| MIME type |
|
|
| Created year | 2006 | 2004 |
| Inventor | Sony | Sony |
| Status | proprietary | legacy |
| Transparency | Not supported | Not supported |
| Animation | Not supported | Not supported |
| Primary use cases |
|
|
| Layer support | Not supported | Not supported |
| Camera raw data | Supported | Not supported |
| HDR support | Not supported | Not supported |
| Streaming ready | Not supported | Supported |
When to use each format
When to use ARW
- Your source file is already in ARW.
- Preserve source expectations before exporting to PMD.
- ARW is commonly used in image workflows.
When to use PMD
- Your target workflow expects PMD.
- Improve delivery compatibility with PMD.
- PMD is commonly used in video workflows.
FAQs
Why convert ARW to PMD?
Convert to PMD when maintaining compatibility with a Sony-centered production workflow, preserving source media from a professional ingest system, or migrating archived broadcast assets that were originally wrapped for structured editorial exchange.
What changes when converting ARW to PMD?
This conversion changes how the format behaves in downstream tools and delivery environments.
Moving to PMD removes camera raw data. Moving to PMD adds streaming delivery.
What should I review after converting ARW to PMD?
Validate output quality on representative files and confirm the target format behaves correctly in the destination workflow.