FX1 & Z1U in Low Light

Steven Gotz · February 18th, 2005, 05:24 PM

Thanks. At 1280X720 and 8Mbps, I have seen good results with underwater video. Give it a try. I would love to see it through my Linkplayer on a 60" Sony HDTV.

Oh, please use the regular WM9 audio codec, and not the Pro. The Linkplayer needs an update it hasn't received yet. 128K at 48KHz should do the trick as well.

Bobby Arnold · February 18th, 2005, 06:13 PM

It would be interesting to see, or at least hear about the comparison between the two on the LinkPlayer. I'm still waiting for the DVI version of the LinkPlayer to be released. Have you tried to play the m2t file on the LinkPlayer? I know at least for the Roku player you have to rename the m2t files to *.ts, but the results on a Plasma HDTV are quite nice.

Tom Roper · February 19th, 2005, 02:28 AM

I haven't gotten m2t to play on the LinkPlayer2, but I can strip away the TS container with Womble Mpeg Video Wizard, losslessly converting m2t to 1280x720p30 mpeg2 program stream without re-encoding. That plays perfectly on the LinkPlayer2, even from a burned DVD disk. You can do the same thing with VLC, and it's free.

My opinion about WMV9 at 9.2 mb/s is that it's virtually indistinguishable from the native mpeg2 stream, if you encode at the slowest speed, which takes forever, i.e. highest quality encoder setting + 10 bit with error checking.

A 30 minute video could easily take 7+ hours to encode to WMV9 on a P4 3.0GHz.
The temptation is to use a speedier encoding stategy, but at the cost of quality.

Since most people are probably as unlikely to be able to play WMV9 as mpeg2 or TS from a disk, I just do what's best for me, which is to losslessly transcode the m2t to mpeg2 program stream, where I can fit up to about 30 minutes onto a DVD disk for playback on the LinkPlayer2. If it's any longer though, I have to use the WMV9 encoder to keep the same quality while fitting more content onto a single layer DVD disk.

Bobby Arnold · February 19th, 2005, 03:33 AM

Here is a link to the WMV9 encode, given the specs Steven requested (8Mbps WMV9 and 128k48KHz WMA9). The encode took about 15 minutes, on a dual Xeon 3.06Ghz. Tom, I'll give the encode you mentioned a try. I'm actually happy with the encode I got here with 8Mbps. I think my previous encodes had been at the default 5Mbps, and definately showed quality loss. Please let me know what you think playing the file with the LinkPlayer.

http://s34.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...U1QDX8FRMRIQFI

Steven Gotz · February 19th, 2005, 07:39 PM

Looked great. Very nice.

I feel that I must mention that viewing it on a 60 inch Sony LCD HDTV enabled me to see that the focus was not always perfectly sharp. Usually, but not always.

No criticism intended. I have no idea how you guess take such great footage underwater. But it really is much more apparent on a large screen.

All in all the WM9 stands up very well. I compared it to a copy of The Living Seas that I keep on my DVR for comparison purposes. It certainly held it's own. As good as real HD? No. Noticeable when not comparing directly? No.

Bobby Arnold · February 19th, 2005, 11:21 PM

Steven, thanks for the feedback. Now, if I can just get a housing for a 60" DLP :) I did notice on my footage from my first outing with the HD10U, and I'm guessing this will be the case for FX1/Z1 as well, focus is much more complex with HDV over DV. I know that Gates offers a 4.5" lcd now, which I would recommend to anyone shooting U/W HDV.

I'm interested to see the differences between 1920x1080i (even if anamorphic in Sony's current incarnation) and the JVC HDV. While we definately aren't going to get the same results as IMAX rez'd down to 1080i (ala Living Seas, Coral Reef etc) I definately see a lot of promise for HDV in the underwater world.

February 18th, 2005, 05:24 PM	#31
Steven Gotz Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Clermont, FL Posts: 1,520	Thanks. At 1280X720 and 8Mbps, I have seen good results with underwater video. Give it a try. I would love to see it through my Linkplayer on a 60" Sony HDTV. Oh, please use the regular WM9 audio codec, and not the Pro. The Linkplayer needs an update it hasn't received yet. 128K at 48KHz should do the trick as well. __________________ Steven Gotz http://www.stevengotz.com

February 19th, 2005, 07:39 PM	#35
Steven Gotz Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Clermont, FL Posts: 1,520	Looked great. Very nice. I feel that I must mention that viewing it on a 60 inch Sony LCD HDTV enabled me to see that the focus was not always perfectly sharp. Usually, but not always. No criticism intended. I have no idea how you guess take such great footage underwater. But it really is much more apparent on a large screen. All in all the WM9 stands up very well. I compared it to a copy of The Living Seas that I keep on my DVR for comparison purposes. It certainly held it's own. As good as real HD? No. Noticeable when not comparing directly? No. __________________ Steven Gotz http://www.stevengotz.com

February 18th, 2005, 06:13 PM	#32
Bobby Arnold Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Laguna Beach, California Posts: 52	It would be interesting to see, or at least hear about the comparison between the two on the LinkPlayer. I'm still waiting for the DVI version of the LinkPlayer to be released. Have you tried to play the m2t file on the LinkPlayer? I know at least for the Roku player you have to rename the m2t files to *.ts, but the results on a Plasma HDTV are quite nice.

February 19th, 2005, 02:28 AM	#33
Tom Roper Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 1,891	I haven't gotten m2t to play on the LinkPlayer2, but I can strip away the TS container with Womble Mpeg Video Wizard, losslessly converting m2t to 1280x720p30 mpeg2 program stream without re-encoding. That plays perfectly on the LinkPlayer2, even from a burned DVD disk. You can do the same thing with VLC, and it's free. My opinion about WMV9 at 9.2 mb/s is that it's virtually indistinguishable from the native mpeg2 stream, if you encode at the slowest speed, which takes forever, i.e. highest quality encoder setting + 10 bit with error checking. A 30 minute video could easily take 7+ hours to encode to WMV9 on a P4 3.0GHz. The temptation is to use a speedier encoding stategy, but at the cost of quality. Since most people are probably as unlikely to be able to play WMV9 as mpeg2 or TS from a disk, I just do what's best for me, which is to losslessly transcode the m2t to mpeg2 program stream, where I can fit up to about 30 minutes onto a DVD disk for playback on the LinkPlayer2. If it's any longer though, I have to use the WMV9 encoder to keep the same quality while fitting more content onto a single layer DVD disk.

February 19th, 2005, 03:33 AM	#34
Bobby Arnold Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Laguna Beach, California Posts: 52	Here is a link to the WMV9 encode, given the specs Steven requested (8Mbps WMV9 and 128k48KHz WMA9). The encode took about 15 minutes, on a dual Xeon 3.06Ghz. Tom, I'll give the encode you mentioned a try. I'm actually happy with the encode I got here with 8Mbps. I think my previous encodes had been at the default 5Mbps, and definately showed quality loss. Please let me know what you think playing the file with the LinkPlayer. http://s34.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...U1QDX8FRMRIQFI

February 19th, 2005, 11:21 PM	#36
Bobby Arnold Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Laguna Beach, California Posts: 52	Steven, thanks for the feedback. Now, if I can just get a housing for a 60" DLP :) I did notice on my footage from my first outing with the HD10U, and I'm guessing this will be the case for FX1/Z1 as well, focus is much more complex with HDV over DV. I know that Gates offers a 4.5" lcd now, which I would recommend to anyone shooting U/W HDV. I'm interested to see the differences between 1920x1080i (even if anamorphic in Sony's current incarnation) and the JVC HDV. While we definately aren't going to get the same results as IMAX rez'd down to 1080i (ala Living Seas, Coral Reef etc) I definately see a lot of promise for HDV in the underwater world.