XH-A1 vs XL1/XL2 in SD

Elton said:
Iconoclasts on Discovery HD looked ok to me...knowing what it came from.

The others don't look any different to me than what I would expect on super-bastardized, over-compressed SD satellite TV.

I just don't expect much from the SD broadcast channels anymore. I disagree that Lovespring and South of Nowhere look much different than what I've seen, say, on MTV that was shot with the DVX.

I had a piece air on the Sundance channel back in Jan. and none of the producers complained of the SD delivery I gave them from an HD master. It's just a matter of knowing how to properly downconvert.
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This has me worried. I've never seen footage as mushy as this from SD camera's on satellite TV. I've been told this before but why would it only affect HDV cams? Does the satellite broadcast bring out the worse in HDV compression and GOP artifacts? Something is going on here. I expected the more recent shows to have a better picture due to lessons learned, in the time that's passed. The DVX shows look MUCH BETTER (even my sister sees it) and there has to be a reason for it. I've read elsewhere someone was disappointed by the soft footage produced by downconversion and after testing found AfterEffects did the best job of it, better than any NLE software. Is this what you guys are finding? Don't the pros know how to downconvert?

The XL2 gives a better picture in SD than the A1. Could someone post an example taken with the XL2 and put to DVD and then the same shot with the A1 in HD and downconverted (with AfterEffects) to a DVD, then post grabs from each. That would answer the sharpness issue. And maybe even small clips (for us dail-up users) to answer the motion issue. This would help a lot of people.

I'm planning a trip to see the A1 but seeing the camera in person still won't answer any of the questions I've just asked. I need the help of those that own these cameras. Thank you.
 
Sorry I dont want to be a spanner here. But the XL2 is better in SD than the A1? OK. My side by side of downconverted A1 footage vs DVX footage tells me the A1 is still sharper, much better latitude. Im not sure whats going on the broadcasts your seeing, but I can tell you first hand that after the downconversion these "better qualities" were still visible on a DVD output.
 
Thanks ncje. I'd like to see for myself, could you please post some grabs and small clip files (for those of us condemned to dail-up) of your side by side A1/DVX comparison. I'd love to see that, it'd really help me (and others) out.

I've read the A1, like all HDV cams, downconverts in camera it's (original) SD footage and as a result their SD only counterparts produce better SD footage.

The fact that I've never seen good downconverted HDV footage continues to worry me. I'd like to see some proof. If I bought HDV and got the kind of downconverted SD footage I'm seeing I'd be very disappointed.

What software are you using to downconvert?
 
Even in camera downconversion looks better than SD. I use Final Cut for downconversion and it is great.

I didn't think SD video could look so good.

Sorry I have no still on hand to show the difference, but trust me it looks noticeably better.
 
There were comparisons posted on DVinfo of SD from the XL2, and downconverted HD from the A1. The downconverted HD had more detail and better color.
 
Im using Eltons method (Im on Mac). Capture as Mt2 through mpegstream clip then output an SD version from there.
 
Sacksnack said:
There were comparisons posted on DVinfo of SD from the XL2, and downconverted HD from the A1. The downconverted HD had more detail and better color.
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Were they grabs or clips? I've looked over there & did a search. Where? Could you please point me to a link or thread topic. Sounds interesting.

If the poster is here, please post your stuff here so I don't have to go over to the enemy. Thanks.
 
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