Does downgraded SD from HD have better Resolution than Sony SP Analog Camera?
 

Hi there,

This question is from my colleague and cameraman Carl who will be shooting a TVC to be broadcast by our only national TV Station (that only broadcasts SD).

The question is: "Would shooting on our XLH1 and downgrading to SD provide superior resolution to that of the Sony SP analog camera that the station uses to shoot their own TVCs?"

Thanks in advance to anyone that can offer some help on this one!

No matter what people make of the comparison with a Sony SP...there are no doubts in my mind that well-shot footage taken with either an XL2 or an XL-H1 (downgraded to SD) will be more than enough quality for PNG TV.

I've made several documentaries intercutting footage from SP, the XL2 and the H1 (admittedly, these are 16x9 projects which required enlargement of the SP image to fill the screen) and numerous national and regional commercials in both (although not mixed).

SP is very robust and, for analog, pretty good at holding it's own through multiple generations - it was, after all, considered state-of-the-art for over a decade on linear edit systems.. But it looks exactly like video - no surprise because it IS the video that we've all come to know and hate...

I think if you keep the (well shot) down-converted footage shot on the H1 as close to the original as possible (ie, don't let the DV follow the SP material through too many analog generations - like multiple air dubs for instance) that it will look as good, and maybe even better, but probably won't intercut in the same scene... Also, test yourself whether it's better to downconvert from the deck/camera or do it in the timeline - there are many opinions about that, I prefer down-converting from the deck...

The BIG difference is when you add fonts and/or graphics... Of course, I don't know what you're editing on, but text doesn't hold up as well in a DV timleline, so do all this work in the SP generation...