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HPX-500 720 or 1080?
Dear Group,
I’ve had my HPX 500 for a while now but am still conducting tests in the varieties of frame rates and formats.
I recently bought Noah Kadner’s DVD on the HVX-200, where he states that the “sweet spot” on the camera is 720PN; the native “mode”. But in my experience the footage shot at this setting seems to be much softer than at 1080 (either 60i or 24PA).
So the question arises: Is the native format on these cameras (either the 200 or the 500) 720 or 1080?
Thanks in advance for the info.Best
Paul Colin.
Cezanne Studio, NYC -
7 Replies
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The CCD blocks in the 200, 500, and 2100 are 720 native blocks. The HPX 3000 is the only P2 camera to have “native” 1080 chips. The other cameras re map pixels to scale up to 1080, so ask yourself if you are seeing sharper image due to edging or true sharpness. So much of this interpretation comes down to individual perceptions. At 720PN you are probably seeing a progressive artefact rather than image softness, but as I said, it comes down to perception. What you like is what you like.
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Yes they are both 720P native, but neither have 720P native chips, so it’s not that simple.
I haven’t experimented much between the different resolutions on the HPX, but given the larger chip size and likely better lens you aquired, it should be noticably sharper than the HVX and may be enough to make 1080 noticeably sharper. I’m sure Jan will shime in…
Cheers,
Vince
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Yeah, you’re right Vincent. It’s wrong to call it native. It is what the chipset and processing is designed to handle the best though, where those cameras look their best.
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Yes, I indeed have a good lens on the camera (Canon 17 X 7.6B)
so I don’t understand what I perceive as softness could actually be “progressive artifacting” at 720 PN.
and if the “native” CCD block is 720 then one would guess that would be the optimal shooting format as well, or am I missing something?Thanks,
Paul Colin
Cezanne Studio, NYC -
Paul,
Again, I think native here is less about the chip size and more about what the camera can do at 720P (variable frame rate and pN (progessive native).
The HVX 200 has 960×540 chips, but I think Jan mentionned a while back that there are actually an additonal 100,000 pixels on the 2/3″ chips, so that would give 1080 some additional pixels to work with.
They certainely both look a touch soft compared to the true 1080 chips, but I think this was their original asset getting that “film Look”. (you make of that what you like 🙂
I don’t mind it myself.
Vince
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Sharpness really depends on how you are viewing it… are you looking at 720 footage on a 720 monitor or blowing it up?
Richard M. Harrington, PMP
Author: Photoshop for Video, Understanding Adobe Photoshop, and ATS:iWork
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Richard,
I’m viewing on a Panasonic LH80WP monitor (7.5″) HD component when shooting, and a Sony LMD 232W (23″) through a Kona 3 HD SDI connection after ingest.
The 720 signal looks kind of soft as compared to the 1080 on both.Thanks,
Paul
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