can someone shed some light on the following:

MX500:
from the power-point slides (available on dvfreak.com) with no zooming we get
834x768 croped to 720x576 ?

GS100
from the Pana-Jap page
934x576 - croped to 720x460 and 1.04 zoom to 720x480 ?

There has been a lot of speculation on those slides. The Japanese NTSC MX5000 has a 1.3x vertical zoom to achieve its anamorphic widescreen mode. That probably means the same for the NTSC DV953 but the only thing I guess is that PAL got the better model (figures since they got the better TV standard too). :)

Either that or the Powerpoint slides are inaccurate. You can verify the 1.04 and 1.3 of the GS100 and MX5000 on the Panasonic.jp site.

The numbers just don't make sense and you have to wonder why NTSC DV953 and MX5000 couldn't have a non vertical zoom like the MX500 (if its true).

MiniDV and DVD PAL is 720x576. Both 4:3 and anamorphic 16:9 has the same size. The differences are pixel aspect ratio (16/15 for 4:3 and 64/45 for 16:9).
NTSC pixel aspect ratio is 8/9 for 4:3 and 32/37 for 16:9. And 720õ480.

I think all another frame sizes are acpect recalculation for correct representation on computer screen.

Real CCD pixel count is another story.

That is correct Mikhail, but the odd part is that both cams are dealing with the same amount of pixels but for whatever reason the lower resolution NTSC MX5000 and DV953 have vertical zoom.

Would be nice to "tweak" the firmware on a MX5000/DV953.

and even GS100 have a vertical zoom. (even tho small one)

is the GS100 Pal or NTSC?

GS100, MX5000...are all NTSC. Japan uses the same system as North America.

WRT the above mentioned slides. Take a look at

THIS SLIDE (http://fortvir.net/modules.php?set_albumName=album05&id=Wide_screen_mode&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php)

It was posted on supervideo's website for a long time. I still have the .BMP version if anyone wants an original copy. Forgery??

Guy, I would have to say forgery since MX5000 and MX3000 are NTSC cams and the final anamorphically squeezed resolution should be 720x480 but that photo still references PAL's 720x576.

hmmm.. did someone made this up to... hmm i don't know.. sell those cams? =)

where does the 934x768 come from? =717k on a cam with 640k active pixels... and when "croped" to 576 suddenly the "934" turns into 720?
and thats not NTSC 720x480 but PAL standart.

and.. 576 HRL .. on a miniDV? Pana will never claim this IMO.

but the slide looks very professional on other hand... =/
and looks like the rest of the slides contain accurate information...

Those slides talked about, are those the ones I have on my site? The ones I have on my site are of the PAL NV-MX500A and they are from Pana Technical.

Frank, check the slide we talk about. Guy even posted direct link to it. here it is again:

http://fortvir.net/modules.php?set_albumName=album05&id=Wide_screen_mode&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php

as you see it says MX5000
so probably it's not the yours you think of.

I have nothing to say about MX3000/MX5000. But I can say few words about MX500 widescreen mode.

This is a picture that illustrated CCD usage in 4:3 (yellow border) and 16:9 (blue) modes:
http://www.videomax.ru/tests/capaso/data/grid_MX500.jpg

This chart is result of shooting using special grid:
4:3 (690k) http://www.videomax.ru/tests/capaso/data/grid_MX500_4x3.jpg
16:9 http://www.videomax.ru/tests/capaso/data/grid_MX500_16x9.jpg

Which model has best widescreen?

Which model has best widescreen?

Just looking at NTSC models the MX5000 and DV953 have the same widescreen mode which is hiqh quality. The GS100 goes a step further by widening the angle of view and with less resolution loss.

To date (and under $5000 USD) the best native 4:3 cam with a HQ widescreen mode is the Sony DSR-PDX10. The downside is that it costs twice as much as the Panasonic 3CCDs and of course its not a Panasonic. :)

Don't forget that the PDX10 is also black like the mamba.

I think it's the Canon Optura Xi, with 1.5MP effective resolution under widescreen mode. The WIDEST!

The Sonys come next.

That's good to hear. I didn't know that.

Tom, have you considered the Canon Optura Xi? It has OIS and that should be good for run n gun.

I think it's the Canon Optura Xi, with 1.5MP effective resolution under widescreen mode.

I wasn't counting single chippers but the Xi definitely has a super fine widescreen mode.