Like many people here i cannot decide what hd cam to buy, avchd or hdv. Avchd is better in theory and more convenient as it is tapeless but hdv still has the better picture quality. If avchd picture quality is not noticeable worse i would probably go for it. Are there a videos i can download to compare these two formats. I am surprised that camcorderinfo.com doesn't have it.

Also i would like to know what is the best archival practice. It's always good to have two copy of important data so if i buy avchd cam i will keep one copy of video on hdd and one copy on bluray disc (it will be replaced with memory card in the future, i guess). The audio and video spec of avchd match up with the bluray so no transcoding is needed.
If i buy hdv cam i will also keep one copy of video on hdd and one copy on bluray as tape is limited with capacity, not so good for long time archiving i think and you cannot share you videos at tape as most people don't have minidv player. So when i transfer video from hdv cam to hdd i will get mpeg2 file i can play with most media player, is that right?
Now, if i want to transfer it to bluray disc can i keep it in original format (mpeg2). If transcoding is needed will it affect picture quality. If it affect picture quality will it still be better than avchd.
The best avchd vs hdv article i have found is here: http://governmentvideo.com/articles...ticle_982.shtml and here is what it says:«With HDV, on the other hand, there would need to be a transcoding step (MPEG-2 to H.264) involved that might be beyond the capability and tool set of the average consumer.»
But bluray does support mpeg2 so why do we need transcoding.

And my last concern is about minidv. How long these tapes could last, how many times you can use one tape and is it usual to have standalone minidv player or you play you video from your cam.
It is very strange that there is no consumer hdv cam without tape but it seams to be sony/panasonic policy and not a technology issue.

After all it's very likely that my first cam will be sd and not hd. Dv codec have to be transcoded to be watched on computer lcd but i have read this video is still better than mpeg2 video. If difference is noticeable i will go for minidv even though i watch most of my videos on computer lcd monitor. Are there a videos i can download to compare these two formats. And is there a consensus what is the best sd cam at the moment.
Many thanks for any help

"Avchd is better in theory" is not my theory. Better for what?

I don't know if you want to edit. Your computer. Your budget. What type of video.

You just want to watch on computer? If you have a PC I would reccomend .WMV.

Ever watch a commercial DVD? That is MPEG-2.

I have no idea what "Dv codec have to be transcoded to be watched on computer" really means.

If you aren't going with high definition why all the high definition questions and comments?

There are not a lot of good SD cams out there. Best bang for the buck right now is the Canon HV20


In the end, it is most of the times just a matter of personal preference....




Rich

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Picture quality

Sorry, i ment "dv video have to be deinterlaced to be watch on computer lcd monitor."

All options are still open.

Yes but it is HD cam.

Thanks poncho

In this case, go for it.
Yep. You may need to run it through something like MPEG StreamClip first.
Yep.
Why reading misinformed articles if you already know the correct answer?
By definition of the standard, HDV means MPEG-2 on tape. JVC makes tapeless MPEG-2 high definition camcorders.
I think you should decide first what features do you want. HD or SD, HDV or AVCHD, DV or SD MPEG-2, tape or tapeless, etc. No one will make this decision for you.
DV is better than MPEG-2 SD-video, it is not better than MPEG-2 high definition video.
Which two formats?
As you've been told already, the best consumer sd cam at the moment is the Canon HV20. It also happens to be the best HDV consumer cam.

Look for clips on the Net. I am also puzzled why CCInfo has no sample clips, they are doing the tests with all these cameras anyway.

Thank you jockey. I will wait for HF100 review and then will see.
But still, i would like to be able to download clips and compare these formats: avchd vs hdv and dv vs sd mpeg2.

You can see one AVCHD/HDV comparison in this thread: http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/t141404.html

Also cc does have 1 comparison picture in the HG10 review against the HV20.

I'm not sure you understand what you're asking. AVCHD and HDV are just standardized video formats based on existing codecs. AVCHD is based on MPEG-4 and HDV on MPEG-2 (well that's 1 part of it).

The article you mention talks about the AVCHD specs. There's no AVCHD camcorder available today that reaches the full potential of the specs. Max bitrate nowadays only reaches 16-17Mbps and not the 24Mbps that the theoretical articles discusses. HDV is 25Mbps.

The most recent AVCHD cameras are as good as HDV. Look for the Canon HF10 review on this site. Solid state, no moving parts, good enough picture quality. Tape is going the way of the dinosaurs, and not a second too early.

Don't keep anything on tape. Backup to disk, make multiple copies, store them in separate places. That's what I do.

AVCHD has superior compression when compared to HDV. E.g., at the same picture quality, AVCHD occupies less space.

Don't waste your money on SD. The time for HD is now.

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Florin Andrei

http://florin.myip.org/

People have different opinions in what they consider "superior".

For my purposes, I do not consider AVCHD and it's trends as superior...



Rich

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