HDMI capture after recording, any benefit ? at DVinfo.net

Ron Chau · October 24th, 2009, 12:41 PM

I know live HDMI capture of uncompressed video to a PC or portable hard drive has benefits. The question is, once the video is already recorded to the camcorder hard drive or memory card, is there any benefit to transferring the footage to the PC via HDMI ?

This question has been asked before in the past and the answer was no.

However, on another non A/V board, I am in a discussion about the new Blackmagic Intensity card paired with the new 2009 Canon camcorders like the HF20/200. Apparently there now might be some visual benefit to bringing the footage into the PC via HDMI ?

Anyone out there heard about this or have tried the new Intensity card with a new 2009 Canon camcorder ?

Tripp Woelfel · October 25th, 2009, 06:05 PM

The fact is that the minute the images hit the recording media the damage is done. One inexorable truth is that you cannot replace what is lost. AVCHD, HDV and other flavors of h.264 are lossy codecs. Your footage has been damaged. Full stop.

Think of it this way. If you have a database on a hard drive and a logic error in the database software always throws away the telephone number you will never have any phone numbers. They are gone, never to return.

The card might try to compensate for the video losses but I cannot see that it would be better than applying compensating filters in post.

Ron Chau · October 25th, 2009, 06:45 PM

Tripp, that's my belief too.

However, the person I've been discussing with, is claiming the new 2009 Canon camcorders now pass some kind of information or data through the HDMI connection that was not done before. He also claims the new Blackmagic Intensity card reads this new data and it improves on the visual picture.

I find it hard to believe, but thought I'd respect his opinion and at least put the theory out there to see if anyone else has heard of this or seen it work.

Ron Evans · October 26th, 2009, 07:33 AM

I agree with Tripp. If the Blackmagic card does something with the data then so can your NLE. The data is the data, that can't be changed once its recorded.
Maybe its the extended colour range of HDMI 1.3 that the Blackmagic card is now reading that has always been available to NLE's that could use it. The Sony cams were the first to use this some years ago and was always available if selected at record time.

Ron Evans

October 24th, 2009, 12:41 PM	#1
Ron Chau Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: ny, ny Posts: 204	HDMI capture after recording, any benefit ? I know live HDMI capture of uncompressed video to a PC or portable hard drive has benefits. The question is, once the video is already recorded to the camcorder hard drive or memory card, is there any benefit to transferring the footage to the PC via HDMI ? This question has been asked before in the past and the answer was no. However, on another non A/V board, I am in a discussion about the new Blackmagic Intensity card paired with the new 2009 Canon camcorders like the HF20/200. Apparently there now might be some visual benefit to bringing the footage into the PC via HDMI ? Anyone out there heard about this or have tried the new Intensity card with a new 2009 Canon camcorder ? __________________ https://www.ronchauphoto.com/

October 25th, 2009, 06:45 PM	#3
Ron Chau Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: ny, ny Posts: 204	Tripp, that's my belief too. However, the person I've been discussing with, is claiming the new 2009 Canon camcorders now pass some kind of information or data through the HDMI connection that was not done before. He also claims the new Blackmagic Intensity card reads this new data and it improves on the visual picture. I find it hard to believe, but thought I'd respect his opinion and at least put the theory out there to see if anyone else has heard of this or seen it work. __________________ https://www.ronchauphoto.com/

October 25th, 2009, 06:05 PM	#2
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	The fact is that the minute the images hit the recording media the damage is done. One inexorable truth is that you cannot replace what is lost. AVCHD, HDV and other flavors of h.264 are lossy codecs. Your footage has been damaged. Full stop. Think of it this way. If you have a database on a hard drive and a logic error in the database software always throws away the telephone number you will never have any phone numbers. They are gone, never to return. The card might try to compensate for the video losses but I cannot see that it would be better than applying compensating filters in post.

October 26th, 2009, 07:33 AM	#4
Ron Evans Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,222	I agree with Tripp. If the Blackmagic card does something with the data then so can your NLE. The data is the data, that can't be changed once its recorded. Maybe its the extended colour range of HDMI 1.3 that the Blackmagic card is now reading that has always been available to NLE's that could use it. The Sony cams were the first to use this some years ago and was always available if selected at record time. Ron Evans