HD or DV

[tp3813]

Have a question regarding posting video clips on Internet.

For good qualiity clips on Internet say for example .wmv 1.5 Mbps, will it make a difference whether its filmed in HD first and then converted to other format like wmv,Divx,etc or is it better just to stick with normal DV as it would be easier for editing (camcorder has HD ands DV option).

In other words will clip recorded in HD give better quality than if recorded in DV once its been converted down to .wmv, etc

[Soopafresh]

HD Source

[2Bdecided]

It depends on the target resolution, and whether you need to deinterlace.

Unless you have a genuine progressive (i.e. frame-based, not field-based) mode available on your SD camcorder, or a fantastic deinterlacer, then anything above 384x288 will benefit from something better.

If you have a genuine progressive mode in SD, then that's good enough up to 640x480, assume it's a good camera.


I shoot everything in HD - even things for YouTube. The worst deinterlacing will still be more than good enough, and you have a high quality source for use elsewhere if needed.

Cheers,
David.

[edDV]

I'm not expert in webcast optimization but here are my thoughts. I'm assuming web distribution at greater than 29.97fps is not desired for bandwidth reasons.

DV records 720x480i/29.97fps thus needs deinterlace for wmv distribution. Deinterlace is lossy unless you are going for 352x240p.

DV 24pA allows progressive 720x480p recording thus is higher quality input to the wmv encoder.

HDV records 1440x1080i/29.97fps but can be reduced to 720x540p/29.97 by looking at a single field + simple 50% H reduction. This is minimally lossy as a wmv encoder input. 1440x540p or 720x540p also allow zoom or cropping in frame during editing with minimal loss. For these reasons HDV offers advantage for wmv encoding for web distribution. DV 24pA is an option if you are shooting 24p for other reasons.

[2Bdecided]

In the USA, various camcorders record "24p" as 24p-in-60i, which requires pulldown removal to get real 24p (ready for the web).

The OP is in Europe, so progressive = 25p; no pulldown to worry about - just use the frames "as is".

Cheers,
David.

[edDV]

Missed that. I'll leave the other as is and translate into EuroPAL dialect here.

...
I'm not expert in webcast optimization but here are my thoughts. I'm assuming web distribution at greater than 25fps is not desired for bandwidth reasons.

DV records 720x576i/25fps thus needs deinterlace for wmv distribution. Deinterlace is lossy unless you are going for 352x288p.

DV 24pA or 25p allows progressive 720x576p recording thus is higher quality input to the wmv encoder.

HDV records 1440x1080i/25fps but can be reduced to 720x540p/25 by looking at a single field + simple 50% H reduction. This is minimally lossy as a wmv encoder input. 1440x540p or 720x540p also allow zoom or cropping in frame during editing with minimal loss. For these reasons HDV offers advantage for wmv encoding for web distribution. DV 24pA is an option if you are shooting 24p for other reasons.