AVCHD or HDV?

[gskiser]

I know HDV is better for editting, but what about video quality? Which compression technology renders a better quality video?

[hopeless_4ever]

I saw on a website identical footage recorded with a Sony HDR-HC3 (which uses HDV format) and a Panasonic HDC-SD1 (which uses AVCHD), and from what I observed, the Panasonic one gave a much better image. It had better color separation, it was sharper, and the picture had less noise. Some people would say otherwise, but I think HDV is a dying format and will eventually be replaced by AVCHD.

[Paranoid666au]

I don't think you can say AVCHD has better image quality than MPEG2. The advantage of AVCHD is that it can compress a lot more the MPEG2 with out losing quality.

Maybe if you had AVCHD running at 18 Mbps or higher then maybe the 25 Mbps MPEG2 might start looking worse. But where is an 18 Mbps camera? Who knows, it really depends on a lot of factors too, such as the camera (lens, chip etc.) and the encoder used etc.

[videobuff]

Hve you checked the latest DX-1 AVCHD videos at
http://www.listvideo.com/categories.php?cat_id=27
Looks great.

[lurence]

watch this sample picture (AVCHD versus HDV)...
i think the higher the compression, the higher are the artefacts!

[don360]

I definetly think that AVCHD gives a lower image quality then HVD since the bit rate of recording video is lower with AVCHD which means that less information can be taken in by the camera. Even if you have 3ccd in a AVCHD camcorder you will very unlikely reach the footage quality of a single sensored HDV camcorder.

[lovehateHDV]

AVCHD is a better format, we just have yet to see it implemented properly.

and obviously increased bit rate would help tremendously

P.S. by the way, does anybody know a player that play H.264 other than QuickTime? (it's lazy on Vista, no matter how hard yo push it.)

[admin_old]

Nero show time and Power DVD plays back H.264 files without any flaws.

Binu

[wuzabeeb]

Hi, comparing the Panasonic with the Sony HC3 is not that good an idea, as the HC3 is single chip whereas the Panasonic is 3 CCD ... this means that the color reso of the Panasonic will be better, and as with all compression systems.. the better your input quality, the better the output. AVCHD has MORE compression than HDV .. so you will get more artifacts, especially on movement... whereas on a still picture frame with not much movement, you will see little if any difference between the formats. MOST video has movement .. so in real life.. HDV will perform better on the same video input.

[hayabusa2005]

Originally Posted by lovehateHDV

P.S. by the way, does anybody know a player that play H.264 other than QuickTime? (it's lazy on Vista, no matter how hard yo push it.)

I have been using Elecard Mpeg player for my SD1 files. CoreAVC is suppose to be the most efficient H.264 decoder, but doesn't seem to work with the SD1 files.