The quality changes when I see it on TV!
 

Hey,
My question is basically what I say in the topic. When I edit the footage it looks perfectly allright on the computer but then, when I export it to a DVD, it looks extremely different. I have tried it in several Tvs and they all give different looks. But why does it change so much? Tv settings? Is there anything I have to do when I export it? Why doesn't the quality change that much when you play a divx movie in both the computer and the DVD?

Thanks
Joan

The colour on computer monitors is by its very nature different from that on a TV. Thats why to colour correct for broadcast release or home viewing on a TV one needs to use a calibrated broadcast monitor. (or if can't afford one, at least a calibrated TV of as good a quality as possible)

Your work will still look different from TV to TV as they will have been calibrated differently (either by the manufacturer or the consumer) but that you have no control over. But the look in most cases will be closer to what you have done in your final product.

Joan,

Hope I'm not pointing out the obvious, but are you shooting and editing in HD? If so, of course that will look relatively "good," whereas standard definition DVD (and divx) are far lower resolution (and recompressed also), so that will clearly look far inferior to the original. Is that what's going on in your case, or are there more specifics here?

Hey, thanks for your replies.
I am shooting in SD at 25fps. I know what you guys mean about the TV settings but I think it goes beyond that. What I mean has to do with the colour but also with the look. Shooting 25fps allows you to get a cinema look. But when I export this very same clip to a DVD it has the look of a documentary, it looks as if it WASN'T 25fps (I don't know if I am explaining myself)
Regarding the TV monitor for color correction. Do you plug it to the computer and you use it during the editing process?
Thank you again!!!!

J.

It shouldn't be that different on the TV.

are you exporting the footage from 25f to 50f?
what's the overall bitrate on the DVD?

for top quality sd footage from the a1, shoot in HDV and down convert.

Hey, thanks again for your replies.

Eric, my answers:

1-I export it at 25fps.
2-The bitrate of the DVD is set to the maximum
3-I'm quite new with the XH-A1. Can I record HDV and downconvert while capturing or do I have to do it after all the editing process?

Thanks again

i down convert using an hv20. i shoot in hdv 24f and import it as SD 60i.
it looks wonderful.

you may want to try shooting something in hdv and downconverting using the cam. also try encoding the footage from 25f to 50f and then burning a dvd. the dvd should have a bitrate of roughly 8 mbps for decent quality.

Thanks a lot Eric! Your comments are very useful.
Which editing software do you use?
Due to the limitations of my laptop I am using Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0.
Can I start a new project shot in HDV and capture it as SD? Do I have to personalize the settings in APP?

It may sound silly but I am a little bit lost.

I use Sony Vegas.

You can cap SD from your HDV source footage right from the A1. Use the search options here to find out more about that. If you have the budget, buy an HV20 to use as a second cam and deck.

I also find a difference between viewing on computer monitor and viewing on TV screen. The picture being darker and the colours more vibrant on the TV. I just assumed it had something to do with the difference between LCD/TFT and CRT.
If I'm making something that will be viewed on the telly i usually make everything just the way I want it then apply the "ComputerRGB to StudioRGB" filter in Vegas.
But that's just me.