HV-10 downconvert question at DVinfo.net

Bill Busby · February 2nd, 2007, 02:35 AM

Unless I'm a total dummy & doing something wrong... can someone tell me how to downconvert & get the proper aspect ratio result for 4:3? I would assume it would work the same way as the A1, but all I get is a vertical stretch on my SD monitor. TV TYPE is set to 4:3 but no difference.

At this point I'm wondering if this unit is defective in this regard or just doesn't have this feature, which would be fairly ridiculous & useless in my opinion.

Any advice is appreciated.

Bill

Chris Hurd · February 2nd, 2007, 06:55 AM

What type of connection are you using... component video, or stereo AV?

TV monitor... age, make and model?

Bill Busby · February 2nd, 2007, 11:42 AM

So far I've only tried going firewire out of the HV-10 into a DSR-11 & y/c out of that into a prehistoric Sony PVM-1350 monitor.

I assume at this point it would behave the same way (with the vertical stretch) if I was trying to capture into Avid, but only tried the above connections just for a quick test view. The A1 works as it should in this regard & I'd hate to think that buying the HV-10 to use for deck purposes to save wear & tear on the A1 is going to force me to resize in post to get proper aspect ratio as the only alternative. OR going D/A conversion from composite out just for this.

TIA for any advice.
Bill

Bill Busby · February 2nd, 2007, 01:14 PM

Well, I just figured out something peculiar. The only way to get proper aspect ratio for 4:3 letterbox when downconverting using firewire out is to have the A/V out cable inserted in the HV-10 simultaneously! In fact, I just had an idea while writing this & it's not even the A/V cable that needs to be connected... all it needs is a mini plug. I just tried it with a right angle mini adapter I had for headphone use! Disconnect the adapter or A/V cable or any mini plug & it reverts back to vertical stretch... reconnect & it goes back to letterbox. Go figure.

Really goofy design & can't imagine what they were thinking, but it works.

I searched high & low on the forum here & seems no one that uses this as a deck for capturing mentions this.

Anyway, problem solved... even though strange as it seems :)

Bill

Colin Gould · February 2nd, 2007, 05:26 PM

I don't think they modeled the firewire for display output, but for capture.
The firewire outputs what was recorded on tape, and that can be 16:9 HDV, 16:9 SD(DV), or 4:3SD(DV). That's it. The downconvert over firewire just changes to DV format; it retains everything else including shot timestamp metadata, so it makes sense to retain the aspect ratio as well (since it will record 16:9 native DV, it just changes HDV to 16:9 DV.)

To change aspect ratio etc in firewire (capture), you'd normally have to use your NLE editor.

The display aspect/TV mode settings are for the connected video outs (components/RCA etc).
It's very interesting you seem to have found a feature that connecting video out (with tv mode set), will change the aspect on firewire too? sounds like a neat feature to me :) (since you might want to hook up for quick display via A/V port, and set TV mode for that, but capture as native aspect for other editing...)

But

Bill Busby · February 2nd, 2007, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin Gould

sounds like a neat feature to me :) (since you might want to hook up for quick display via A/V port, and set TV mode for that, but capture as native aspect for other editing...)

Yep & it would have neat if they had this info in the manual as well :)

There's worse things in life... & I'm over it now :D

Bill

February 2nd, 2007, 02:35 AM	#1
Bill Busby Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 959	HV-10 downconvert question Unless I'm a total dummy & doing something wrong... can someone tell me how to downconvert & get the proper aspect ratio result for 4:3? I would assume it would work the same way as the A1, but all I get is a vertical stretch on my SD monitor. TV TYPE is set to 4:3 but no difference. At this point I'm wondering if this unit is defective in this regard or just doesn't have this feature, which would be fairly ridiculous & useless in my opinion. Any advice is appreciated. Bill

February 2nd, 2007, 06:55 AM	#2
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	What type of connection are you using... component video, or stereo AV? TV monitor... age, make and model? __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

February 2nd, 2007, 11:42 AM	#3
Bill Busby Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 959	So far I've only tried going firewire out of the HV-10 into a DSR-11 & y/c out of that into a prehistoric Sony PVM-1350 monitor. I assume at this point it would behave the same way (with the vertical stretch) if I was trying to capture into Avid, but only tried the above connections just for a quick test view. The A1 works as it should in this regard & I'd hate to think that buying the HV-10 to use for deck purposes to save wear & tear on the A1 is going to force me to resize in post to get proper aspect ratio as the only alternative. OR going D/A conversion from composite out just for this. TIA for any advice. Bill

February 2nd, 2007, 01:14 PM	#4
Bill Busby Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 959	Well, I just figured out something peculiar. The only way to get proper aspect ratio for 4:3 letterbox when downconverting using firewire out is to have the A/V out cable inserted in the HV-10 simultaneously! In fact, I just had an idea while writing this & it's not even the A/V cable that needs to be connected... all it needs is a mini plug. I just tried it with a right angle mini adapter I had for headphone use! Disconnect the adapter or A/V cable or any mini plug & it reverts back to vertical stretch... reconnect & it goes back to letterbox. Go figure. Really goofy design & can't imagine what they were thinking, but it works. I searched high & low on the forum here & seems no one that uses this as a deck for capturing mentions this. Anyway, problem solved... even though strange as it seems :) Bill

February 2nd, 2007, 05:26 PM	#5
Colin Gould Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Foster City, CA Posts: 123	I don't think they modeled the firewire for display output, but for capture. The firewire outputs what was recorded on tape, and that can be 16:9 HDV, 16:9 SD(DV), or 4:3SD(DV). That's it. The downconvert over firewire just changes to DV format; it retains everything else including shot timestamp metadata, so it makes sense to retain the aspect ratio as well (since it will record 16:9 native DV, it just changes HDV to 16:9 DV.) To change aspect ratio etc in firewire (capture), you'd normally have to use your NLE editor. The display aspect/TV mode settings are for the connected video outs (components/RCA etc). It's very interesting you seem to have found a feature that connecting video out (with tv mode set), will change the aspect on firewire too? sounds like a neat feature to me :) (since you might want to hook up for quick display via A/V port, and set TV mode for that, but capture as native aspect for other editing...) But