Sony Handycam CX260 - 1080i or 1080p?

[mr-scarface]

I just bought this camera and I was wondering if it's better to use 1080i or 1080p in the settings? I want the absolute best picture quality possible.

Thanks,

[aedipuss]

depends on what you are shooting and what the desired end format is going to be.

[mr-scarface]

I'm shooting a lot of moving objects like animals, people, sports matches, etc. Some from far away so I use the zoom a lot. The camcorder outputs .mts files and I don't want to lose any quality so ideally I wouldn't convert any of the videos- I'd just watch them as is.

[aedipuss]

if you want smoother motion then 30i is preferred. it will give you 60 individual fields/sec. 30p would be used for computer or online video but only provides 30 frames/sec.

[edit] looks like that cam can be set to shoot 1080 60p. you may as well use it and get the best of both worlds.

[jagabo]

1080p60 won't play on Blu-ray players.

[danno78]

Some players from Sony and LG are compatible with AVCHD 2.0:
LG BD570/BD560
Sony BDP-S270/S370/S470/S570
Sony 2011 *80 series support AVCHD 2.0 and 1080/60p files with a FW upgrade.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1286430/1080p60-1080p50-playback

[mr-scarface]

if you want smoother motion then 30i is preferred. it will give you 60 individual fields/sec. 30p would be used for computer or online video but only provides 30 frames/sec.

[edit] looks like that cam can be set to shoot 1080 60p. you may as well use it and get the best of both worlds.

Great, thanks a lot. No wonder my videos weren't looking sharp!

By the way, do you happen to know if a graphics card with hardware acceleration will help playback these .mts files? The computer I'm using for playback is an old socket 939 with fx-53 processor 1gb ram. It plays the videos in slow motion (100% cpu load), even with CoreAVC and ffdshow installed.

There are some AGP graphics cards on the market that have hardware acceleration like CUDA.

[aedipuss]

probably not. agp cards are old enough that gpu CUDA help from them may not be enough to play 1080p avchd files at real time. you really need to update to a modern cpu/motherboard.

[jagabo]

This might help:
http://zachsaw.blogspot.com/2009/06/ati-hd-hardware-accelerated-dxva-for.html
http://zachsaw.blogspot.com/2009/08/watching-hd-video-in-mpc-hc-dxva-for.html

Doubt it will do 1080p60.

[doll1]

I buy a CX260VE before 15 days. I have one problem. When i record video (60i or 60p) is some random form, there is a recording messange, THE SAME as when i record photos. So even if i never press the photo button, there are some photos recorded!!!! Is this a bug, a hardware problem or anything else (soft)? Any idea please????

[jagabo]

So even if i never press the photo button, there are some photos recorded!!!!

It's a feature. Many cameras have the ability to automatically take occasional photos while shooting video. There is a setting to turn the feature off. Check your manual.

[_Al_]

Doesn't it take a picture if somebody is smiling at the moment? Maybe this feature is on by default.

[doll1]

yes!! is on by default. Thank you all for the answer!!!!

[smrpix]

No wonder my videos weren't looking sharp!

It's not looking sharp because it has a miniature image sensor and a damn-good-for-what-it-is-but-not good-enough lens.
(I own one too.)

Very handy, easy to use, easy to transfer and edit -- but not the sharpest.