minidv to dvd vs dvd camcorder

Newbie here, I have a question. I have a dcr-trv27 minidv and I have been transfering my minidv to my PC for quit some time and have notice the quality of the transfer are poor compared to vhs transfers, they seem to be a bit darker, I use studio 9 software for editing. Is the quality really bad due to the compretion when transfering from dv tapes to avi or mpeg? and would the newer dvd camcorders have better quality since they record directly to dvd disc? and another thing, if I have a video capture card in my PC would the quality I capture from my vhs tape transfers be better?Guidance needed and thanks

Newbie here, I have a question. I have a dcr-trv27 minidv and I have been transfering my minidv to my PC for quit some time and have notice the quality of the transfer are poor compared to vhs transfers, they seem to be a bit darker, I use studio 9 software for editing.

Video always looks better on your cam's LCD than on a computer display. You should adjust the contrast on the LCD so it matches the video you are seeing on your computer. That way you'll know what you're shooting and allow you to adjust exposure to get it right.

Is the quality really bad due to the compretion when transfering from dv tapes to avi or mpeg?

AVI is the same as the DV on the tape. A transfer to your computer is like a file copy; only bits are being moved around. There is no compression.

MPEG is a different story. It can look worse if compressed too much but it shouldn't be any darker than the original. But you shouldn't be capturing and converting to MPEG in one step especially if you plan to do any editing of your video. DV-AVI is the way to go.

and would the newer dvd camcorders have better quality since they record directly to dvd disc?

They will never have better quality than DV-AVI because they compress. They can look pretty good if you don't compress too much. Of course, that limits the amount of video you can fit on a disc.

and another thing, if I have a video capture card in my PC would the quality I capture from my vhs tape transfers be better?

Better than DV-AVI? Never. VHS is much lower resolution than DV-AVI.

Guidance needed and thanks
I hope I provided some! ;)

Good luck.

Dennis

Newbie here, I have a question. I have a dcr-trv27 minidv and I have been transfering my minidv to my PC for quit some time and have notice the quality of the transfer are poor compared to vhs transfers, they seem to be a bit darker, I use studio 9 software for editing. Is the quality really bad due to the compretion when transfering from dv tapes to avi or mpeg? and would the newer dvd camcorders have better quality since they record directly to dvd disc? and another thing, if I have a video capture card in my PC would the quality I capture from my vhs tape transfers be better?Guidance needed and thanks

Computer monitors tend to display on the dark side compared to a TV. Since TV is my target medium, I do a quick check by rendering a small segment of my avi file to MPEG-II, burning it on a DVD-RW, and trying it on my TV.

Unlike most of my colleagues, I am also a strong advocate of cheap external MPEG-II converters. You hook up your camcorder to them, playback the tape and they convert to MPEG-II (DVD format) in real time and write to your hard drive through a USB 2.0 port. Yes, you are converting from digital (DV) to analog then back to digital (MPEG-II). But there is no loss that is detectable on a standard TV. No, MPEG-II is not anywhere near as edit friendly as avi, but you can make cuts, add tiltle screens and overlays, and make a dvd with a menu structure. Yes, you should preserve the original tape for future use.

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Fred