I copied the following from another of my posts to make it more accessible, as it is a much asked question. It should be relevant for all the 2004 GR-D and GR-DX models. (Note: The 2005 models only have the 3DNR low light enhancement feature in the new GR-D4nn series. It has been omitted from the new GR-D2nn series):

In the JVCs, the menu defaults to AGC (the least intrusive gain-up setting). You can also turn it off completely, or move it up a notch by setting Auto-A in the menu or pressing the Night Mode button on the body (same result).
If you leave it at default (AGC on), you get very little grain but somewhat muted colors compared to outdoors. The grain is no worse than on my old Canon UCS-1 Hi-8 camcorder, it just looks different because one is analog grain and one is digital.
If you use Auto-A and the light source is mainly daylight filtering into the room, you get just about what your eye can see. My eyes' capability of seeing color diminishes indoors at about the same rate. I tried using Auto-A, filming in a small room with no windows or skylights, separated from a well lit 15x17 room by a dark hallway. I could just barely make out the color of the towels and paintings on the wall in the room, and the video was the same. I took a 35mm camera exposure reading in the room and it was ISO 200- 8 full seconds at f/3.5.
I could pan around the room with no strobing and barely detectable smearing, as there were no lights on in the house. If I turned on a light in the adjacent room, which brightened this room a little bit, then the strobing-smearing became noticeable. I think it is due to the interaction of the 60Hz electricity and the shutter, which will be slow due to the dim lighting. If I set the camera back to AGC, the strobing disappeared, but so did the color: it was more black and white and duller.
I also took some birthday candle pictures with a 600 watt chandelier overhead about 4 feet from the cake. The equivalent 35mm exposure was ISO 200 - 1/8 sec at f/3.5. This video had little discernable grain and acceptable but slightly muted colors and contrast. The GR-D33 was set at default (AGC on) and there was no strobing or smearing.
Once you have set your chosen gain-up mode in Manual, you must then revert to Automatic mode to get EIS and fast autofocus back. You can tell EIS is not functioning as the -hand- symbol in the finder/LCD turns blue, and the autofocus may struggle if the image in the viewfinder is of low contrast.
See the attachment regarding equivalent 35mm camera settings vs Lux and FootCandles.

Hi,

I was reading the forum and saw your message and wondered whether you could help me.

I have a JVC GR-DX67. When I film in bright daylight outside, the camcorder works perfectly. When I take in inside a building the picture appears really dark. When I tried to film at night, with all the room lights on, the picture was almost pitch black.

I have tried every setting possible - all the basics like display brightness, all manual settings to no avail.

Do you think my camocorder may have a problem?

This is my first camera but I would have thought that a camcorder should be able to work indoors with lights on!

Any thoughts?

Many thanks!

I think that AGC is swithed off in your camcorder! I have DX27 and without AGC the picture is really dark indoors. Try to find it in menu as in this moment I cannot tell you where exactly you can find this option (probably you have to switch to Manual mode and then go to the menu).

I was a bit confused by MentorRun's statement that 3D NR has been left off of the GR-D2nn models. According to the features listed on the JVC UK website the GR-D290 does have 3D NR (http://www.jvc.co.uk/product.php?id...K&catid=11&lid=).

Can anyone clarify?

Cheers,

Stuart

I am also a bit confused Stuart.

The GR-D290 manual has no mention of "3D NR", 3D, or "noise reduction" (in regards to video), I searched the PDF manual.

The GR-D295US spec page, which could be NTSC version of the GR-D290 has no mention of "3D NR"
http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?mode...athId=26&page=2

Errors on web pages are common, even at the manufacturers sites.



Rich

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FireWire Survey

So does the 3DNR make a big difference? Do the older models, like the D93, perform better than the newer ones (ie D290) in low light?

Would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on this.

Editorial: JVC 'Saw the Light' and Took Action by Robin Liss Published on April 07, 2004
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/conten...mprovements.htm



Rich

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FireWire Survey

I can see that the 3DNR is a good thing, but why did JVC remove this feature from the the newer GR-D2nn models? Also, I can't actually find anything about the 3DNR in the GR-23/53/73/93 manual that I downloaded from the JVC site.

Any thoughts?

I am not aware of any facts why JVC appears to have removed the "3D noise reduction" from some of their camcorders.

The JVC GZ-MG77 being released in 2006 offers "3D noise reduction". But that feature by itself does not prove much. Sony has their "Super HAD CCD" (Hole-Accumulation Diode) sensor, Panasonic has their "CRYSTAL ENGINE" special image processing circuit. I have not seen any real legitimate test comparisions regarding JVC's "3D noise reduction" with other systems.

The final proof is what does the video look like after it is created and viewed in the fashion you plan on viewing it.

The only web sites I have seen that routinely actually test camcorders with some type of sample images are:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/
http://www.videomax.ru/tests/ (In Russian)
http://www.magazinevideo.com/ (In French)
http://www.dvspot.com
http://reviews.cnet.com/Camcorder_v...-0.html?tag=vid

Some other web sites which provide reviews are:

http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/index_reviews.html
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/bro...x,1,pg,1,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,2347,00.asp

Rich

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FireWire Survey

Although i am realy enjoying using my new JVC GR-D340 camrecorder I find your right in low light the colours are muted a bit. When i set it on Auto and the place I'm recording is a bit dark , the first ten minutes the picture is fairly good with a slight red tint whic i think looks nice but then it slowley changes to a bluey almost black and white feel.

Maybe I should try it manuely.

But in daylight the picture quality and coluors are fantastic, i was well suprised.

Is there specail lights you can buy to improve the quality in low light situations?

Dave