Will capturing and burning SVCD improve picture over S-Video

[rdalcanto]

I just spent a lot of money on a Sony TRV-50 because it records video at almost 1 Megapix using its 1.5Mpix CCD. However, when I tested the camera and played the video using the S-video cable on my 50' HDTV the picture did not look good. My brother's .3 Megpix Canon actually looks better. If I get a firewire card and encode the video to SVCD or DVD and use my DVD player, will it look like I expect a camera of this caliber to look? If not, I'm returning it and getting a cheap Canon....


Thanks,
Rick

[BJ_M]

compressing something will never make it look better ,

maybe you were in the wrong mode on your HDTV or something .

[vhelp]

.
.
also, it may have just ben your encoding settings, or template that you
used during your tested clip.

It would help if you tell us a bit more of your process, (start to finish)
so we can better determine an outcome for ya.

I was in BJ's yesterday, (mad house) and was what looked like a new
Widescreen (nice and compact looking) and I think it measured something
like, 30+ inches accross. They were playing something like the Grinch
and a few others. I noticed a lot of pixelations in the DVD they were
playing. I guess these Widescreen tv's stretch the picture, using a low
quality algorithem or something. I was dissapointed in those WS's. If
this is what we all have to look forward to, then I think I'll stick to the
tubes.

Would be interesting to note what resolution (are they standard) a WS
is.

-vhelp
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Happy HOLIDAY all.

[rdalcanto]

DVD movies on my HDTV look great, but I use a good progressive scan DVD player and color stream video connections. I tried playing the video camera like a VCR using the S-video cable into the TV, and it looked worse than any xVCD I have ever made from a DVD. The reviews on the video camera say it has very good image quality. I can only assume that the S-video cable can't carry enough data to do the camera justice, and that I need to make a DVD from the data after transfering it to my PC. I want to know if anyone can tell me if my assumption is correct before I spend MORE money....

Thanks,
Rick

[BJ_M]

yea -- i got a Plasma in one room and a lot of stuff accually really looks aweful on it if it has to be stretched - and playing it non stretched looks stupid also .. more for looks than practical use ..

[vhelp]

SUBJ: Will capturing and burning SVCD improve picture over S-Video
FROM: http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=405965#405965

bj_m,
good you're honest about it, he, he...
I suspect that they are hoping that those not fluent in the video field
wont notice this and be sold on its quality - what-ever that is.

-vhelp
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Happy HOLIDAY all.

[Nelson37]

It would be well worth a try to Firewire the data over and make a hi-bitrate, 720x480 DVD from it. There should be little if any quality loss involved with a high enough bitrate and multipass encoding. It may very well be that the playback circuitry onboard the camera is just not very high quality, that is supposed to be a very good unit. You may indeed have a hi-quality image but it could be getting degraded in playback.

Or the camera could be crap. Do you have any other way to playback the tape?

[crahak]

I apologize in advance for barging in with sort of unrelated stuff..

We have two 13000$ plasma screens at work, and the picture on them looks worse than a 200$ 27" TV. Never understood what's the big deal with plasma TV's. I'd go for a nice panasonic WS TV, those look sweet

[rdalcanto]

Crahak,
If you play a poor image it will look better on smaller screens. However, if you ever see a good HDTV signal on a HDTV you will NEVER go back! It is so crisp and clear it looks like you are looking out of a giant window. You can also sit close with no eye strain.
As far as the original topic, I will go to my brother's house tomorrow and burn a 720x480 MPEG 1 with a 3000 bit/s, and an MPEG 2 at 5000 and see how they look. I will either being going out and buying a firewire card after that, or selling my new camcorder....

Thanks,
Rick

[vhelp]

rdalcanto,
again, I say you should tell us a bit more about your setup, like how
* are you using SP or LP mode during your DV taping (SP being much better quality)
* what is your encoding template and settings

It could very well be that you are not properly tuned from start to finish,
and bringing back your CAM could be for nothing.

Make sure your CAM's miniDV tape recording mode is set to SP. Setting
it to LP for longer recording times isn't worth it if you are doing this (and
not telling us here) when your end goal is to transfer them to VCD or
SVCD or DVD, especially since you want to view on a WS set, which also
requires you to encode to 16:9 (not that you have to) This is assuming
that you've set your CAM to 16:9 (weather is TRUE 16:9 or not)

Question (case it hasn't ben asked or stated)
* Is quality good on normal TV set vs. WS set ??
* or, are they bad for both ??

-vhelp
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Happy HOLIDAY all.

[rdalcanto]

Hi VHelp,
I am using SP, I tried taping in both 16:9 and normal (and viewing in 16:9 mode on the TV and normal). I have not transfered the videos to the computer yet, so I can't give you template and settings.
On the 13' TV in the kitchen the video looks good. BUT, the video from this camera when played on a large High Definition Television SHOULD look better than the video from my brother's old camera with 1/3 the CCD resolution. I was hoping for something close to DVD quality, and it isn't even close.
I made this post not wanting encoding advice, but hoping someone else owned a large HDTV and could tell me from personal experience if using the camcorder as a VCR to play the movie with an S-video cable was inferior to playing a DVD or SVCD made from the camera's AVI file. I don't have a firewire card yet so I couldn't test myself.

Thanks,
Rick