Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Job
...Hi Dan: I see a real *Great improvement when you use an HDV camcorder like the XL H1 via its HD-SDI output into a nano (XDR in my case). Not only do you get a 4:2:0 to 4:2:2 color improvement, but you also win big time by being able to record from a 1920 x 1080 Full raster HD signal, which is also in fact, uncompressed @ 1.43 Gbps ! This is where otherwise HDV challenged camcorders get a *Huge quality boost. I have conducted tests with my H1 at sample rates as low as 50 Mbps Long GOP, and I can plainly see a significant difference in both fine detail as well as color depth, which holds up remarkably well in multi-generation editing.
EDIT: In theory, the XL H1 camera should be a much harder camera to test the image quality on, since it already produces remarkable quality HDV images via its own internal encoder and tape transport to begin with.
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I have to agree here. I've captured HD-SDI live from my Canon XL H1S many times to my AJA IO HD using ProRes HQ, and you can see a very noticeable difference in overall image quality. There is quite more noticeable detail in the image. This is due obviously to both the much higher quality, full raster codec along with the cameras chipset as well, since the camera has a horizontal spatial offset chipset.
Interestingly, I was reading Alan Roberts white paper on the Canon XH G1 for the BBC. He measured the resolution of the HD-SDI image at around 1015 lines vertically. It is slightly lower at around 940 in the F modes). He mentions that the sensor chipset of the camera clearly delivers more resolution than its pixel count due to its spatial offset. This resolution is not recorded fully onto the HDV tapes, but can be recorded from the HD-SDI using a high-quality full raster codec. I can confirm this from my own recordings.
I have been eyeing the Nanoflash for a while now, and I think I will be purchasing it in the next couple weeks. I am just waiting to see what Canon announces at NAB as the successor to the XL H1S. But even so, I may just go with the Nanoflash as an upgrade for my current camera instead, cause it really is a fantastic camera that resolves plenty of detail and provides an overall fantastic image quality.
But I'd appreciate any more posts about their experiences with the Nanoflash as I figure out whether I upgrade to the next camera or go with the Nanoflash for my current camera :)
March 26th, 2010, 11:04 AM
