Proper settings 480i 60i jagged line issues

[Noah Kadner]

For the HVX make sure vdetail is set to thick in SD mode. Also realize that NTSC 60i video has limited resolution and antialiasing/jaggies are not always avoidable- depending on the shot. For example- venetian blinds, striped shirts, etc usually cannot be accurately resolved in NTSC without jaggies.

Noah

[Leonard Levy]

This has not been resolved yet.
I pointed the problem out to Barry at NAB and he basically responded by saying “Yow! what is that!?”
He discussed it with the engineers from Panasonic who promised to look into it and get back to him.
They have not yet done that.
My own belief is that this is a weakness of the HVX when it does the math to create 480 60i interlace.
You could call it a “dirty little secret” if you were so inclined.

It doesn’t matter whether you are going to tape or not, and it seems just as bad at DVC Pro50.
It has nothing to do with “Thick or Thin” and can only be mitigated by bringing Detail down to an unacceptably soft level.
Contrary to what Noah said above , this aliasing issue on the HVX is considerably worse than with other SD cameras including the DVX100. (It is the same kind of aliasing though only worse.)
You will not see it all the time, but when it does appear – easily seen in a pan or tilt shot past straight diagonal lines that are relatively thin and contrasty or hot – it creates completely unacceptable video in my opinion.
I first saw it all over the place in hand held footage at a boat marina, and later filming school buses (the hot lines on the roof) for an industrial. You can often see it on say the edge of a hot window sill, bannister or contrasty bookcase.

I will no longer offer my HVX200 for any professional purpose at 480 60i without warning the producer.
This has cut back on my ability to rent it out as a back up second camera on SD interlace shoots.
I’m really surprised that this problem is not more widely recognized and annoyed at panasonic for not addressing or admitting it.
Of course I could be wrong.

[James Mulryan]

Leonard:

Why not shoot everything progressive? Or why not buy a DVX 100B as an interlace companion camera? Or why not buy the Sony 570 ws camera
advertised for 5000.00 on creative cow classifieds and sell off the HVX.
Are you looking at your footage on an interlaced crt monitor?

[Leonard Levy]

James,

I am a working cameraman not a producer. I do not decide how a project will be shot.
Certainly I do always suggest progressive, but often I am asked to provide a camera to fit into an existing project or to shoot second camera on an SD shoot. This is the business.

Yes, the options you suggest (DVX100 570 etc) are fine if you need interlace and want to spend $3000-$5000 for an interlace camera. I don’t.
My beef with Panasonic is that they presented it as a camera that could shoot 480 60i as well as progressive and it doesn’t. The biggest issue really is that by not admitting the problems with 480 60i they are setting people up for serious potential problems. I don’t like phone calls from my producer telling me that my camera’s footage in unacceptable. They count on me to deliver excellent footage. That’s how you lose a client and your reputation.

Fortunately when this happened to me it was with someone I have known for many years and it was a very low budget favor. He told me though that he would not have paid for the job under normal circumstances.
When I looked at the footage I realised he was right.

On the earlier thread you saw, someone had shot for a few days on DVCPro50 expecting high quality images. I believe they may have need to reshoot.

1. Panasonic should admit there is a problem or prove there isn’t.
2. Those of us on the boards should make the problem known so others don’t have “accidents”
3. Panasonic should fix it in an upgrade if that is possible.

I am still happy with the HVX in general, but it does lower my faith in Panasonic and I do feel an obligation to let people know the problem is there.

Unfortunately I got to Barry too late for anything to go in his book.