Sony has resumed production and delivery of HDCAM SR professional videotape, which are widely used in TV production, and has announced that the Sendai tape facilities that had been badly damaged by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami earlier this year will soon be returning to full capability.
Tape coating production of both HDCAM SR and HDCAM media restarted on schedule in July at Sony's Sendai/Tagajo plant, with shipments of new product resuming at the end of August (for HDCAM SR) and early September (for HDCAM).
The Sony announcement noted that production volumes will increase on a month by month basis.
"Our teams in Japan have done a tremendous job in recovering production over the past six months," said Darin Scott, senior vice president of Sony's Media and Applications Solution Division in a statement. "We are taking a cautious approach to assure the quality of the product we ship to the market, but I'm proud to say Sony Professional Media is back."
In addition to the resumption of production of HDCAM SR and HDCAM media, end-to-end production of the DVCAM/Digital Master and Professional Disc formats resumed in May.
Sony Digital Betacam restarted end-to-end production at the end of September and MPEG IMX and Betacam SP are scheduled to start in late October, the company also reported.
