HDV playback

[Nintembo]

Hi guys,

In regards to HDV, am I correct in thinking playback can only be achieved on suitable monitors / televisions?

Cheers,

Nin.

[Alan Roberts]

That's pretty obvious.

If you want to play HDV footage, which is based on an 1125 i/25 raster, you'll a display that can run at 1125 i/25. The line rate is 1125*50/2=28,125Hz, so you need to check that your display can run at that speed (and at 50Hz field rate, obviously). Also, the only feed of HDV that the camera produces in real-time is in component form, so you need component (Y, Pb, Pr) inputs, there's no RGB or coded output. You can always play it as SDTV though, component or PAL (or S-video PAL).

[Nintembo]

Hi Al,

Sorry if I come across annoying at times with my questions, but please understand this is not my full time career - but a keen hobby in which I am trying to get a grasp of.

Am I correct in thinking once footage has been captured and mastered succesfully - it will still need HDV compatible monitors for playback (i.e. if it were to be mastered then put onto a DVD)

[harlequin]

you don't come across as annoying
you can master to dvd as normal dvd , as hdv dvd doesn't exist , to my knowledge.

think of it as being the same as you now make copies of dv footage onto vhs for people to watch at home on a vhs deck , if they can't watch dv or dvd on their tv.

in theory the footage fed to the dvd should be better than the best dv/dvcam fed to a dvd creation program.

high definition dvd is not mpeg2 , and the disks are dvd data disks , one of which is

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/T2DVD.aspx

[Alan Roberts]

If you keep your HDV pictures as HDV, you need a display that will run at HDTV rates. HDV is a consuemr HDTV format, but the scans are still the same as for HDTV.

BTW, there are two HD DVD formats in existence. Sony Blu-Ray is in the shops in Japan and the US, and they make single-unit recorder/players. The opposition is imaginatively names HD-DVD and uses disc s with slightly smaller capacity, I'm not sure if unit sales have started yet. Sony are almost certain to make a pre-emptive launch of a Blu-Ray deck that will record the Sony format but play back both, they'd be crazy not to. The first manufacturer to do that sweeps up all the initial sales.

[Nintembo]

So as good as HDV quality is, it is restricted by the limitations of playback. Considering most people do not actualy have a HDTV (yet) - would it be a safer bet to shoot on top range DV?

[cyberwest]

What about a WMVHD DVD? Those exist in considerable numbers.

[getlostdave]

Originally posted by cyberwest:
What about a WMVHD DVD? Those exist in considerable numbers. As I understand it, WMVHD is a proprietary Microsoft standard, and in its current form is unlikely to be adopted by any industry standards body.

In essence, it is a similar standard to the Mini-DVD standard, which while officially isn't recognised, still has fairly wide support.

Dave

[cstv]

it's a shame MS insist on making money out of everything... for all their faults, they have come up with a damn good HD format, and have done a fair bit too push HD awareness as well.

The Windows Media player (unlike mpeg2) is free and the software encoder is too... well, access to it certainly is, i've not read the licence regarding commercial use.

I assume money comes into it when you start trying to make hardware devices that will encode/decode the format. Standard practice would be to levy a small fee for each unit - anyone know how much it is for WM9...?

mark.

[Alan Roberts]

There are 2 WM HD coders out there. The free one is single pass and works very well but you get big files. The paid-for one can be 2-pass and makes files that are not only smaller but look better. It's a good compromise.

[cstv]

oh i see... thanks Alan.

[infocus]

Originally posted by Nintembo:
So as good as HDV quality is, it is restricted by the limitations of playback. Considering most people do not actualy have a HDTV (yet) - would it be a safer bet to shoot on top range DV? There are a lot of ifs and maybes, but I wouldn't let that hold you back. Yes, you need a HD set to see it to full advantage, but you can derive a fine SD picture from it, probably as good or better than comparable SD native equipment would give. More of an issue I understand to be editing - editing HDV is still in early days compared to DV, and a lot more computing power is needed.

But HDV gives you an element of future-proofing that DV doesn't, even down to being native 16:9, which no other DV cameras are in the same price range. If your material is likely to have value or interest in ten or more years time, being in HD is likely to be of huge advantage then.