Uncompressed SDX 900 footage

[Glenn Gipson]

I came across a plug in board for the SDX 900 that allows the camera to pump out uncompressed video. This got me thinking, just how good would uncompressed SDX900 footage be? How would such footage blow up to HD, or even film? Would this footage be of a better quality then HDV? Any guesses or, better yet, experiences? Thanks.

[Mike Rehmus]

I very much doubt that it will 'look' better than a decent HDV camera. Psychologically, we like detail more than we like the absence of compression artifacts (assuming one can see them).

To be able to see individual leaves in a landscape shot of a forest will count for more than uncompressed SD video by a long shot :-))))

[Charles Papert]

I think the main advantage would be that the SDX900 has a more sophisticated camera head (2/3" chips, for starters) than any HDV camera currently available. But Mike is probably correct about the resolution being more of a factor.

[Glenn Gipson]

So is it safe to assume that the only big advantage with uncompressed footage is for better post-processing?

[Ken Tanaka]

Glenn,
I do not own or use the SDX900 so take what follows as simple anecdotal observation.

I have seen the SDX900's DVCPro 50 footage up-sampled to DVCPro HD and displayed side-by-side with DVCPro HD footage recorded natively from the Varicam, both at 24fps. I honestly could not have distinguished the two and doubt that more than a tiny fraction of others could, either. Color, sharpness, smoothness, all were virtually identical. I almost had to make Panasonic's Jan Crittendon sign an affidavit of truth before I believed what I was seeing (something that gave her endless mirth).