HDV PF25: 50i or 25p?

[XIII]

At the HV20 PAL manual (page 100) we can read footnote: "Video shot with the [HDV (PF25)] standard will be recorded on the tape as 50i." So HDV as 50i, HDV PF25 as 50i too. What did they mean? I thought before that HDV PF25 can be written as 25p.

(At the NTSC manual (page 101) same thing: "Video shot with the [HDV (PF24)] standard will be recorded on the tape as 60i.")

[Janke]

The PAL HV's are always 50i, i.e. the scan lines are recorded in "interlaced" fashion on the tape.


In 50i recording, two "fields" (each containing only the odd or the even lines of a full frame and captured during 1/50 sec) are combined to one "frame".


In PF25, all the lines for a full frame are captured at the same instant of time, 1/25 sec, thus taking 25 full frames per second.


In practice, 50i gives you smoother motion, but some people like the slightly stuttery "film look" of 25PF.


See: Interlaced video

[Jittery]

In practice, 50i gives you smoother motion, but some people like the slightly stuttery "film look" of 25PF.


See: Interlaced video

Heh, here 50i gives stuttery motion with tearing (unless you reincode it), so I would go for 25PF

[Janke]

Heh, here 50i gives stuttery motion with tearing

Only on a computer, which can't handle interlaced video, or on a NTSC TV, which scans at 30/60.

On a PAL HD television set, 50i is incredibly smooth.

[Playing]

My experience with 25p: OK in low light. Fast movement like a guitarist's fingers or a dancers arm is fine as the motion blur can be attractive. However, the stutter of a car driving past looks terrible.

[XIII]

Thank you for reply, Janke. Ok... And when I edit the video recorded in HDV PF25 in Vegas project's settings I have to choose field order at "Upper field first" and frame rate at 25, right?

[Lou van Wijhe]

I also film in PF25 and in Vegas Project Properties I choose field order "None (progressive scan)". In output (Render as...) it depends: for PAL Blu-ray you must use "Upper field first" because that is the standard, but for DVD output progressive scan is allowed.

I like PF25 because you can extract stills from it without jaggies and when shooting it gives me one stop extra, which is an advantage in low light.

Lou