So what does the 1080i feature in the Video Format do? Is that for shooting live video?

Exactly. For those of us who bought our camera in the last 3 months, this is a courtesy service.

The response I have from JVC (published earlier in this topic) also supports that this is more than firmware. If it were only firmware, there would be no reason to withhold it from all 200 series users.

I suspect there is a relatively minor parts upgrade - maybe a chip exchange or something. They are willing to do this work for the recent purchasers to save dissatisfaction with their purchase, but it would be challenging to deal with all the 200's sold. Probably dealing with this group of previous owners has to be strategized. If it can be done for a reasonably priced, fast turnaround upgrade I'll want it, since I deal with producers needing specific formats frequently. Having the "current" model will be attractive to many of us of course.

Glen - I think it's pretty clearly described. You get 1080i HDV through FW so you can record live to a DR-HD100 (or the new flash beast). Not to tape. This format would be compatible with Sony HDV footage projects, and also native for many HD cable stations.

Well, the website lists the upgrade as a hardware enhancement. So much for a simple download fix.
I called JVC and they couldn't tell me why my HD200 purchased prior to 2/1/08 can't be modified. They only stated that my camera wasn't eligible. Very frustrating. I mean, what's the freakin' difference between a camera ordered on January 31st and one on February 1st???
I have a call in to the area sales rep and my local rep. Maybe they can provide answers.

Patience, Glen. JVC is considering how to best respond to the legacy owners. As I posted before, it's been clear for awhile that there is a modification required. It remains to be seen whether this will be practical for legacy owners, but clearly it's more of an issue for JVC to appease recent purchasers, as is common throughout the tech industries.
I suspect it may become available for a price, which even if high, would settle most of us down into a more practical analysis of how much the feature is worth to us rather than merely wanting the latest and greatest because it's there.

There was a JVC demo here in Jacksonville, FL. I wasn't able to attend, but the salesperson I bought my HD200 from asked the JVC engineers if it was possible to upgrade an earlier 200 to output 1080i to a Firestore. He was told NO, the cameras CANNOT be modified. The engineer was telling him why, but they were interrupted, so he never got a satisfactory explanation.

Well, there you have it.

My GY-HD251 left today for the modification.
Will report my findings when camera is back.

Thanks.

Johnnie

Cannot because of current company policy, as stated here a month ago. It isn't PHYSICALLY impossible.
Mu suspicion is that the cost would be extremely high, charged at normal service rates. There would be a custom small-order chipset and parts, and hours of work at $150 each. So it could easily be a $2000 or more modification with a lower priority turnaround. (replacing a blown firewire costs $2000). Offering the mod at a high price might get even more complaints. So it's likely simply not financially practical.

I'm interested to hear reports about the 1080i cameras - new or modded, and how this footage matches with Sony 1080i native cams. I suspect that that it looks great in comparison (but I'd still keep a progressive workflow if it's under my wing).

Perhaps foolish question
 

But can it record to tape and hard drive at the same time? Perhaps 720 to each in case there is a failure? And, this would be dreamy, could it perhaps record 1080i to the hard drive while simultaneously recording 720 24p to the tape?

Thank you for your input.

Regular modes can be recorded to both tape and drive at the same time of course - it's a preferred workflow for many of us as the tape is an efficient backup of our raw camera master.
It's an interesting prospect to go 720p to tape and 1080i to drive. This would mean that the 1080i encoding was done simultaneously with a different chipset, and chose in the firewire output menu.

I doubt the direct 1080i output is better quality than transcoding from 720p, but it sure will be a lot faster and less resource intensive!

Ok, thank you for the clarification. This means that in order to use the tape as a backup, I need to record in 720 to both the tape and the hard drive?

Modification update.

Save your time and nerve...
Don't send your camera for an update unless it is the GY-HD200 and the Serial Number have the addendum “A” on the end.


GY-HD251 is back home without being updated, or as JVC wrote me:

"JVC has stated that those customers who purchased a GY-HD200 since February 1, 2008 will be eligible for an upgrade. All others owners will apparently have to make do with 720p or purchase replacement camcorders"

Johnnie- where did your info come from in regards to the "A" designation in the SN ?
my 200 actually qualifies for the update but there isn't an "A" at the end of the SN.

Hi John,

The info is from my dealer who got it from JVC...

The all thing is anway not clear to me. If you look at JVC pro site, all upgrades are only for the GY-200, and not to the GY-250/1 which was meant to be a bit of a higher spec model in terms of connectivity.

Thanks.

Johnnie

Undecided
 

I want to buy 2 of the JVC HD 200s to replace my JVC GY-X2Bs but with all the conversations about settings and what it takes to use this camera, it is really scaring me to death. I am a special event videographer and I was wondering if there was a setting for dummies to use until I can learn this camera. Or is this camera not for me.

Hi Earl
There is a setting called LIVE HD60P that works well for that until you get comfortable with some of the other settings.

1080 > 1394... How exactly?
 

After sending my camera to JVC for the upgrade... and being told the upgrade WAS performed.. How exactly does one activate this capability? I have worked with attempting to get this going, but not go.

And, seeing as it has been asked but never answered... has anyone actually gotten this upgrade and how does the 1080 look?