Topic: Using High definition

[mozmoz8]

I 'm new to the HD thing. If I have a high definition miniDV tape and record at HD mode, when I transfer the movie onto my DVD recorder via the i-link would the DVD be HD? I don't really understand. If not would a DVD player with HDMI out convert the DVD to HD 1080i to a HD TV?

[phanophish]

Standard DVD is never Hi Definition.  In order to maintain the true HD signal you would need to keep the video on a computer or burn it to a BluRay disc.

[mozmoz8]

So you are saying my HD miniDV is the master copy and the only way to give a HD video to someone is to make a blueray disc?

So it is useless to use a HD miniDV tape in a HD camcorder if I don't have a blueray recorder?

Another question...

I never used a HDMI cable before so if a DVD player is sending a video signal to a HD TV via the HDMI cable the picture will look as if it is standard definition because the DVD is made as standard-definition even though I am sending the signal to a HDTV via a HDMI cable?

[sabre]

So you are saying my HD miniDV is the master copy and the only way to give a HD video to someone is to make a blueray disc?

Pretty much. You could make a miniDV clone and give that to them and it will be in HD.
I believe you can also burn your HD footage onto a DVD (though you can only fit about 20 minutes of HD footage on a standard DVD5) but you will need a Blu-Ray player to view it in HD.

So it is useless to use a HD miniDV tape in a HD camcorder if I don't have a blueray recorder?

I guess that's a choice you'll have to make yourself. I'm sure you'll have a Blu-Ray recorder in the future so you may want to go back and transfer your current recordings over to the Blu-Ray media.

I never used a HDMI cable before so if a DVD player is sending a video signal to a HD TV via the HDMI cable the picture will look as if it is standard definition because the DVD is made as standard-definition even though I am sending the signal to a HDTV via a HDMI cable?

That's right. Your DVD is only standard definition and the fact that you're viewing the footage on a HDTV and using an HDMI cable is irrelevant. Some DVD players are able to use 'upscaling' technology to make standard definition DVDs look better on HDTV but the end result still isn't true HDTV.

[dklein]

There are several hardware media players that can handle some HD file formats.  My camera records in HDV and I can play the native *.m2t files in full HD using a Eureka LX350HD.  It's a quirky box and not necessarily recommended but it does some things very well.  Cost me about $300 and was purchased because I don't want to always use camera/tape to view and keep files on a pc in another room.  Also good for watching downloaded movies (divx/xvid).  You can drop a hard drive in it and take it to a friends place.  If it worked more smoothly, it really would be close to the perfect little piece of hardware for all your video needs.  So many options...

Audio out - analog, coax, optical
Video out - composite, component, dvi (no HDMI but that's really more of a convenience feature than performance)
Many video resolutions up to 1080i (inc 720p). 
Network device - wired and wireless
USB (both host and peripheral) - you can run things from a memory stick
Remote control.
Holds a drive (was PATA, now SATA)
NDAS lets you mount it as a drive through network (though it's painfully slow)
comes with most of the cables and a carrying case too!

[mozmoz8]

Hi,
I was just wondering if it is possible to film in HD 1080 if I put a standard miniDV tape in my High-Definition camcorder (Canon HV-10).
Thanks

[sabre]

I was just wondering if it is possible to film in HD 1080 if I put a standard miniDV tape in my High-Definition camcorder (Canon HV-10).

You don't need to buy 'special' miniDV tapes in order to record High Definition video. Any miniDV tape will do the job. Of course, the miniDV tapes that are labeled as 'HD' are often better quality that the standard miniDV tapes. You're likely to receive less drop-outs using these tapes.

As HD video is stored in the MPEG2 or MPEG4 format, any dropouts will affect more footage than it would with the SD format of DV-AVI. So it's important to use high quality tape when recording in HD.

[Josh P]

Can you clone a miniDV tape that was shot in HD using 2 SD camcorders?  Or does one or both have to be an HD cam?

[Petrus]

Both have to be HDV. SD cameras do not understand or accept HDV MPG2 datastream and refuse it.

Another way is to copy the HDV tape to PC or MAC ("Capture", some say), and print back to tape from there. This way you need only one camera to make copies.

Of course, if you send your HDV tapes to your friend, they must have a HDV camera to play them.

There is really no HDV-tapes made, HDV cameras use miniDV tapes. Those tapes sold as HDV-tapes are just better quality miniDV tapes sold at premium price and higher profits, playing on the insecurity and ignorance of HDV vidographers. I have used normal good quality $5 miniDV tapes for almost 2 years now with no problems.

[Josh P]

Both have to be HDV. SD cameras do not understand or accept HDV MPG2 datastream and refuse it.

Another way is to copy the HDV tape to PC or MAC ("Capture", some say), and print back to tape from there. This way you need only one camera to make copies.

Of course, if you send your HDV tapes to your friend, they must have a HDV camera to play them.

There is really no HDV-tapes made, HDV cameras use miniDV tapes. Those tapes sold as HDV-tapes are just better quality miniDV tapes sold at premium price and higher profits, playing on the insecurity and ignorance of HDV vidographers. I have used normal good quality $5 miniDV tapes for almost 2 years now with no problems.

one HDV camera though, right?

Approximately how many gigs is an hour of HDV footage?

thanks for the info, +t's

[Petrus]

Yes, to play or record or copy HDV material you either need two HDV cameras or a computer with HDV editing software and one HDV camera.

HDV data takes the sama space as miniDV, 13 GB/h. That's because they both use same tapes and tape mechanism and certainly try to maximise the quality the system and medium can provide. HDV is packed about 4 times tighter, though, with long GOP MPEG2 compression, miniDV is compressed by frame and not nearly as much.

When editing HDV it is usefull to convert the HDV data into a frame based codec (Cineform, Apple Intermediate Codec or the like) to make editing easier and faster and to minimize intermediate rendering artefacts. This means the HDD space needed for one hour of HDV using these codecs is about 35 GB/h, not 13 GB/h.

[dklein]

you can use a free capture utility called HDV split to dump to pc and then back to a fresh tape
http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm

[guitard]

Regarding copying HD tapes from one HD cam to another HD cam...

The Sony HDR-HC1 won't allow you to do this.  I don't know about other HD cams.  Since this model doesn't allow, I am curious about other models.  As it stands ~ the only way I can send HD footage that I've shot to someone else - without sending them my master tape (which I don't like doing) - is to copy to the harddrive, and then burn data disks in chunks on DVD-Rs.