I've been using for 6 months this amazing camcorder and extremely happy with the results . I'm using Sony HD miniDV for best results even though I never compared what would be the difference with a standart miniDV.

I want to share some of the videos with friends/family and I have few questions:
- How can I record 1920x1080 format to my PC (windows XP) via HDV/DV cable (1394)?
- Would any PC with HDMI output play these videos at original resolution? Would I need a special program for recording and playing? If so what program is adviced?
- If the highest sharing quality is DVD quality for friends with no HD players, is windows movie player a good option? I did a test recording and quality is not as good as what I see with HDMI connection on TV. But that would be due to lower resolution I guess.

Thanks all and Happy New Year .

[redsox_mark]

I'm using Sony HD miniDV for best results even though I never compared what would be the difference with a standart miniDV.

No difference... it's just that the HD tapes have less chance of a "dropout".


- How can I record 1920x1080 format to my PC (windows XP) via HDV/DV cable (1394)?

You can capture using a Firewire cable and editing software which can capture HDV. Or you can use free HDVsplit software http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm
Note HDV is actually 1440x1080.

- Would any PC with HDMI output play these videos at original resolution? Would I need a special program for recording and playing? If so what program is adviced?

You don't need HDMI output, unless you want to connect to a TV via HDMI, you can play on a PC and output to the PC display in high definition. I use VLC as a player.

- If the highest sharing quality is DVD quality for friends with no HD players, is windows movie player a good option? I did a test recording and quality is not as good as what I see with HDMI connection on TV. But that would be due to lower resolution I guess.


Obviously if you convert to standard definition the quality won't be as good as high definition. To share with friends with no HD players, I would make a DVD video. Or, you could give them high def files to play on a PC (for this you could use the original HDV format, or something like WMV-HD).