I always thought the quality from these Mini DV camcorders was supposed to be pretty good, even better than the old VHS camcorders...that's why I bought one, a Sony MiniDV Handycam to be exact, because a high definition camcorder was out of my price range. But I am severely dissapointed in the quality at playback on my computer. I selected the DVD HQ quality for both encoding and the final production of the video using Cyberlink PowerDirector 8, but on playback it still looks bad....grainy/pixalated. Upon watching the DVD I created, I also notice a thin line of flickering at the bottom of the video. I am using Maxell MiniDV tapes. Is this a problem with the camera, something I'm doing wrong in the software, or is this possibly the computer monitor? I have a flat screen monitor, but it's not a high def display or anything. Thanks.
Take a small section of the DV source and post it to a file hosting site so we can look at it. Difficult to judge otherwise. Try mediafire.com
First, with a Sony camcorder, use Sony miniDV tapes. Second, what are the specs of your computer, especially your video card. Third, what are the options for encoding? Most anything is better than VHS, which is junk at best. What are your recording options, on your Sony camcorder?
My camcorder is set in SP mode, which I believe from what I can tell is the best quality setting. I had the video recorded in 4:3 aspect ratio. My computer is just using the motherboard's graphic processor....my new computer which should be done soon will have a Radeon 4890 in it. Encoding used a mode called DVD HQ (high quality). When I outputted the video, I did MPEG 2, DVD HQ quality....although there were options for 720 and 1080i output...however I didn't figure I should choose this since the original video wasn't recorded in high def. I should note I just watched the DVD on my CRT television, and the picture is quite good....but watching on my LCD computer monitor is noticeably more pixalized looking. Should I just assume this is either a problem with viewing it on an LCD monitor, or the fact I don't have a good dedicated graphics card, or a combination of both?
more likely is your onboard videocard is the problem. how much ram is assigned from main computer memory to the videocard? try another monitor whether crt or lcd to see if still have problem. what is the max resolution of your monitor & what is it currently set at?
it is currently set at 1024x768 on 32 bit color setting. My onboard graphics card is a NVidea 6100. not sure about max res
I had an Nvidia 6100 on my motherboard. In terms of quality (2d image) it's pretty good. But as far as 3d, or video acceleration, it's quite useless. For example, I wasn't able to get my Avermedia TV tuner to work properly with my onboard video and had to upgrade if I wanted to watch/record without stuttering. It may be besides the point, I asked for a a short clip of the DV footage. I don't really see how we can determine the problem without looking at it. The DV is a digital recording, either the bits can be transferred intact from the camera via Firewire to the computer or not - if not,could be damaged tape or dirty playback head,etc,etc,etc. Please provide a short clip showing the problem.
I had a sony minidv cam. The problem wasn't the computer it was the camera. Absolutely horrible in low light. Outside in the sunshine though it looked fantastic. But once inside, crap-city.
