Excessive aliasing in PAL recording with Z1

[Augusto Manuel]

I do most if not all of my recordings in NTSC. However, I had to shoot something for a customer from Europe and after rebooting the camera in PAL mode I noticed severe aliasing problems with the images recorded in this mode. I did the shoot in DV SP mode - 50i

I now that the 25 frames recording maybe have some of the blame. I did not have a PAL critical monitor with me but the jagginess /aliasing problem was quite evident in the LCD screen in particular with straight lines.

Perhaps some of the Z1 shooters in Europe may throw some light on this issue. Is there anything which can be done to reduce the problem? In the NTSC standard, the aliasing problem (DV mode) is much less with this camera. Any thoughts ?

[Ruslan Odintsov]

Originally Posted by Augusto Manuel

I now that the 25 frames recording maybe have some of the blame. I did not have a PAL critical monitor with me but the jagginess /aliasing problem was quite evident in the LCD screen in particular with straight lines.

The problem you see is only when viewed on the camera's LCD screen/viewfinder. The PAL recordings though are completely fine with Z1U. I have a few true PAL CRT TV's and there is no problem at all. There's also absolutely no problems visible on Panasonic PAL/SECAM/NTSC progressive plasma set.

I don't know why, but when in 60i/NTSC mode the Z1U's LCD screen appears to scan everything progressively, including the on-screen display graphics such as time code, etc.. However, if you pay attention, once you switch to 50i/PAL mode, even the on-screen graphics have a very visible flicker and a reduced resolution on built-in LCD. For the same reason you see those problems on the video portion as well. I was somewhat bummed by it too, but let me assure you that the actual recording and video output is not affected by it and is equal in "production values" as 60i/NTSC mode.

Said all that though, even if your output is DV, I'd recommend still shooting in HDV mode, it seems to have a better DV output than if you shot natively in DV mode. DV mode doesn't seem as crisp (especially in 4x3) as HDV later downconverted in-camera to DV.

[Augusto Manuel]

Thanks Ruslan. Your response to my posting is really appreciated. I was quite concerned about this. And yes, I had not seen the image on a monitor and just on the viewfinder/LCD.

About shooting in HDV mode, that was not an option because the customer does not have HDV equipment to do the conversion and the footage needed to be delivered to him right away.

Originally Posted by Ruslan Odintsov

The problem you see is only when viewed on the camera's LCD screen/viewfinder. The PAL recordings though are completely fine with Z1U. I have a few true PAL CRT TV's and there is no problem at all. There's also absolutely no problems visible on Panasonic PAL/SECAM/NTSC progressive plasma set.

I don't know why, but when in 60i/NTSC mode the Z1U's LCD screen appears to scan everything progressively, including the on-screen display graphics such as time code, etc.. However, if you pay attention, once you switch to 50i/PAL mode, even the on-screen graphics have a very visible flicker and a reduced resolution on built-in LCD. For the same reason you see those problems on the video portion as well. I was somewhat bummed by it too, but let me assure you that the actual recording and video output is not affected by it and is equal in "production values" as 60i/NTSC mode.

Said all that though, even if your output is DV, I'd recommend still shooting in HDV mode, it seems to have a better DV output than if you shot natively in DV mode. DV mode doesn't seem as crisp (especially in 4x3) as HDV later downconverted in-camera to DV.