If you are considering buying a camera that shoots AVCHD you need to see th

[WhoIsMatt]

Note: You can either read what I typed here or just see this handy video that I uploaded to Youtube that explains in detail what I have done.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clQWfa4fUwo

When I was searching for an HD video camera to purchase, I did some very thorough research. The one difficulty that I had when doing this research

though, was the need to know what video quality an AVCHD video camera would produce. After scouring the internet I ended up with no videos that showed

what the camera had to offer in terms of video quality. I eventually ended up taking a leap of faith and purchased the HDR-UX1 from Sony's AVCHD lineup

of cameras. It ended up being a very solid camera.

In my desire to fix the difficulties that I faced when buying an HD video camera, I have created several (18 to be precise) test videos with my new

camera. Each of these will showcase the various quality settings of the camera.

The Sony HDR-UX1 came with four quality settings:

-HDHQ+: 12 Megabits-per-second recording quality.

-HDHQ: 9 Megabits-per-second recording quality.

-HDSP: 7 Megabits-per-second recording quality.

-HDLP: 5 Megabits-per-second recording quality.

The camera records at a native 1080p 1440x1080i but with Sony Vegas it can be re-rendered to any quality that you prefer.

I recorded 8 clips outside my house, each of varying quality from the HDHQ+ to HDLP and rendered them in both AVI and WMV for quality and size purposes.

There are also two clips that I resized to 720p and uploaded to Vimeo for HD streaming.
Overall the shooting for the clips only took 30 minutes, but the editing itself took hours because it required constant rendering of each video. Its finally finished though, I hope you like it!


You can find all 18 of the various video clips taken with my HDR-UX1 at: http://whoismatt.com/index.php/Videos/The-Sony-AVCHD-Quality-Test.html[/url]

[edDV]

Are you offering a conclusion?

IMO HDV offers superior quality to any AVCHD bit rate and is easier to edit (more software support. lower system resources) and can be converted to alternate formats faster than AVCHD.

The one plus AVCHD offers is flash or HDD recording on consumer camcorders. HDV currently requires tape or external HDD recording.

[WhoIsMatt]

Are you offering a conclusion?

IMO HDV offers superior quality to any AVCHD bit rate and is easier to edit (more software support. lower system resources) and can be converted to alternate formats faster than AVCHD.

The one plus AVCHD offers is flash or HDD recording on consumer camcorders. HDV currently requires tape or external HDD recording.

Which is why I love that I can record directly to a dvd disc. I can just drag files off the disc instead of having to wait for it to stream off of the tape. There is definitely more software support for HDV though. I'm stuck with using Vegas to edit everything. It's expensive but it works!

[edDV]

Are you offering a conclusion?

IMO HDV offers superior quality to any AVCHD bit rate and is easier to edit (more software support. lower system resources) and can be converted to alternate formats faster than AVCHD.

The one plus AVCHD offers is flash or HDD recording on consumer camcorders. HDV currently requires tape or external HDD recording.

Which is why I love that I can record directly to a dvd disc. I can just drag files off the disc instead of having to wait for it to stream off of the tape. There is definitely more software support for HDV though. I'm stuck with using Vegas to edit everything. It's expensive but it works!

I won't argue with flash or HDD camcorder tech, although HDD is hard on battery. Obviously flash is the future but at HDV or AVCHD bit rates, flash is very media expensive + has constricted workflow (constant laptop dubs required plus backup issues).

I'm happy with HDV tape or external HDD for now until flash media becomes economic (e.g. near $4 per hour vs. something like $75 today). If all you want is a few minutes then I concede.

MiniDVDR disk is more problematic and equally expensive. You rarely get full MiniDVDR capacity due to need to finalize. DVDR from the field often can't be opened.

[WhoIsMatt]

I usually use a miniDVDrw. It is dual sided and gives me an hour of recording time. I also have 2 batteries to combat the battery life issue.

Flash is definitely going to play a big part in the future of camcorders and laptops alike. (Macbook air's SSD for instance). But, that is going to take time. =/

[edDV]

Camcorders will go solid state ASAP, but not yet.

[aedipuss]

i'm with eddv on this one, i see way to many problems with dvd cams. unfinalized discs, discs that can't be finalized, unreadable discs, etc.. it seems like too fragile a writing device to have in a portable cam that can be jarred around.

miniDV and HDV for now. P2 cards are nice but way out of my price range.

[WhoIsMatt]

i'm with eddv on this one, i see way to many problems with dvd cams. unfinalized discs, discs that can't be finalized, unreadable discs, etc.. it seems like too fragile a writing device to have in a portable cam that can be jarred around.

miniDV and HDV for now. P2 cards are nice but way out of my price range.

Yeah, I've been living with that fear for a while now. I just keep it in a padded case until I use it and make sure to not hit it on anything lol.

[fredfillis]

i'm with eddv on this one, i see way to many problems with dvd cams. unfinalized discs, discs that can't be finalized, unreadable discs, etc.. it seems like too fragile a writing device to have in a portable cam that can be jarred around.

miniDV and HDV for now. P2 cards are nice but way out of my price range.

I had a dvd cam once. Never again. 8 out of 16 disks unreadable or with significant corruption. Never again!