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[This Is Dave]

Hey all

I'm very new to all of this so sorry if some of these questions are dumb-ish. A couple of things I've seen in posts around the board that I don't quite understand. First, what exactly is a PAL version of an HVX or DVX? Second, how exactly does P2 technology work?

Im almost positive im getting the DVX100b because i plan to shoot mostly in sd and I dont have a lot of money, but I'm still curious about these things.

My last question: Eventually I hope to show a film on the big screen (at my college for free) So it would be shown on a big screen, but it would just be a dvd playing from a projector. Does footage shot on the DVX look a lot worse (look really grainy) or lose a lot when simply being projected from a dvd onto a big screen (as opposed to actually blowing it up to 35mm)? How does the HVX do in comparison (still shooting in SD)?

Man i gotta admit those are some sweet questions I asked. Not everybody at once.

Seriously Thanks guys

 

[THoff]

First, what exactly is a PAL version of an HVX or DVX?

PAL and NTSC are TV broadcast standards. Choose the model appropriate for your locale, or you'll run into problems (at the very least quality degradation) when you convert.

Second, how exactly does P2 technology work?

P2 cards are solid-state storage devices using the PCMCIA/PCCard form factor, containing four SD flash memory modules in a RAID0 configuration. The HVX200 records your choice of formats/resolution/framerates onto the cards, and you can pop the card into a laptop, desktop with PCMCIA/PCCard adapter, or P2 Store device to offload them quickly (unlike tape, this can be done faster than realtime).

My last question: Eventually I hope to show a film on the big screen (at my college for free) So it would be shown on a big screen, but it would just be a dvd playing from a projector. Does footage shot on the DVX look a lot worse (look really grainy) or lose a lot when simply being projected from a dvd onto a big screen (as opposed to actually blowing it up to 35mm)?

Projection can be tricky, and the results depend on the quality of the projector. Projection can give your a softer, more film-like appearance, but it will also exacerbate noise.

How does the HVX do in comparison (still shooting in SD)?

The DVX does better at 60i than the HVX, but the HVX has true 16:9 sensors and delivers better progressive video. It can also record DVCPro50, which is a SD format but with better color sampling, and noticeably better image quality comparable to Digibeta.

 

[Barry_Green]

1. PAL = the version appropriate for Europe or Asia (they use a different television standard over there; in the Americas we use NTSC).

2. P2 is a solid-state recording system, not tape. There's a P2 workflow white paper available on Panasonic's website, or an article here that Jarred wrote up in the articles section.

3. Blowing up any standard-def image is going to exaggerate grain and noise, because you're inherently mangnifying those things. A DVX can look fine on the big screen, an HVX can look much better (but from HD); in 16:9 mode the HVX has a sharper image than the DVX and would survive the blowup process better because of it.

EDIT: THOff beat me to it!