Posted by John F. Miller on 10/25/05 18:32

"David Cleland" <davidjcleland@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:djlnu0$ptr$1@news.freedom2surf.net...
>
> >> I think I need to start saving :)
> >
> > You're welcome. But before spending BIG bucks on DV, think about HDV.
>
But the OP didn't want to spend BIG bucks on DV!

> are you saying don't invest in dv when a new technology is coming out or
> would an HDV camera be an alternative ?
>
> David

IMHO, HDV is a clever marketing ploy to hide the fact that it is really just
MPEG2, albeit of the MP @ HL flavour. HDV is attractive (to some) because
it uses the same miniDV cassettes but crams a high-definition format into
the same space as DV does for standard-definition. Guess what? A *lot* of
information is thrown out and, like any MPEG format, editing is less than
ideal due to the fact that not every frame is an independent, complete
picture. DV on the other hand doesn't perform any of the "interframe"
compression.

If you don't want to edit - just watch it - then fine. But as soon as you
decide you want to edit, you have to also buy all the supporting software
etc.

Now, back to your original question. "Broadcast quality" - that's a *very*
loose term. Certainly, in the UK (I assume that's where you are!), the
requirements for broadcasting (e.g., by transmitter, cable, satellite) are
much more stringent than in the US, for example. For private consumption,
though, you probably mean the picture quality in terms of resolution,
clarity, stability etc. If that's the case, DV will be just fine and -
since it is one of your criteria - affordable.

A downside (in the EU), is that most DV camcorders cannot record a signal
from an external source (e.g., the edited material from the computer) but if
you want to put it on DVD anyway, that's a moot point.

Frankly, you'll be very happy with a modest DV solution - there's a lot of
freeware/cheapware out there, too. For HDV, it's spend, spend, spend.....

(The marketing ploy I suspect is similar to that for MRI - magnetic
resonance imaging. It's real name is nuclear magnetic resonance, but the
word nuclear freaks too many people out, so the name changed. I recently
decided to upgrade to a more "professional" camcorder and was, at first,
tempted by the new HDV camcorders but as soon as I read the details and
realised it was just MPEG2 in a different guise, I chose a 3CCD DV/DVCAM
with a lot of great features instead. Let others buy the HDV stuff and you
can reap the benefit of the falling DV prices on equipment with more useful
features.)

John.

[Back to original message]