HD Downconvert question at DVinfo.net

Stacy Dudley · March 8th, 2007, 10:09 PM

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a new XH-A1 (received it yesterday). I took it out today, shot a little footage, and brought it back in to dump it on my PC. Here is my scenario:

I shot a few minutes of footage in [SD16:9] and 24f. All other settings were default. Then I put the camera in HDV, 24f and shot the same footage (no other changes). I wanted to see the difference between the two when I captured the footage to my PC in SD and then down converted the HDV.

When playing back the tape the camera simply plays in SD until it gets to the point where I started recording HDV and it automatically jumps into HDV and keeps playing.

When capturing, I captured all the SD just fine. However for the HDV footage, when I go to the signal setup in the camera menu and try to output the [PLAYBACK STD] to HDV and turn on the [HD DOWN-CONV], neither are highlighted and I can't access them.

I've been through the manual, as well as the camera's menu turning on and off all kinds of other stuff to see if it would affect these two settings, to no avail.

The only thing I can find in the manual is where it says: "If the current video signal is different from the signal standard in which the tape was recorded, the recording will not be played back correctly".

I'm guessing that's not the problem because the tape plays back beautifully, I just cant access the down conversion feature. Has anybody here mixed the two standards and seen this problem, or is there something I am overlooking maybe?

Thanks in advance,

Stacy

Adam Reuter · March 8th, 2007, 10:18 PM

You need to unplug your firewire cable from your camera before changing the downconvert settings. Then the menu selections shouldn't be grayed out.

Stacy Dudley · March 9th, 2007, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Reuter

You need to unplug your firewire cable from your camera before changing the downconvert settings. Then the menu selections shouldn't be grayed out.

Interesting. I shut it off and went to bed after posting last night. When I get home from work, I have something to look forward to.

Thanks again.

Stacy Dudley · March 9th, 2007, 09:20 PM

Thanks for the advice, I changed the settings. However, as soon as I plug the firewire cable in, it grays out again. I unplug it... it comes on. I plug it in... it goes off...

The manual gives no indication as to why it would do this. I guess I'll keep searching.

Update: It's working fine now. It still grays out when I plug the firewire in, but if I turn "off" all external devices in my edititor... I can capture the footage.

Richard Hunter · March 10th, 2007, 04:24 AM

So how did it compare? Please share! :)

Richard

John Brinks · March 10th, 2007, 02:31 PM

Yeah, i think the HD down-conversion thing has caused a lot of heart ache for some people... it took me hours of looking through the manual, before i turned to the web to discover that the firewire needs to be unplugged for it to not be grayed out!

This should be on page one of the manual...

on a side note... man SD really looks like crap compared to the XH's native super high resolution... on my computer it looked like the background and foreground were both in focus... yet in HD, the background is clearly blurry, and the foreground is clearly sharp!

Stacy Dudley · March 11th, 2007, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Brinks

Yeah, i think the HD down-conversion thing has caused a lot of heart ache for some people... it took me hours of looking through the manual, before i turned to the web to discover that the firewire needs to be unplugged for it to not be grayed out!

This should be on page one of the manual...

on a side note... man SD really looks like crap compared to the XH's native super high resolution... on my computer it looked like the background and foreground were both in focus... yet in HD, the background is clearly blurry, and the foreground is clearly sharp!

I agree that the HD down conversion should be a little better explained in the manual. The manual also explains that if there is a problem capturing the footage then check to see if your software is "capatible with the video signal standard you are using". I had assumed that wasn't an issue since I was able to capture the SD without a problem and the only change in my record settings was SD & HDV. I thought the software would recognize the down converted HDV as if it were standard SD. I thought wrong. Never the less, I know what to do now so I am happy! :)

They both look fabulous to me. They look so good compared to what I am used to that I am afraid to play with any settings on the camera. I'll just screw up a good thing! I do feel I got better results from the HDV footage but since (stupid me) I didn't do a "one to one" type of comparison it was hard to see any real difference. I am happy with the look of both.

Richard,

Not only am I new to the XH-A1, I am also new to any kind of prosumer camera period. I hardly think the footage I shot is worthy of posting. However, I will be more than glad to contact Chris Hurd and see if he will give me the upload account info if you would really care to see it.

Stacy

Richard Hunter · March 11th, 2007, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stacy Dudley

I
They both look fabulous to me. They look so good compared to what I am used to that I am afraid to play with any settings on the camera. I'll just screw up a good thing! I do feel I got better results from the HDV footage but since (stupid me) I didn't do a "one to one" type of comparison it was hard to see any real difference. I am happy with the look of both.

Richard,

Not only am I new to the XH-A1, I am also new to any kind of prosumer camera period. I hardly think the footage I shot is worthy of posting. However, I will be more than glad to contact Chris Hurd and see if he will give me the upload account info if you would really care to see it.

Stacy

Hi Stacy. Not necessary to post the footage, I just meant share your findings, which you have done. Thanks.

Richard

March 8th, 2007, 10:09 PM	#1
Stacy Dudley Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Longwood, Florida Posts: 71	HD Downconvert question Hello everyone, I recently purchased a new XH-A1 (received it yesterday). I took it out today, shot a little footage, and brought it back in to dump it on my PC. Here is my scenario: I shot a few minutes of footage in [SD16:9] and 24f. All other settings were default. Then I put the camera in HDV, 24f and shot the same footage (no other changes). I wanted to see the difference between the two when I captured the footage to my PC in SD and then down converted the HDV. When playing back the tape the camera simply plays in SD until it gets to the point where I started recording HDV and it automatically jumps into HDV and keeps playing. When capturing, I captured all the SD just fine. However for the HDV footage, when I go to the signal setup in the camera menu and try to output the [PLAYBACK STD] to HDV and turn on the [HD DOWN-CONV], neither are highlighted and I can't access them. I've been through the manual, as well as the camera's menu turning on and off all kinds of other stuff to see if it would affect these two settings, to no avail. The only thing I can find in the manual is where it says: "If the current video signal is different from the signal standard in which the tape was recorded, the recording will not be played back correctly". I'm guessing that's not the problem because the tape plays back beautifully, I just cant access the down conversion feature. Has anybody here mixed the two standards and seen this problem, or is there something I am overlooking maybe? Thanks in advance, Stacy

March 9th, 2007, 09:20 PM	#4
Stacy Dudley Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Longwood, Florida Posts: 71	Thanks for the advice, I changed the settings. However, as soon as I plug the firewire cable in, it grays out again. I unplug it... it comes on. I plug it in... it goes off... The manual gives no indication as to why it would do this. I guess I'll keep searching. Update: It's working fine now. It still grays out when I plug the firewire in, but if I turn "off" all external devices in my edititor... I can capture the footage. Last edited by Stacy Dudley; March 9th, 2007 at 10:01 PM.

March 8th, 2007, 10:18 PM	#2
Adam Reuter Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Posts: 234	You need to unplug your firewire cable from your camera before changing the downconvert settings. Then the menu selections shouldn't be grayed out.

March 10th, 2007, 04:24 AM	#5
Richard Hunter Trustee Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Lipa City Batangas, Philippines Posts: 1,110	So how did it compare? Please share! :) Richard

March 10th, 2007, 02:31 PM	#6
John Brinks Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Phoenix Az Posts: 69	Yeah, i think the HD down-conversion thing has caused a lot of heart ache for some people... it took me hours of looking through the manual, before i turned to the web to discover that the firewire needs to be unplugged for it to not be grayed out! This should be on page one of the manual... on a side note... man SD really looks like crap compared to the XH's native super high resolution... on my computer it looked like the background and foreground were both in focus... yet in HD, the background is clearly blurry, and the foreground is clearly sharp!