-
SD to SD conversion problems
Why does the SD to SD image quality suck?
Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but it is completely unusable for me, which is a real shame because I really like the idea of it.
Here’s my workflow and the problem I’m seeing:
– Finish in 24p 16:9 SD (either anamorphic or sq. pixels, doesn’t matter)
– New FCP sequence (10 bit uncompressed, 24p SD, anamorphic)
– Make broadcast dubs, which requires letterboxing the spot(s)
+ Use Kona 3 SD to SD conversion to letterbox
+ Letterbox & pulldown applied on output without software render
+ Life seems better than it should be…– Check image quality of DigiBeta and it is junk
+ Images are a bit soft
+ Any text is chewed and very soft
+ Knew it was too good to be true…– Switch FCP to non-anamorphic sequence and render the letterbox in FCP
+ Far superior results from FCP software scaling
+ Astonishment and disappointmentI’m running the v5 Kona 3 drivers under Leopard, if that matters. I haven’t updated to the 5.1 drivers but I’m not sure that would help. Maybe later today I can try to find time to give those drivers a whirl.
Thoughts?
-Matt
-
7 Replies
-
Yeah, unfortunately you are right. Funny post by the way.
The Sd to Sd was a user requested feature that AJA enabled to please it’s demanding clients. It is something that was not deigned in the card from the ground up, so I would use it for preview purposes only.
You are much better off rendering in FCP for broadcast masters.
Jeremy
-
Ugh.
It’s a sad day when Final Cut Pro – with it’s lack of sub-pixel precision – is able to make a better scaled image than hardware. 🙁
No offense to you, but it sounds a bit like an Avid response. Avid has pulled the same sort of deal with their DS Nitris and HD to SD downconversions…
“See that feature? Cool, isn’t it? You can playback HD and SD at the same time on this $150k box. Nifty, eh? Yeah, don’t use it for anything but preview purposes, though. It’s not as cool as you thought, now is it?”
-Matt
-
Well I would say that for a $150K box and it doesn’t do a proper HD-SD downconversion, that would be completely utterly unacceptable.
-chrispy
-
[Matt Riley] “No offense to you, but it sounds a bit like an Avid response. Avid has pulled the same sort of deal with their DS Nitris and HD to SD downconversions… “
The Kona definitely does NOT have that problem. 😉
The Sd to Sd was an after thought and wasn’t part of the original design for the card. Sorry man. A rendering we will go.
Jeremy
-
It’s no joke: It is not recommended to use the DS Nitris’s BOB SD downconvert for anything other than preview purposes.
There are lots of things that are unacceptable on the DS/Nitris platform, especially given the price and the market it is aimed at. That’s a whole thread by itself in a different forum. 😉
-Matt
-
It’s no joke: It is not recommended to use the DS Nitris’s BOB SD downconvert for anything other than preview purposes.
There are lots of things that are unacceptable on the DS/Nitris platform, especially given the price and the market it is aimed at. That’s a whole thread by itself in a different forum. 😉
-Matt
-
A rendering we go indeed.
I’m going to need new Apple and R keys before too long. I guess there is always key remapping. 😉
-Matt
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up