HMC150 HDMI Bit Depth

rlrydeen

New member
I received some bad news from Panasonic regarding the HDMI bit depth on the HMC150. It has only 8 bits of color information and using an AJA Ki-Pro would probably not give much benefit over the built in AVCHD converted to Pro Res in FCS.

Here's the email response:
Thank you very much for supporting Panasonic Professional AV products.

The color data of HDMI output from AG-HMC150 is 8 bit data.

Best regards,

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PASS Support Team
sav.p2support.pavc@ml.jp.panasonic.com
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[ Message ]
HMC150 HDMI Output
What color bit depth and resolution is output from the HDMI port on the HMC150?

I am considering an external recorder (AJA Ki-Pro) to improve green screen capture from my HMC150 but would like to know if I will be capturing real 10 bit color data or 8 bit data or padded 10 bit data in order to make my purchasing decision.
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We've known that since the camera first came out. Most of the HD-SDI and HDMI cameras are 8-bit; the HPX500, XLH1, XHG1, HMC150, etc. The few that are 10-bit are notable exceptions: EX1, HPX300.
 
Sorry if this is old information, there seemed to bit a bit of confusion on the forums and you may want to revise your book where on page 193 you state "For high-def, the HDMI signal is sent as a 4:2:2, 10-bit signal at either 1080/59.94i or 720/59.94P ..."

Is the HDMI really 4:2:2? I forgot to ask Panasonic regarding this spec.

bob
 
What I said was correct. It is sent as a 4:2:2, 10-bit signal. That's what HDMI transports. But the way these cameras work, they deal in an 8-bit realm. They "pad" the 8 bits up to 10 by adding two zero bits on the end. So the signal that is sent is a 10-bit signal, but it's 256 levels of information embedded within a 10-bit word.
 
Thanks for the clarity. I had asked Panasonic that very question but their reply was only the 8 bit comment.
Thanks,
Bob
 
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