new to avchd maybe stupid question
 

If shooting modes MXP (24) and FXP (17) shooting modes both produce resolutions of 1920x1080. What is the real advantage of MXP vs FXP. ????

Is the XP shooting mode producing 1440x1080 resolution similar or comparable to the HDV standard of the MiniDV cassette tape. ???

This may sound stupid but I'm trying to make the jump to AVCHD from many years of Tape recording !!!!

Thanks,
Luis

new to avchd maybe stupid question
 

Well like I said, it maybe stupid question, but I need HELP!!!!!!
Thanks
Luis

Bitrate is the answer to the first part of the question - more points (bits) of data per second, which in theory will provide more "detail" to the datastream.

Notice that "theory" and practice may vary... some would say that "more is always better" and that's true on paper, but implementation may or may not yeild "better" results, and more data means more numbers to crunch which may adversely effect overall performance.

Supposedly AVCHD is "better" than HDV at a given bitrate, but it's only ONE variable in a huge pile of variables, so I'm not sure how to answer the second part of your question - I know my second generation AVCHD cameras look "better" than my comparable "last generation" HDV cameras (compare an SR11 to a HC9), but the HDV is easier to edit because of the difference in compression schemes.

From a practical standpoint, plan on getting a fast computer for editing and make the jump, using the highest quality setting gets you the best results... I just set to those and don't worry about the "lower" settings.

I think you'll find that the difference is just bit rate - there is an article here

Canon VIXIA HF11 Comparison Video by Chris Hurd and Austin Meyers

which details some of the differences between the two rates.

I have read somewhere (probably on a forum -I can't remember where!) that athough the higher bit rate sounds like a better idea, you need a seriously powerful machine to cope with it reliably!

The difference between 1920 and 1440 is pixel size. Both 1920 x1080 and 1280 x 720 formats use square pixels - 1440 x 1080 uses a pixel ratio of 1.33 to 1.

new to avchd maybe stupid question
 

Thank You, Dave and Roger.
Since all I have done is tape with HV-20, I have not had the opportunity to compare, quality wise the output of tape, vs AVCHD. For some reason I thought that recording in Xp (1440x1080) would equal the output of the HV-20, quality wise.

I will be making the jump to the AVCHD format, when the new, about to be released HF-S10 comes out.

As far as computer power I don't know but I have a MacPro, 2.66 DualCore Intel with 2Gigs of ram and 1.5 TB of free space, using FCE and/or Imovie 9. Will this do?

Thanks for your help and link,

Luis