DVCPRO50 vs DVCPROHD720p?

A

afflicted

New member
I'm sort of new to this, so forgive me if the answer's obvious - is there any reason why you'd want to shoot DVCPRO50 instead of DVCPROHD 720p on the HVX?

DVCPRO50 - 720 x 480, 4:2:2, 50 Mbps
DVCPROHD 720p - 960 x 720, 4:2:2, 50 Mbps

You have to record DVCPRO50 to P2 (or Firestore, etc), so you can't save money by using tape. I also assume that the processing requirements to edit both are the same - though for HD 720p you would need a display that could handle the extra pixels.

On the other hand, DVCPRO50 isn't as compressed, so you're getting more information on a per pixel basis. But does this give any benefit that would make you choose DVCPRO50 over DVCPROHD 720p?
 
DVCPRO50 is standard-def, not high-def. If you're aiming for the best standard-def production you can get, for great-looking DVDs etc., DVCPRO50 will probably produce the best results for that.
 
From what I know, if you choose DVCPROHD 1080i it's 100 Mbps; with 720p, you get 50 Mbps.

Thanks Barry for the input. I was thinking in terms of blowing up for film and for digital projection (like on HDCAM). I guess you're saying the improved resolution of DVCPROHD 720p trumps any sort of compression/per-pixel benefit you would get with DVCPRO50.
 
DVCPROHD is 100 megabits for 1080. For 720, the data rate depends on how many frames per second you're shooting; for 720/60p it's 100 megabits, for 720/30p it's 50 megabits (half the frames, half the data rate...)
 
Each 1080 frame has exactly twice the pixels of a 720 frame, yes. So 1080/30p would be twice the data rate of 720/30p.

It's a little more complex when you talk about 24p, because 720/24p is encoded as discrete frames, whereas 1080/24p is carried within a 1080/60i data stream. So 720/24p is 40 megabits, 1080/24p is 100 megabits.
 
I see. But for the purpose of each frame, it's roughly twice as much digital information per frame from 720 to 1080?

So if 1080 24p could be stored as dicreet frames...or just extract the 24 from the 60i timeline, it would be 80 megabits? In theory?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top