my HV20's picture looks bad when playing on Sony VW100 1080p projector...
 

I used to play the stuff from my HV20 on my 46" Sony XBR LCD TV and loved the picture.... I recently bought a Sony Sony VPL-VW100 1080p projector. The picture on this projector is amazingly clear and bright when playing Blu-ray and DirecTV HD channels.

However, when I hook up my HV20 via HDMI to this projector, the picture is not that clear... somewhat soft... Is this because my HV20 is only 1440x1080 and not the true HD resolution of 1920x1080? That's what the custom home theater installers said when they were building my home theater. They suggest that I upgrade to a better HDV camcorder in the $2000~$3000 range.(i.e. Canon XH-A1) Will I really see better HDV picture if I upgrade my HV20 to the bulky XH-A1?

Thanks for any advice!

All HDV is 1440 x 1080i. I have seen HV20 stuff in good light shot side by side with the A1, and you can't tell difference. So my thought is the (1) you haven't got a setting right on the projector, or (2) project just doesn't do as good job scaling from the HDV material.

Other questions arise too. For instance, I am not sure how you are shooting material on you HV20. My experience with 800 x 600 DLP projector is projectors much more sensitive to failures to keep exposure within good exposure parameter. Whites blowout easier, and shadows lose detail quicker. It improves quite a lot by scoping the footage, and adjust levels in Vegas, and of course, that is what broadcasters and film producers do with their finished products.

simple test would be to convert the video to full hd, so the projector does not need to rescale and compare.

The other camcorder you mention, the XH-A1, also records in HDV, and therefore the signal on the tape is 1440X1080. On the HV20, the sensor is 1920X1080, and the signal in HDV is recorded to the tape at 1440X1080, but then output at 1920X1080. The XH-A1 would probably give a somewhat better image because of its better optics, but not because of resolution.

The HV20 should give a very good image on your projector. I connect my HV20 to a 65" rear projection DLP HDTV (1920X1080), and well lit and properly exposed and focused footage looks awesome. If your footage was shot in low light, it won't look so great. Also, I'm using an HDMI cable.

No camcorder in the price range you are mentioning shoots true 1920X1080 footage that is not highly compressed.

That's the only truth you need to know. If your gain is not 0db, your video isn't great. ;)

I borrowed my friend's XH A1. (technically, I stole it... his wife let me take it because he was out of town... :) )

I have it hooked up to my Sony VW100 projector. Again, the picture is just as soft as my al-cheapo HV20.... :( I don't get it... why would my $6000 projector look good with everything from Blu-ray, PS3 games, to D-VHS... yet looks so bad when showing HDV from HV20 and XH A1.

Strangely, I have discovered that the picture looks amazingly good from both my HV20 and his XH A1.... not the HDV videos on the tape, but from live video of the camcorders.(direct via HDMI) I have a 50-foot HDMI cable and I set the camcorders outside. It's absolutely great when I watch the live videos. When I stopped the tape and played it back, it's back to the same fuzzy/soft videos.... :( Is there some sort of compression when the live video is put down on tape as HDV files?

Something my custom installer said to me... the HDV video's resolution is 1440x1080, and the 1080p projector's native resolution is 1920x1080.... the image had to be stretched from 1440 to 1920 and that's what was casuing the loss in quality...

Thanks! :)

I don't know about the A1, but the HDMI output from the HV20 shooting live is 1920 x 1080i -- a lot of people capture directly from it using an Intensity card to get uncompressed true HD. When it plays back from tape, though, it's only HDV, i.e. 1440. It sounds like either your projector isn't doing a good job scaling up from 1440, or else it's doing an excellent job and its image is so good that you can clearly distinguish between 1440 and 1920.

Thanks! :)

I think your last statement is the answer... :) the projector is probably too clear, so every little imperfection in the picture is being magnified. :)

In the mean time, I'm going to shrink the screen size from 133-inch
down to 100-inch....(so the problem is hidden)

Dan, When you play back the tape are you using the firewire output or the
HDMI output....

They will look different.... the HDMI output either pre tape or post tape
will look better than if you use the other output of the camera...


HDMI is the best output of this cam..

You are probably recording in DV mode, playing back as DV by mistake, or your new projector doesn't have a good deinterlacer.

it sounds like you need to try purchasing and setting up the hardware & software needed to capture full 1920 X 1080 and see if that improves it.

keep in mind that all the other material you're projecting is professionally recorded and transcribed using hundreds of thousand dollars worth of equipment.

unlike most of us, it appears as though your projection & display equipment is the strongest link from media capture to display.