V1P Live component out
 

Is the live component out before the HDV compression side of things, is there a quality increase doing a direct capture into an AJA card or equivalent?

Yes and yes.

I have a Black Magic Design Intensity Pro and I record the live output of the V1 using HDMI. The HDMI output of the V1 is before compression and downscaling to HDV's 1440x1080 4:2:0. The HDMI output of the V1 is fully uncompressed digital 1920x1080 4:2:2. The audio is also carried on the HDMI cable and it, too, is uncompressed. It looks and sounds GREAT.

There are two versions of the Intensity; the HDMI I/O only version for a list price of $250 and the Intensity Pro which has HDMI and analog I/O (Composite, S-VIDEO and Component) for $350 list.

When I went in to preview and purchase my V1, the sales guy told me how the HDMI output was before the HDV compression stage and they had done a demo where it was hooked up to a professional HD video monitor.

Much dropping of jaw by the attendees, I am told.

The actual output from the camera section is 1920x1080 4:2:2, it is only when it get's compressed to HDV that is it converted to 1440x1080 4:2:0. The HDMI output is indeed directly from the camera section and before any HDV audio and video compression.