Viewing HDV on PC
 

Hi,

I'm back with some basic questions. I'm recording on a HDR-HC1 and downloading the footage into my PC using capDVHS. The PC has the ATI Radeon X600 Video card and the digital LCD monitor has a 1600 x 1200 resolution.

1. How do I know if the downloaded mpeg files and what I'm watching on the monitor are in the HD format? In other words, how can I be sure that I'm getting the maximum resolution offered by HD?

2. I could figure out how to view the tape on PC using VideoLan but couldn't work out how to save what I'm watching as mpeg files. Can VideoLan capture and save mpeg files or should I just stick to capDVHS.

Thanks in advance.
Dhruba

The files you're probably getting are m2t files which is the transport stream that is laid on the tape from your camera. m2t is the native format for HDV. There is such a program called HDTV2MPEG (google that) that will strip the package bits from the M2T's and make them MPEG2.

What do have in place now to edit your HDV content?

Stephen,

Thanks for the reply. What I'm downloading using CapDVHS are mpeg files and using the Properties button of the Windows Media Player, the video size is mentioned as 1440 X 1088 (I couldn't see this when I made the original post and when I was using Video Lan). I wanted to know, using the video card and monitor I now have, if what I'm watching on the PC is indeed HDV and has the maximum resolution offered by HDV.

I'll look into the HDTV2MPEG program you mention because I still haven't figured out if there's a way to save the stream as mpeg when viewing the tape via Videolan.

I'm not using any editing software because all I'm interested in is to watch the footage in slow speed and record some data from it. These are footages of bee behavior.

I've one more question. Are there players out there that can play DV tapes and transfer HDV to PCs or do you've to rely only on the camcorder? I was getting a bit worried about wearing out the camcorder since I record a lot and every recording has to be played in the camcorder in its entirety for CapDVHS to download the data.

There are some break out decks available from sony and from JVC, so you don't have to rely only on the camera. It is HDV and not transcoded on the fly.

Dhruba,

VLC can record the m2t stream.

I'd further suggest that you get the demo version of AspectHD or ConnectHD to capture/convert the m2t into CFHD avi format so any playback speed adjustments you make in an NLE will be less degrading of the original quality.

The 1440 x 1088 resolution you mention CapDVHS records for you is a size more associated with HD broadcast streams than the size I have reported on my FX-1e m2t clips (1440x1080)...

Thanks for the inputs about the decks and how to record the VLC stream. I need to look into both of these things. If you want a deck just to play the tape for transferring it into PC, which models should you go for?

Also, how do I recover the date, time info on the tape after it has been transferred into the PC?

Thanks.