"Upgrading" the HVX to do HDV

[mmm]

So the HVX is basically a portable computer with a lens on the front... right?

...and HDV is just a codec recorded to MiniDV.

... The HVX can receive firmware updates from SD cards... right?

So, could someone write a little program to implant HDV's codec into the HVX and record it to either tape or P2? As a "pay the rent event shooter" that would be very handy.

THIS IS NOT A QUESTION TO THE MERITS OF P2 OR HDV. Just asking if this is possible... and how much would some guru out there wanna charge?

 

[philnerd]

So the HVX is basically a portable computer with a lens on the front... right?

...and HDV is just a codec recorded to MiniDV.

... The HVX can receive firmware updates from SD cards... right?

So, could someone write a little program to implant HDV's codec into the HVX and record it to either tape or P2? As a "pay the rent event shooter" that would be very handy.

THIS IS NOT A QUESTION TO THE MERITS OF P2 OR HDV. Just asking if this is possible... and how much would some guru out there wanna charge?

Recording an HD video stream into an MPEG2 file in real time is accomplished by dedicated hardware components. My 2Ghz P4 couldn't compress an incoming 1920x1080 analog video stream into anything approaching quality MPEG2 in realtime without specialized hardware. So lack of correct hardware would be hurdle number 1. Even IF the HVX had a chipset that could be reprogrammed to compress HDV instead of DVCPROHD, that particular component could probably not be programmed without removing it from the camcorder. There are probably a myriad of other reasons why an HVX can't be converted to HDV.

Sorry, I believe the best path to HDV from the HVX is to buy a Canon XLH1.

Philip Williams

 

[mmm]

I was guessing that since the HVX already uses a number of codecs, it isn't "hardwired" to just one. You are probably right, but maybe... I think there would be quite a few interested folk.

 

[Barry_Green]

So the HVX is basically a portable computer with a lens on the front... right?

There is some evidence to support that notion.

...and HDV is just a codec recorded to MiniDV.

An MPEG-2 GOP-based codec that is horribly difficult to compress in realtime, yes, which requires realtime hardware codecs. In fact, the hardware codec in the JVC HD100 isn't even fast enough to deal with 60fps data, which is why the HD100 can't record 60p...

... The HVX can receive firmware updates from SD cards... right?

Wrong. No firmware updates. It's based around PROMs, not EEPROMS.

So, could someone write a little program to implant HDV's codec into the HVX and record it to either tape or P2?

Nope. You'd need a massively powerful CPU, on the order of a dual-core P4, to try to pull that off in software alone, and I doubt even then that it'd be fast enough. And you can't update the software anyway...

As a "pay the rent event shooter" that would be very handy.

Not possible. However, maybe someday one of the HDV manufacturers will get around to offering a cheap HDV camera or deck with analog component inputs. If so, you could maybe work what you're trying to do that way.

 

[Barry_Green]

I was guessing that since the HVX already uses a number of codecs, it isn't "hardwired" to just one.

I would expect all those codecs to be hardware processors. Even if they're not, intraframe codecs are vastly easier to implement in software than MPEG-2 is, for realtime performance.

 

[mmm]

I would expect all those codecs to be hardware processors. Even if they're not, intraframe codecs are vastly easier to implement in software than MPEG-2 is, for realtime performance.

Do you mean there is a different processor for each codec?

Thanks for the info Barry... just thought I would float the idea. I though a specialist processor may be able to handle the pace of MPEG2 encoding - like a games console displaying graphics far beyond a similarly specced PC. Oh well, Firestore it is then.

 

[Barry_Green]

Do you mean there is a different processor for each codec?

I mean that they could be different microchips for each codec. They have hardware codecs for each camera (obviously) so I'm speculating that they may be using those existing parts. Obviously they may have designed a new chip that includes all of them. Either way, I'd expect that the processing for each codec is being done in hardware, not by the camera's Linux-OS CPU.

 

[mmm]

Ah, okay, cheers for the insight!