Resolution

[ProducerHarley]

Hello All.I am planning to purchase a JVC-GY-HM100.Under specifications it lists for resolution:1920X1080(1080p24/25/30,1080i and 1280X720p(p60/50/30/25/24 Can someone please break down each of these and tell me what they mean?Also,how does one know what to use?Are there any articles,books,or videos that I can read or view that would teach me what I have to know about resolution?Thank you.

[yoda313]

https://www.videohelp.com/hd

https://www.videohelp.com/glossary

That should get you started.

I'm not sure what you're asking specifically. Resolution is resolution. Width x Height.

720x480 is standard def
1920x1080 is high def

Beyond that you'll need to refine your question a little more to see where we can help.

[ProducerHarley]

The refined question.JVC-GY-HM100.In this camcorders specifications it lists these recording modes.1920X1080(1080p24/25/30,1080i) (and) 1280X720p(p60/50/30/25/24 Since both 1920X1080 and 1280X720p are both high definition,how do I know which high defintion to use in this camcorder?How do I know what speed frame to use? Do I use p60/50/30/,etc.Thank you.,Linda

[2Bdecided]

1920x1080 is the frame size (how many pixels).
24, 25, 30, 60 are the number of frames (pictures) per second.

Which should you use? it depends what you want the footage to look like, and what you want to to do with it (e.g. YouTube, DVD, BluRay, email!)


Frame rate

The 25 and 50 frame rates are rates for European ("PAL") TVs, so avoid those for easy use in North America. You can watch all the others on your TV (if your TV is HD!).

The choice of framerate determine how smooth the movement in your video will look when you watch it. As a general rule (with exceptions) high frame rates don't work reliably on the web.

24p is a film rate - it gives a kind of "film look" - use that if that's what you want. It's useful for posting to the web too.

30p is a little faster frame rate than film, and looks less "stuttery" than film on TV, but still not completely "smooth" motion like standard video, and requires a slightly higher bitrate for the web.

1280p60 and 1080i give the smooth motion look of video. By smooth, I mean the "look" of news and sports, rather than drama and film. It's difficult to post to the web and keep that "smooth motion" look.

1080i is interlaced - which works fine on a TV, but causes some newbies difficulties when working on a PC. There's no 1080p60 (yet), so if you want smooth looking video while avoiding interlacing, 1280p60 is the way to go.


Frame size

1920x1080 is a higher resolution that 1280x720 - you would normally pick the higher one to get a better (sharper) picture, unless
a) you don't need it (e.g. YouTube doesn't go that high!) or
b) your PC isn't fast enough to edit it, or
c) you want smooth motion video without interlacing


Converting frame size after shooting

You can always downsize 1920x1080 to 1280x720 or SD (720x480) or even lower. It's easy. You can't upsize (well, you can, but it looks blury), so if you think you might want the best quality at some point later, even if not now, use 1920x1080.


Converting frame rate after shooting

You can take "smooth video" (1280x720p60 or 1080i) and drop half the frames/fields to get 30p - either because you want that look, or you want to upload it to YouTube etc.

You can't easily convert "smooth video" to 24p - if that's what you want, shoot at that rate.

You can't go the other way: you can't take 24p or 30p and make it look like 60p - you can add extra frames, but the motion still looks stuttery (like film), rather than smooth (like video).

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
David.