MiniDV or MiniDV Pro?
 

Hi all, shooting lots of video with the new HD1. Learning lots, love the quality of the video on the JVC D-ILA and have a question.

I'm looking to buy more MiniDV tape and see JVC has a "Pro" line of tape.
From your view point, is there a big enough quality gain in going this route?

Isn't the quality really a function of how something is shot, and how the mpeg compression functions, and not the quality of the tape?

Pretty soon I'll start tackling DVD creation... lots more questions then.

Alan

Alan,

It's digital, so tape has nothing to do with quality. If you're not getting occasional blockiness or picture freezing, things should be OK. I remember in my earlier DV days having a tape with a bad spot where things locked up dropped out for a moment, but that hasn't happened often! I have used standard JVC or Panasonic tape, and have had very few problems. The question is, how much better will more expensive tape be?

Even LP mode doesn't look any worse than SP - there is just a better chance you'll see dropouts from marginal tape.

David, thanks... that makes sense. I had wondered about LP mode and should try it out to see if anything goes askew...

Enjoy!

Alan

Alan,

LP mode might work OK in the camera that shot it, but not in other cameras or decks. The tracks are so narrow that interchange IS a problem. If I remember right LP track width is about one tenth the diameter of a human hair.