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What is the CCD resolution of the DVX100a?
- Thread starter trwhisner
- Start date
Re: What is the CCD resolution of the DVX100a?
Your question has three or more answers. The resolution of the video is indeed 720X480 or 345,600 pixels. That's the DV format and how much is written to tape by all miniDV cameras. The CCDs themselves can sense either 380,000 or 410,000 pixels I think; I forget the exact specs but it's around there. It doesn't really matter, though, because only 720X480 pixels are used.
Now, I think 510 comes from somewhere entirely different. The dvx does have "510 lines or resolution" I believe, and where this comes from is pretty tricky--I'm not even sure I understand it but I'll explain it the best I can. I could be very wrong, though, so anyone who wants to correct me should feel free to.
First of all, video is 720X480 pixels but the pixels are rectangular. So on your tv it looks like 640X480 pixels, because NTSC video has a 4:3 aspect ratio but the video is actually recorded at a 3:2 aspect ration (720 divided by 480 is 3:2, not 4:3.)
So by dividing 3/2 by 4/3 we find that the detail of a TV's image is 112.5% better horizontally than it is vertically because of the rectangular pixels. Kind of a weird concept, but it gets weirder! Lines of resolution are measured NOT within the 4:3 image but within the largest square that can fit within it. This should be a 480 pixel by 480 pixel square, but because the pixels are rectangular, horizontally, there are 112.5% more possible pixels. This gets you 540 pixels. So we have a total of 540 pixels of possible resolution. The dvx uses 510 of those. The average consumer camera uses between 480 and 500 I think. In fact, many consumer cameras use 680,000 pixel CCDs! Yet the xl1s used CCDs with a pixel count in the 200,000s.
Letterbox mode records about 267,840 pixels to tape. Squeeze mode records the full resolution to tape but only using as many sensed pixels of data as letterbox mode. So it's like scaling 267,840 pixels up to 345,600.
But who cares about resolution when you've got 24p mode and better dynamic range? Remember, you can buy an 6mp digital camera for super cheap, but when you compare it with a dSLR witha bigger chip, even at the same resolution, the dSLR blows it away in all ways! Resolution is only such a popular measurement because it's quantitative. Dynamic range, color rendering, and general image characteristics are much more important!
But a true 16:9 mode would be pretty fantastic....
Your question has three or more answers. The resolution of the video is indeed 720X480 or 345,600 pixels. That's the DV format and how much is written to tape by all miniDV cameras. The CCDs themselves can sense either 380,000 or 410,000 pixels I think; I forget the exact specs but it's around there. It doesn't really matter, though, because only 720X480 pixels are used.
Now, I think 510 comes from somewhere entirely different. The dvx does have "510 lines or resolution" I believe, and where this comes from is pretty tricky--I'm not even sure I understand it but I'll explain it the best I can. I could be very wrong, though, so anyone who wants to correct me should feel free to.
First of all, video is 720X480 pixels but the pixels are rectangular. So on your tv it looks like 640X480 pixels, because NTSC video has a 4:3 aspect ratio but the video is actually recorded at a 3:2 aspect ration (720 divided by 480 is 3:2, not 4:3.)
So by dividing 3/2 by 4/3 we find that the detail of a TV's image is 112.5% better horizontally than it is vertically because of the rectangular pixels. Kind of a weird concept, but it gets weirder! Lines of resolution are measured NOT within the 4:3 image but within the largest square that can fit within it. This should be a 480 pixel by 480 pixel square, but because the pixels are rectangular, horizontally, there are 112.5% more possible pixels. This gets you 540 pixels. So we have a total of 540 pixels of possible resolution. The dvx uses 510 of those. The average consumer camera uses between 480 and 500 I think. In fact, many consumer cameras use 680,000 pixel CCDs! Yet the xl1s used CCDs with a pixel count in the 200,000s.
Letterbox mode records about 267,840 pixels to tape. Squeeze mode records the full resolution to tape but only using as many sensed pixels of data as letterbox mode. So it's like scaling 267,840 pixels up to 345,600.
But who cares about resolution when you've got 24p mode and better dynamic range? Remember, you can buy an 6mp digital camera for super cheap, but when you compare it with a dSLR witha bigger chip, even at the same resolution, the dSLR blows it away in all ways! Resolution is only such a popular measurement because it's quantitative. Dynamic range, color rendering, and general image characteristics are much more important!
But a true 16:9 mode would be pretty fantastic....
Re: What is the CCD resolution of the DVX100a?
Wow! That totally answers my question. It all makes perfect sense now. I had been trying to find out how my camera stacked up to my old little sony 500 dollar jobby (I have given it to my 8 year old daughter with tripod and she is shooting video now) and your answer is very complete. Thanxs.
Wow! That totally answers my question. It all makes perfect sense now. I had been trying to find out how my camera stacked up to my old little sony 500 dollar jobby (I have given it to my 8 year old daughter with tripod and she is shooting video now) and your answer is very complete. Thanxs.
Re: What is the CCD resolution of the DVX100a?
I do find it interesting that the CCD's are capable of a lot more, yet the DV codec is limiting what comes through. With the high compression of DV this must strip a lot of the information away.
Anyway it is probably a moot point. Cannon has said the XL2 is the last prosumer SD camera they will make. I would guess the same for Panasonic. The next DVX and XL3 will most likely be HD and the DV format goes the way of DOS and CPM.
I do find it interesting that the CCD's are capable of a lot more, yet the DV codec is limiting what comes through. With the high compression of DV this must strip a lot of the information away.
Anyway it is probably a moot point. Cannon has said the XL2 is the last prosumer SD camera they will make. I would guess the same for Panasonic. The next DVX and XL3 will most likely be HD and the DV format goes the way of DOS and CPM.
Re: What is the CCD resolution of the DVX100a?
Glad I was helpful, but I'm not sure I'm 100% right on any of what I said...I may have a few numbers slightly off.
Btw, here's a frame grab someone took from a DVX by bypassing the tape and recording in 10bit (instead of 8 bit) color, then upressing to HD:
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~pertierr/cap10_RAW.tif
Looks a lot better to me and a lot more like film! It will be interesting to see how the first generation HD cams compare with the XL2 and DVX...there are lots of problems with them yet to be worked out, apparently, but with so much more resolution they could very well be quite amazing.
Glad I was helpful, but I'm not sure I'm 100% right on any of what I said...I may have a few numbers slightly off.
Btw, here's a frame grab someone took from a DVX by bypassing the tape and recording in 10bit (instead of 8 bit) color, then upressing to HD:
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~pertierr/cap10_RAW.tif
Looks a lot better to me and a lot more like film! It will be interesting to see how the first generation HD cams compare with the XL2 and DVX...there are lots of problems with them yet to be worked out, apparently, but with so much more resolution they could very well be quite amazing.