Possible to get uncompressed output from DVX100-B ?

kenackr

kenackr

Well-known member
The DVX 100B manual shows output comes in 3 forms: S video, Composite, and Fire Wire out with a DV codec in SD format. The DV codec compresses the signal among other things, I believe.

I understand that uncompressed signal is much higher quality. Is there any way to get an uncompressed output signal in some fashion from the DVX 100B ? If one wants to capture direct to disk for location shoots? I could find nothing in the manual or in Barry Green's DVX book or search on the subject here.

Or if that is not possible, is there any way to get a component signal out?

Or if that is not possible, is there any type of a converter for either the Fire wire out or the S video out that will provide a standard SD output?

In case you're wondering what I'm trying to do, there are two things driving me in this direction:

1) I'd like to mount either a 7" or 8" monitor to the camera that has high resolution and the ability to perform other checks when setting up a shot, focus, iris, luminance, etc. The ones I've looked at basically take only composite & Hdmi. Higher end monitors also can take component.
  • Is it normal for people to use the S Video out for on cam monitor use? If so, doesn't that degrade the monitor presentation?
2) I'm planning on using my MacBook Pro 17" for location shoots in two ways: Use IT as a monitor instead of an on camera smaller monitor, and use it as a hard disk recorder (I've got a 7200rpm 1 GB internal drive) which is enough to capture direct to disk for a day. If that doesn't cut it speed wise, I could always go with SSD instead just for clip capture.

  • [*=1]In this scenario, the MBP non glare screen has resolution up to 1920 x 1200 native, but I'll have to find out more about about color representation (I do have a Spyder Pro Color calibrator).
    [*=1]It would also be nice if I were able to tweak the video & audio being captured with something like a Motu V4HD which accepts both Audio & Video and can also convert to Pro Res 4.2.2 (and many other codecs) instead of DV.

​
Any help would be appreciated,

Ken :embarasse
 
None of the standard DVX outputs can give you anything close to an uncompressed signal. Recording via Firewire will give you the cleanest signal, but the improvement over recording to tape is so small it's not worth the trouble. S-Video will be your best option for live monitoring, the live Firewire output will look horrible on a computer.

The company that did the uncompressed upgrade folded in 2007, used DVX's with the Andromeda modification do still pop up for sale. If you really want to go that route try posting a want ad here on DVXuser of course, and over at the Andromeda forums:

https://vimeo.com/groups/andromeda/forum

Edit: and for some reason I can't get a link to work here in any way shape or form for the elder Ando forum, there is a link to it in this post:

https://vimeo.com/groups/andromeda/forum/topic:257045



Peace,
Sean
 
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Live firewire looks fine on a computer. I've been using DV Rack/OnLocation for years. It works totally fine. There's a very slight delay, but other than that, it's fine.

If you want uncompressed, the s-video is the closest to that, but it's only a pseudo-component signal. True component splits the brightness and two color signals, s-video splits the brightness from the color but combines the color signals. It's a much better image than composite, but considering the firewire output is a true component signal (although compressed), s-video clocks in at somewhere beneath true component.
 
Didn't anybody try to reverse engineer what was done with the Andromeda modification? I mean there are some smart people on this board, right? Not me of course but hey...
I'm surprised that one guy and one guy alone managed to have the interest and tech savvy to pull it off.
 
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