kona 3 vs. blackmagic decklink and 1080 vs. 720 quality

[Shane Ross]

We shoot ad edit 720p. Then use the Kona 3 to upconvert to 1080p. Saves spaces, looks great, upconverts well. This is broadcast TV stuff.

And since we shoot with a Varicam as our main camera, we are limited to 720p anyway.
‘

Shane

Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net

[Jeremy Garchow]

And the Kona cards most definitely support 24p through and through. I think Blackmagic does as well, but I know they used to not have 720p24 SD down-conversion if that’s important to you.

Kona cards are really nice as all down-coversion is done in hardware, BM cards have only one or two cards that have hardware down-conversion. If you go with the higher end Kona 2 (PCI-X) or Kona 3 (PCI-e) you will also get real time up-conversion.

Jeremy

[Barry Green]

[engineben] “Also, I was leaning toward 720 to save Harddrive space, but is the quality noticeably better in 1080?”

Yes the quality is better in 1080. It retains a bit more detail (about 20% more) and is significantly less compressed. But it’s not night-and-day different; 720 looks fantastic, and if I wanted to shoot the “reality” look I’d definitely choose 720/60p over 1080/60i. But if you’re doing something where quality is paramount (such as a green-screen shot or something) you should definitely try to do those shots in 1080p mode.

—————–
Get the most from your DVX camera. The DVX Book and DVX DVD are now available on ebay and at Amazon (https://www.fiftv.com/db)

[Ben Turner]

Most of the video I am going to shoot will be used for multiple projects over a period of at least several years, so I need to pick a format and stick with it. Does anyone anticipate any problems with shooting 720 24p while editing with the kona 3 or decklink HD as neither say they are 720 24p compatible.
This seems to be my best option for a compromise between space and quality.
Thanks for all your input. I am taking my company into the HD world, but with no real world experience.

Can anyone recommend some good reading on HD workflow for the Mac and FCP?

Ben

[Shane Ross]

Read my blog:

http://www.lfhd.net

I work with DVCPRO HD 720p24 and have for over a year now. Capture via firewire, monitor via my Decklink…and now Kona LH…for color correction, output via the Kona 3 (at a post facility) to HDCAM or D5 UPCONVERTING from 720p to 1080p.

It is difficult to go into workflows when we don’t know what format you need to deliver. But read my blog. Start from the beginning, Sept. archives.

Shane

Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net

[Arnie Schlissel]

The Kona 3 most absolutely does support 720 24P. I’m using one to cut a feature film shot on the HVX-200 using the 24PN setting. The Kona outputs a 59.94P signal over SDI because that’s all that the SDI standard supports.

And to my eye, the 1080 and 720 settings on the HVX are pretty much the same. The actual imager chip in the camera only has around 550 lines of resolution, so that’s all that you’ll see when you look at the footage on a pro HD monitor, regardless of which setting you use.

Arnie
Now in post: Peristroika, a film by Slava Tsukerman
https://www.arniepix.com/blog

[Ben Turner]

Good to know about the kona 3 card. My final output most of the time is for presentation on video projectors up to 300″ screens. I think I’ll definitely shoot 720 24pn. I’ll save $$ on harddrive space, so I can budget the Kona card.
I work for a rural electric cooperative and they are going to budget a complete HD studio upgrade including a couple hvx200’s.

Anyone have some clues on the release of 16gb cards?

thanks again,

Ben

[Gary Adcock]

[engineben] “Does anyone anticipate any problems with shooting 720 24p while editing with the kona 3 or decklink HD as neither say they are 720 24p compatible.”

Yes the Kona 3 cards support 720p24 and they do so on output by adding the pulldown back into the video stream so that it is correct according the SMPTE standard for 720p video
\This is the very same thing as not being able to use the FW connection when shooting in the PN modes or when capturing to the Firestore

technically the 720p24 format only exists as a data format- in the P2 format and in your NLE, there are not any “video” devices that can understand the 24p video stream without adding the pulldown (redundant frames) back in to vide steam.
HD video for playback always need to be 60 frames ( 720p) or 60 fields (1080i)

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows