Panasonic Lumix gh5 AVCHD "image Sensor Output"

tokun1

tokun1

Well-known member
Hello,

I'm wanting to shoot in AVCHD mode for a lecture to have longer recording option with my new Lumix gh5. I want to record in 29.97, there a Rec quality setting at 59.94i, but says "Image Sensor Output" 29.97. Can someone explain what that means, "Image Sensor Output", I've tried looking on the internet and nothing comes up to explain. So, is the frame rate 29.97, or 59.94i?...I'm rather confused.

Thank you for your help!

-Tony
 
It means the image is 29.970 progressive frames per second, but it's encoded as an interlaced video stream of 59.940 fields per second. This is called progressive segmented frame (PsF). It's done that way because AVCHD doesn't natively support progressive encoding at 29.970 frames per second.

Depending on how your video software works, PsF can cause trouble, because your video software may try to de-interlace the video that's not actually interlaced.

I suggest avoiding PsF. Instead you could record FHD/20M/30p (MP4) or FHD/28M/60p (MP4 or AVCHD).
 
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Hi thanks for the reply. I'm still a bit confused, does it look like 29.97, or 59.94?... I edit with final cut pro 10.3.3 so I'm not sure I'll have to test it to see how it performs, I think it should be fine, my previous camcorder (Panasonic AC 130 shoots only AVCHD) and that was fine. I need the most recording time on the card so AVCHD offers the longest, Mp4 offers similar recording time to MOV, (40 mins on a 32gb card) at the moment I only have 2 32gb cards. The main thing is that I just want the look of 30 fps (29.97).
 
PsF looks like 29.970 fps, but only if your software interprets it correctly. Personally I would avoid the interpretation problem altogether by not shooting in a PsF mode. The recording time depends on the bit rate, not on whether it's AVCHD or MP4 or MOV. The GH5 manual lists recording times for each quality setting. One thing to consider is how the GH5 splits files depending on the recording mode. MP4 FHD gets split to 4 GB, and I'm not sure if FCPX can combine those seamlessly. AVCHD gets split too, and maybe FCPX deals with that better.
 
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