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General discussion

Hi def camcorder and an HD tv

by mattgrand1 Feb 24, 2009 10:17AM PST

Will I get the same quality picture from say the Canon Vixia HV30 as a hi def channel on my samsung 50" DLP 720p. if not woudl it be close or not at all. Currently, I am using the Canon ZR85 and the images are not very well detailed. Please help. Do not want to buy an expensive toy that woudl disappoint.

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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You are comparing very different camcorders.
by boya84 Feb 24, 2009 1:16PM PST

But whether the difference in video quality is "worth it" will be up to you.

How are you planning to get the high definition video to play on your HDTV?

I shoot the video with a HDV miniDV tape based camcorder, edit in the computer, and export the finished video project back to the camcorder and use the camcorder as a deck... connected to the HDTV with component (and audio) cables. The video is WAY better from the HDV cam than from a DV cam (which would connect to a TV with an analog/composite AV cable. Or I export the finished project as a h.264 high def computer readable video file and connect the laptop to the HDTV with a VGA (and audio) cable...

How are you planning to watch the high definition video?

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how I was going to watch
by mattgrand1 Feb 25, 2009 8:12AM PST

I was going to use the HDMI cable that I currently have to play the videos back through the camcorder. I was going to wait until hd burners for the computers are available and then edit to a hd dvd.

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OK... just checking.
by boya84 Feb 25, 2009 8:31AM PST

Most folks don't get to where you got to.

Yes, the video will be a LOT better from the HV30 (when using it as the playback device) when compared to the ZR85. High definition has about 4x more data than standard definition. Connecting digitally also helps a lot.

I either use my Sony HDV cams for playback - or I use a computer connected with VGA and audio cables connected to playback computer-readable h.264 720p files. (1080i Panny plasma has a VGA port.)

"Will I get the same quality picture from say the Canon Vixia HV30 as a hi def channel on my samsung 50" DLP 720p."
The video cams the high definition channels' programs use are in the thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds or thousands of dollar range. If the lighting is good when you captured the video on the HV30 and you are using some sort of stabilizing device like a tripod, camera crane or shoulder mount device, it will be sort of close - certainly WAY closer than the ZR85 would ever get...

Personally, I am skipping the BluRay burner and player environment and just storing to a large hard drive array.

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Great
by mattgrand1 Feb 26, 2009 8:26AM PST

Thanks so much for the help. I greatly appreciate it. I am sure my future family videos will be much appreciated when they are shown

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