View source for Hi8

{{Short description|8 mm video cassette tape}}
{{refimprove|date=November 2021}}

{{Infobox media
| name = Hi8
| logo = Hi8 Logo.svg
| image = Hi8 8mm Videocassette.jpg
| caption = 
| type = [[Magnetic cassette tape]]
| encoding = [[NTSC]], [[PAL]]
| released = 1989
| capacity = 
| read = [[Helical scan]]
| write = [[Helical scan]]
| standard = [[Interlaced video]]
| owner = [[Sony]]
| use = [[Home movies]]
| dimensions=
| extended from = [[Video8]]
| extended to = [[Digital8]]
}}

'''Hi8''' ('''high-band Video8''') is a consumer [[analog recording]] [[Videocassette#Cassette formats|videocassette]] for [[camcorders]] based on the [[8 mm video format]] developed by [[Sony]], and introduced in 1989. The name is an improvement on the original [[Video8]] format and mainly competed with [[Super-VHS]].

==Overview==
Hi8 uses improved recorder electronics and media formulation to increase the recorded bandwidth of the luminance signal. The FM carrier frequency range was increased from 4.2 to 5.4&nbsp;MHz for regular Video8 (1.2&nbsp;MHz bandwidth) to 5.7 to 7.7&nbsp;MHz for Hi8 (2.0&nbsp;MHz bandwidth). However, chroma signal bandwidth (color resolution) was not increased.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.sony.com/release/EVS3000.PDF|title=Sony EV-S7000 Hi8 VCR Operating Instructions, Page 79|author=Sony Corporation}}</ref>

Both Hi8 and S-VHS were officially rated at a luminance resolution of 400 [[Television lines|lines]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/camcorder4.htm|title=How Camcorders Work|date=10 October 2000|website=howstuffworks.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130123843/http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/camcorder4.htm|archive-date=30 January 2012}}</ref> a vast improvement from their respective base formats and are roughly equal to Laserdisc quality. Chroma resolution for both remain unchanged.{{cn|date=November 2021}}

Both S-VHS and Hi8 retain the audio recording systems of their base formats; VHS HiFi Stereo outperforms Video8/Hi8 AFM, but remains restricted to high-end machines, and was not usable on camcorders. In the late 1980s, digital (PCM) audio was introduced into some higher-grade models of Hi8 recorders. Hi8 PCM audio operates at a sampling rate of 32&nbsp;kHz with 16-bit samples—higher fidelity than the monaural linear dubbing offered by VHS/S-VHS. PCM-capable Hi8 recorders can simultaneously record PCM stereo in addition to the legacy (analog AFM) stereo audio tracks.

The final upgrade to the Video8 format came in 1998, when Sony introduced '''XR''' capability (extended resolution). Video8-XR and Hi8-XR offers a modest 10% improvement in luminance detail. XR equipment replays non-XR recordings well, and XR recordings are fully playable on non-XR equipment, though without the benefits of XR.

All Hi8 equipment can record and play in the legacy Video8 format. The reverse is not usually the case though there are a few late-entry Video8 systems that recognize and play Hi8 recordings.

== See also ==
* [[8 mm video format|Video8]]
* [[Digital8]]
* [[Data 8]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Video storage formats}}

[[Category:Video storage]]
[[Category:Audiovisual introductions in 1989]]
[[Category:Japanese inventions]]

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