Canon XH A1 (Questions)

[catchintime]

I have been looking at some reviews for the Canon XH A1, but I don't understand the technical jargon. If somebody could explain the advantages and/or the disadvantages for me in a non-technical way I would appreciate it.

[nantnee]

What jargon are you referring to? Give some specifics so that we can help you out, or go the Canon A1 thread and read up there.

[catchintime]

Here are some statements that I don't understand from various reviews:

"the SDI output is the only way to get 4:2:2 output." what does this ratio mean?

"The same three 1/3-inch CCDs with 1080i (1,440x1,080) native resolution that drive the XL H1 sit at the center of the XH series' imaging system, and like the H1, both models can record in 1080i at 30F or 24F frame rates" I'm not sure what 1080i, the frame rates and 1/3-inch ccds mean.

"The latter comes in two versions, one which records to tape at 24 frames per second, and one which downconverts from 24fps to 30fps/60i using 2:3:3:2 pull-down before recording for greater editing compatibility" I'm not sure what they mean here either.

These are just a few examples of things that I have read that I've been confused by.

[Huy Vu]

4:2:2 is the color space of the footage captured. The A1 processes internally at 4:2:2 but downconvert to 4:2:0 when export to HDV. To better understand it read this article

http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/colorspace/

The 2nd statement simply means that the A1, like the XL-H1, have 3 1/3'' CCD block containing 1440 x 1080 pixel. It's capable of recording interlaced (60i) or progressive (30F or 24F) for HDV.

Last statement means that for SD recording, a slightly different method is used to achieve 24p footage by adding padding (or pulldown) frames in a 2:3:3:2 cadence to the 24fps signal which is then removed automatically in editing.

[yommytacoe]

"The same three 1/3-inch CCDs with 1080i (1,440x1,080) native resolution that drive the XL H1 sit at the center of the XH series' imaging system, and like the H1, both models can record in 1080i at 30F or 24F frame rates" I'm not sure what 1080i, the frame rates and 1/3-inch ccds mean.



if you consider this technical jargon, i suggest you do some more reading before purchasing a camera. Not to be mean or anything, but i just don't want you to be in over your head.

[fishops]

Is this your first camera? What do you plan on shooting with it?

[catchintime]

I own a simple camera (Panasonic PVG S-150) And I've used the Canon XL1.

[catchintime]

I don't understand the technical jargon. Yes I do need to research the meanings of these technical terms. That is why I'm on this forum asking these terminologies mean.

[catchintime]

what do you mean by interlaced and progressive? what are the differences?

[Aroon_Narayanan]

In interlaced video, each frame is split into 2 'fields", and these fields are displayed at 2x the frame rate. Frames are split by every other line; that is, if each video line is numbered, the even-numbered lines would make up one field and the odd-numbered lines would make up another.

Depending on what format you're using, one of the two fields is displayed, then the other, making up one complete frame. In NTSC countries, the standard interlaced format is 60i: 30 frames per second x 2 fields per frame = 60 fields per second.

Progressive means that the whole frame is displayed at once. There are no fields. There are 3 standard progressive rates in NTSC countires right now: 24p, 30p, and 60p.

The XH A1 is capable, as Huy Vu said, of shooting at 60i, 24f (a version of 24p), and 30f (a version of 30p).