ULEAD Announces HIGH DEFINITION Plug-In For MEDIASTUDIO PRO 7.0

[Jerry Jones]

1. In DV mode, the cameras shoot standard 720 x 480 at 30 frames per second or 60 interlaced fields per second in a 4:3 aspect ratio.

2. In SD mode, the cameras shoot 720 x 480, 60 progressive frames per second (60p) in a true 16:9 aspect ratio. This is an MPEG-2 format.

3. The HD mode records 30p, 16:9 aspect ratio images at 1280 x 720.

Currently, the SD mode offers a very nice option for projects destined for current DVD technology.

I believe the the HD DVD technology is just around the corner.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

Originally posted by Hulk
I guess they went with the 4:2:0 colorspace to achieve a more balanced look.

Thanks for the info Jerry.

Also, I'm curious. Since there isn't a delivery format for HDV right now, why did you decide to go with this format? I am assuming that the format holds up much better through editing to the final product, even if it is SD at the end of the process.

Also, you can do 16:9 with full resolution with this camcorder.

Any other reasons?

I have a feeling we're going to see the introduction of yet another new format at NAB...

- Mark

[Jerry Jones]

Bad news.

My AMD Athlon 1.67ghz system apparently isn't up to the task.

I've done some more testing.

Frames appear to be dropped - even though the Ulead MediaStudio Pro 7.0 VIDEO CAPTURE program does not confirm.

The playback of the HD video stutters at points during playback in Microsoft Windows Media Player.

The capture also halts at certain scene changes - in a deceptive way.

The VIDEO CAPTURE program in Ulead MediaStudio Pro 7.0 seems to keep going - even after the point when actual capture has stopped.

The minimum system requirements for the HDV plug-in are as follows:

Microsoft® Windows® XP

Intel® Pentium® 4 3GHz or higher

512MB RAM

My second system - an AMD Athlon 2.0ghz system - has Windows 2000.

I've tried installing the HDV plug-in on that computer.

The capture options show up in Ulead MediaStudio Pro 7.0's VIDEO CAPTURE program.

But I can't get Windows 2000 to recognize the JVC JY-HD10 as a JVC Tape Device.

Windows 2000 only seems to recognize the JY-HD10 as a DV camcorder.

Look like I'll have to upgrade, after all.

As I lack the budget, that won't be anytime soon.

In the meantime, I'll test using my 2.5ghz Pentium 4 notebook.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

I've done some further testing.

Actually, the capture isn't stopping at scene changes after all.

Instead, the capture stops at what I've identified as a drop-out on the Mini DV tape (brand new TDK).

When I attempt a capture past this trouble spot, the capture continues through scene changes without issue.

However, the 1.67ghz AMD Athlon doesn't appear to have sufficient power to capture the transport stream as the video that is captured exhibits slight jerkiness during playback.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[funky-d-munky]

The problem isn't in the capture, unless you are heavily fraged or doing 5400 rpm, it is in the ability of your system to play-back. Many people have reported jerkyness on 2.2+ P4's on playback. Optimize your system and increase your buffer in the media player you are using. It should improve.
Ken

[Jerry Jones]

Well - I'm not sure what more I can do for this system, which obviously does not meet the 3.0ghz Pentium 4 requirement.

My system specifications are as follows:

Asus A7N266 mainboard
NVIDIA nForce chipset
NVIDIA GeForce 2 integrated GPU
CMI8738/C3DX DirectAudio Device
ADS Pyro IEEE 1394 controller card
AMD Athlon XP2000+ (1.67ghz)
Windows XP Home Service Pack 1
1gb PC2100 DDR memory
Panasonic SW-9571 external DVD-R/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM
Panasonic LF-D321 internal DVD-R/DVD-RAM

This convinces me to wait.

I won't upgrade until processors have hit the 4ghz mark.

The fastest processors currently seem to be at the 3.4ghz mark.

When they hit 4 - I'll upgrade.

In the meantime, I'll stick to the widescreen SD mode and the plain vanilla DV mode of the JVC JY-HD10.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[funky-d-munky]

Well you can't do anything about the lack of SSE2, but you can up your FSB. All of the HDV editing products need high memory bandwidth.
I don't know if the SD mode will be any easier on your system. True the resolution drops from 720p to 480p, but your frame rate doubles to 60.
Ken

[Jerry Jones]

Well, it's been a few months.

I changed my mind and decided not to wait any longer.

I've upgraded to an AMD Athlon XP3200+ processor running on the Asus A7N8X revision 2 motherboard using PC3200 DDR 400 memory (1gb).

This seems to be sufficiently powerful to run the HDV plug-in successfully, but I need to do some more testing.

All I've done so far is capture and playback from the JVC JY-HD10.

Now the on-screen playback looks smooth and fluid.

No dropped frames during capture!

All I have to do next is send the video back to the camcorder and then play the edited material from the camcorder into a high definition monitor.

I don't yet have a high definition monitor, so I'll have to take the camcorder to a showroom and do the test there.

Based on what I'm seeing on the computer screen, however, I think the AMD Athlon XP3200+ is fast enough to handle the HDV video.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net