Why is this so not-sharp?

[ccapra]

Hi - still have much to learn & have a question.

I recorded this with a samsung HD HMX-F90. In HD, 1280x720 @ 8274kbps & 29 frames/second (so says the file properties box).

Does this look a bit blurry? I expected it to be clearer. I havn't done anything to this (encoding-wise) except upload it to youtube & trim it down to a few seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwXUj7WDf_s&list=UU1xLJkYsIPzxHxCt3bs24uA

And - what's with 29 frames? Everything refers to 30 - is 29 a problem?

[newpball]

We cannot see it, the video is defined as private.

[ccapra]

oh! thanks. fixed that.

[manono]

You know, don't you, that YouTube reencodes everything at relatively low bitrates? It doesn't look like that on your computer, does it?

[ccapra]

yeah - I do know that, and yes - it looks pretty much the same on my computer. . .

[manono]

Well, this one has a bitrate average of about 2500.

And it's 29.97fps. Sometimes it's referred to as 30fps and sometimes, but more rarely, as 29fps.

[ccapra]

sorry to be dumb, but what does that tell me?

[manono]

For one thing it tells you the YouTube version isn't anywhere near the quality of what you uploaded. As to why your source video is almost as blurry, I haven't a clue. Maybe if you made it available, too, then we could learn more.

[ccapra]

Oh. ok! here. I appreciate your patience!

[racer-x]

Looks like it was shot with a tablet, cell phone or cheap low-quality camera. Get a better camera.

[ccapra]

I didn't think the samsung HD HMX-F90 was a great camera, but are you saying it's total crap? I do have other files shot with it that don't look quite so bad. . .

Is that really all there is to it? I need a better camera? But then what does HD mean in a camcorder? I thought that implied it would be sharper at the least. . .

[racer-x]

You shot indoors with questionable lighting. Your camera compensated by applying Gain + Noise Reduction, which in turns equals Soft Image.

You really should learn the basics of shooting, lighting and settings.

[manono]

But then what does HD mean in a camcorder? I thought that implied it would be sharper at the least. . .

It only tells you the resolution height is greater than 576. Hi-def at a low bitrate is still hi-def, even if it looks like crap. Hi-def shot using a poor quality camera is still hi-def. In short, being hi-def tells you nothing about the quality. YouTube, for example, is full of hi-def videos made from VCD sources and, as you'd expect, they look like they came from VCD. I know nothing about cameras and defer to my betters, such as racer-x.

[ccapra]

Ok - that helps, both racer-x & manono. I am learning. Thanks!