Why is my HV20 video ordianry looking?

[makesfilmz]

I recently bought the hv20 with much anticipation and excitement and was unpleasantly surprised by the seemingly ordinary playback of the video.

Granted the LCD screen is not the highest res and my TV is SD, other cams such as the Sony VX1 and Panasonic HDC-DX1 I have used seemed to rival. heck my wife thought the video of my cheap JVC 1 chip MiniDV when compared looked better!

Also the colors seemd over proccessed. Red are super red. Anything golden brown or tan looked sun burnt.

I have seen some of the amazing footage captured with this cam (most with the DOF adapter) however, capturing and exporting out of Vegas I was expecting to be blown away by HD. To me High-Def should look Hi-Def. No questions asked...

Perhaps I need an HD tv.

[12ozLife]

What settings are you using and have you tried?

[um3k]

Yes, you do need a HDTV. High def will never blow you away on a SDTV. You could also get a HD computer monitor, and compare the video on there.

[iddy92]

how did you plug the camcorder into the tv?

you should at very least use component out from the camcorder.

if you're using RCA composite video/audio output, then no wonder your pic quality came out crappy.

but even with component out, if your tv doesnt support 1080i or 480p, then the quality is still crappy.

if your computer monitor has DVI, then you should try to get some HDMI to DVI cable so u can try hooking it up to your computer monitor. ebay has it for under 20 dollars or less, shipped.

[angelo913]

Reading reviews on the HV20 and HDV compression, I'll compare it to the DV camcorders.

HV20:
- 1920x1080 CMOS Imager
- 1440x1080 4:2:0 HDV recording
- 1920x1080 4:2:2 direct CMOS Imager to HDMI output
- +650 horizontal lines from HDV

DV Cam (AG-DVC30)
- 720x480 3xCCD
- 720x480 4:1:1
- 720x480 4:1:1 Firewire Output
- +500 horizontal lines from DV

I don't have spec on vertical line resolution but the I would guess the HV20 would have about at +650 and the DV cams at least 360.

What I've seen with the HV20 compared to the DV cams is that there is no visible stair-stepping on sharp diagonal edges with the HV20, plus you also have higher color resolution with the HV20 which is a major improvement in it's self.

To view HV20 image quality you absolutely need a 1080 HDTV and viewing DV on a 1080 HDTV you will see the horrors of 4:1:1 color sample on reds and oranges.

...Angelo

[Clayton]

I can use composite video to two CRTs one very crapy one darn good.

I can export via HDMI to the right LCD TV or a DLP projector and stunning.

[makesfilmz]

What settings are you using and have you tried?

Nothing fancy at first but went in and adjusted settings in P mode and looked a lot better on my regular tv 4:3.

Is there a good template for settings on this cam? I know it probably depends on a lot of factors. I used daylight, sunset, vivid and a low exposure in the room I was recording my kid near our dining room window and it looked pretty close to the human eye. I just hate that hard cast thrown on video which you normaly need to correct in editing.

[makesfilmz]

Reading reviews on the HV20 and HDV compression, I'll compare it to the DV camcorders.

HV20:
- 1920x1080 CMOS Imager
- 1440x1080 4:2:0 HDV recording
- 1920x1080 4:2:2 direct CMOS Imager to HDMI output
- +650 horizontal lines from HDV

DV Cam (AG-DVC30)
- 720x480 3xCCD
- 720x480 4:1:1
- 720x480 4:1:1 Firewire Output
- +500 horizontal lines from DV

I don't have spec on vertical line resolution but the I would guess the HV20 would have about at +650 and the DV cams at least 360.

What I've seen with the HV20 compared to the DV cams is that there is no visible stair-stepping on sharp diagonal edges with the HV20, plus you also have higher color resolution with the HV20 which is a major improvement in it's self.

To view HV20 image quality you absolutely need a 1080 HDTV and viewing DV on a 1080 HDTV you will see the horrors of 4:1:1 color sample on reds and oranges.

...Angelo

Thanks for all this info!