Which is better quality – HDCAM or DVCProHD ?

[Jeremy Garchow]

Well, let’s start from the beginning.

When you say which is better, do you mean which is less compressed onto tape?

Sony does not release it’s HDCam codec for editing so it’s hard to compare.

DVCPro HD is not 10bit, so do you mean capturing DVCPRO HD content to 10bit?

What flavor of DVCPRo HD 720p or 1080?

What codec are you planning on editing in?

[Seawild]

When you say which is better, do you mean which is less compressed onto tape?

– Less compressed to tape or better, this part of the question….

DVCPro HD is not 10bit, so do you mean capturing DVCPRO HD content to 10bit?

– Are you absolutely SURE about this…?

What flavor of DVCPRo HD 720p or 1080?

– I was told 1080p, however I suspect it’s 1080i, is 1080p even possible?

What codec are you planning on editing in?

– Final tape delivery to HDSR – 4:4:4

This is a MOTW type project. Not going back to film.

[Jeremy Garchow]

What cameras are you planning on using?

[Seawild]

Hello,

They used the 10-bit 4:2:2 HD-SDI output of the Sony camera and captured directly to harddrives using the DVCProHD codec, purposely by-passing the 8-bit 3:1:1 compression of Sony’s on-board camcorder.

The purpose was to get more information, and especially more shadow detail in the image. The reference monitors which they used on-set to evaluate that image were monitoring the 10-bit 4:2:2 output of the camera.

Is this what actually went to they’re harddrives? Or something way more compressed?

Thanks,
Chris

[Jeremy Garchow]

Alright, the truth is revealed, finally.

The DVCPro Hd codec is 8 bit, yes I’m sure. it has 4:2:2 color sampling and records into an anamorphic aspect ratio leaving you with a 1280×1080 frame (if in fact you recorded to 1080 DVCPRo HD, if you recorded to 720p then your frame size is 960×720).

If you wanted to record 10bit Uncompressed out of the camera, you should have recorded to 10 bit uncompressed codec which would have recorded the full raster (1920×1080) at a 10 bit depth. This would have required a full blown FCP system with lots of really fast storage to get this done on set.

There are arguments about which is best (3:1:1 vs 4:2:2) and I don’t think there’s a clear winner. Some argue that the compression is the same, mathematically.

This website is a good place to go to read up on codecs and compression:

https://codecs.onerivermedia.com/

Jeremy

[Seawild]

Thanks so much for your time and knowledge Jeremy!

Wish there was a clearer answer. test,test,test I guess. 🙂

Chris

[Aaron Neitz]

Sounds like no one knew what they were doing on set. If they plan to deliver on SR, they should have rented an SR deck and recorded directly to that. Or at least a D5. Both of which are much better HD transports. But I guess we all run into this with HD lately….

HDCAM = 143 mbits
DVC-HD = 120 mbits -but it’s 8bit. No 10bits possible.

DVCPRO-HD has a better colorspace, but slightly heavier compression. However, pound for pound, I think the DVCPRO-HD captured directly to hard-drive will be the best bet. HDCAM is, IMHO, crap. For finishing you could send that DVCPRO-HD sequence out over SDI (via Kona, etc…) and capture it 10 bit 4:2:2 Uncompressed and it’ll hold up pretty damn well.

[Seawild]

Thanks X

I am starting to LOVE D5s… Great format, the panasonics are great machines and “a little” less expencive than the HDSR’s..

What is the mbits for D5?

Thanks,
Chris

[Peter Dewit]

If I recall correctly D-5 HD is around 250-350 mbit/s depending on exact resolution and framerates

[Aaron Neitz]

170 mbits 4:2:2. D5 is really a solid format for HD. 90% of all HD we see in commercial production is D5. Albeit the decks are finicky and not as user friendly as Sony. But the SR is king, but a little late to the game so D5 has a better install base.