HDV?DV?4:3?16:9?

mayhem productions said:

Hi All,

I have a Sony HVRA1P I just watched some footage I shot, the footage came out a little funny so I changed the TV to 4:3 and it was fine I checked the camera setting and sure enough it was set to 4:3. I tried to change it to 16:9 however it wouldn't let me until I changed from HDV to DV.

My question is this will it still be recording in High Def? What is the difference between HDV and HD?

As you will gather I am very new to this so this would sound to most a very basic question however what I am shooting can not be recaptured so it's important I get it right the first time around

thank you in advance

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opps I ment,
My question is this will it still be recording in High Def? What is the difference between HDV and DV?

Your question is a bit confusing.

HDV is high-def in a compressed format. DV is a standard def compression format. HDV is strictly 16:9, while DV can either be 16:9 or 4:3.

mayhem productions said:

My question is this will it still be recording in High Def? What is the difference between HDV and HD?

Click to expand...

HD/HDV is always 16x9. It's either 1280x720 or 1920(displayed)x1080, which if you divide the numbers, are always 1.78 to 1, aka 16x9.

The difference between HDV and DV is very basic. DV is always 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) at a frame rate of 29.97 frames per second, even the "24P" cameras record 24 frames per second into a 29.97 format.

HDV is an MPEG2 based compression of HD formats onto mini DV tape. So you are getting one of the two HD frame sizes of 1280x720 or 1920x1080, but it is in a very compressed format on the same tape as DV. Depending on the camera, it will look vastly sharper than standard definition (SD) tape on DV, especially on the HD monitors like LCD and plasma screens.

Now there are some technical things going on, like the aforementioned compression, plus the pixels may be recording at 1440x1080, but squeezing it to look like 1920x1080. It's all techno-mumbo jumbo to a point, but important to have at least a basic understanding of, just so you can make some educated decisions.

Thank you sonny and 2001,

So what you are saying is that if I record in HD there is no option but to use 16:9 yeah

Right. But if you want HD in 4:3 for some reason (don't know why you would), frame it with the intent to crop it in post.

2001 Productions said:

Right. But if you want HD in 4:3 for some reason (don't know why you would), frame it with the intent to crop it in post.

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I don't want the 4:3 it was just a little hard to work out on the cam
Thanks again 2001