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HDV at a glance
HDV
JVC introduced HDV in 2003, recording MPEG-2 compressed HD video on standard MiniDV cassettes. Two profiles emerged: HDV 720p (JVC) and HDV 1080i (Sony and Canon), each trading resolution and frame structure.
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 | HDV | PMD |
|---|---|---|
| File type | Video | Video |
| Extensions |
|
|
| MIME type |
|
|
| Created year | 2003 | 2004 |
| Inventor | JVC, Sony, Canon, Sharp (HDV consortium) | Sony |
| Status | legacy | legacy |
| Transparency | Not supported | Not supported |
| Animation | Not supported | Not supported |
| Primary use cases |
|
|
| Layer support | Not supported | Not supported |
| Multitrack support | Not supported | Not supported |
| Camera raw data | Not supported | Not supported |
| HDR support | Not supported | Not supported |
| Streaming ready | Not supported | Supported |
When to use each format
When to use HDV
- Your source file is already in HDV.
- Preserve source expectations before exporting to PMD.
- HDV is commonly used in video 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 HDV 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 HDV to PMD?
This conversion changes how the format behaves in downstream tools and delivery environments.
Moving to PMD adds streaming delivery.
What should I review after converting HDV to PMD?
Validate output quality on representative files and confirm the target format behaves correctly in the destination workflow.