Questions about High-Def,HDMI,AVCHD,resolution,CCD

[BeholderX]

I've been reading the forums, and i have a few questions before i finally manage to decide which camera to buy...
I was originally thinking of buying a simple camera, eg PANASONIC NV-GS320EF-S MiniDV
http://www.b4udirect.com/home/produc.../PANASONIC.htm
but now i'm thinking of getting Canon HG10/HV20 or a 3CCD HD Panasonic one...

1. How does HDMI compare to Firewire, referring to the quality of the transfered video. Is there any loss, such as for USB transfer ?

2. Would it be better to preffer a 3 CCD 800K camera over a 1 CCD 1200K / CMOS ? (i'm not that familiar with this technical stuff, but you get the idea...).

3. Everyone seems to agree that miniDV quality is better than all the other formats. I've read a few reviews about cameras,
and i'm wondering how does the picture quality of uncompressed miniDV recording compares to the 15Mbps AVCHD or other compressed formats ? Is it a enthousiast's matter, ie does a 'normal' human eye tell the difference in high quality between AVCHD (or other compressed format) and miniDV ?
Personally, i find totally satisfying the H264 compression at ~ 4000 Kpbs, (or Xvid) how does the AVCHD compression compare to this.

4. What is the highest recording resolution (height - width) of the non-HighDef cameras ? As far as i am concerned, 1280x720 is totally satisfying.

Thnx in advance.

[redsox_mark]

1. How does HDMI compare to Firewire, referring to the quality of the transfered video. Is there any loss, such as for USB transfer ?

HDMI is digital, but generally used for viewing the video on your TV. With a HDV camcorder like the HV20 you would use Firewire, not HDMI, for video capture (unless you get a special HDMI capture card). With the HG10, you'd copy the files with USB (with no quality loss).


2. Would it be better to preffer a 3 CCD 800K camera over a 1 CCD 1200K / CMOS ? (i'm not that familiar with this technical stuff, but you get the idea...).

It will depend on the camcorder. Note the additional pixel count only matters if the camcorder can record at higher definition. Physical size of the sensor matters in terms of low light. At a given pricepoint you often have a choice of 3 small CCDs or one large CCD or CMOS; which is better depends on the specific camcorder and other factors like the lens.

3. Everyone seems to agree that miniDV quality is better than all the other formats. I've read a few reviews about cameras,
and i'm wondering how does the picture quality of uncompressed miniDV recording compares to the 15Mbps AVCHD or other compressed formats ? Is it a enthousiast's matter, ie does a 'normal' human eye tell the difference in high quality between AVCHD (or other compressed format) and miniDV ?
Personally, i find totally satisfying the H264 compression at ~ 4000 Kpbs, (or Xvid) how does the AVCHD compression compare to this.

Need to be clear on the terminology. MiniDV is standard definition. HDV is high definition using the same tape as MiniDV. Unless you are looking at high end pro miniDV models (which can have better low light performance etc), I'd prefer a high def AVCHD cam to MiniDV. But HDV cams tend to perform a bit better than AVCHD... in general the difference isn't huge, but the eye can see it, especially if there is much movement or panning.

4. What is the highest recording resolution (height - width) of the non-HighDef cameras ? As far as i am concerned, 1280x720 is totally satisfying.

Standard definition camcorders (PAL) are all 720x576.

[MarkE19]

Also worth noting is that AVCHD (compared to HDV) is more difficault to edit due to less software supporting it (although it is getting more widely accepted by the main programs) and much higher demands on the power of the PC used to edit it.

Mark.

[BeholderX]

Thank you for clarifying things out.

4. What is the highest recording resolution (height - width) of the non-HighDef cameras ? As far as i am concerned, 1280x720 is totally satisfying.

Standard definition camcorders (PAL) are all 720x576.

What about standard definition camcorders that record at 16:9 (like the Panasonic model i referred to earlier), what is their resolution ?

.

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by BeholderX

What about standard definition camcorders that record at 16:9 (like the Panasonic model i referred to earlier), what is their resolution ?

720x576

The only difference is the logical shape of the pixels (known as Pixel Aspect Ratio) is different.