🚀 go-pugleaf

The "standard" for non-professional Sony equipment is the so-called
LANC protocol used in two incarnations: control-L and control-S. Control-L
is a 3 line wire that provides control from the control source (computer
or edit controller) as well as feedback from the VTR (such as counter
location). Control-S uses a simple 2 conductor mini-plug and provides no
feedback. A few other companies (such as Hitachi, I believe) also use the
Sony LANC protocol. Panasonic invented their own Control-M (similar to
control-L) and control-P (similar to control-S). None of these conform
to any computer serial protocol, though there are cables that convert
from one to the other. Control-S is also capable of transmitting SMPTE
or other time code, though your controller's ability to do frame-accurate
or nearly-frame-accurate edits depends entirely on the hardware that you
have (controller and VTR). Virtually all functions in most equipment are
accessible through these protocols, meaning that, not only can you use
a computer to control the edit, but also zoom or focus on many camcorders.

Bill Alves