TRV950 -- various questions

Vasily Kopyl · April 9th, 2004, 04:05 PM

Hello,

I am about to buy a TRV950 from B&H. Just noticed they also offer TRV940E for extra $100 with 90-Day B&H warranty.
So, my question: is there any point to prefer PAL camcorder over the NTSC one? I mostly care about the video quality. Have anybody noticed any difference in perception because of some extra lines and/or different frame rate?

I live in USA and in Russia, so any format is acceptable for me. However I've been using TRV30 NTSC for two years. Collected about 30 tapes of archived videos.

So I am thinking if it makes sense to switch to another standard for higher video quality...

Thanks All.
vk

Frank Granovski · April 9th, 2004, 04:37 PM

Welcome to dvinfo, Vasily! Isn't the TRV940 the TRV950 but without the bluetooth? Where do you do most of your shooting (Russia or USA, indoor or outdoor)? What is the footage for? Where does most of your footage go?

Vasily Kopyl · April 9th, 2004, 04:58 PM

Thanks!

Maybe you are right about the Bluetooth. I was never paying any attention to this feature and I missed it again. For me bluetooth is not important at all. Am I correct when I assume that 950 and 940E are the same models (excluding bluetooth) except one is for NTSC and another is for PAL.

I am an amateur videographer :) All the footage I make for myself and my friends, nothing for sale.
Most of my shootings I do outdoor in America, but who knows, might be very soon I will be taping indoor in Russia
:)

Thanks
vk

Frank Granovski · April 9th, 2004, 05:17 PM

It's just that using a PAL cam in the USA will cause flickering with some indoor lighting. Bluetooth is pretty much useless on cams. Do you convert your NTSC footage for your friends? Via a multi-system converting VCR?

Vasily Kopyl · April 9th, 2004, 05:35 PM

Oh, right! Good to know. Is that because the electricity supply in the USA has 60 Hz while the PAL makes 50 fields per sec?

About converting... When I have to make a VHS cassette, yes, you are right, I am using Samsung SV-5000W for that. However it happens not that often. Usually I make DVD disks. Fortunately in Russia all DVD players can play NTSC disks on PAL TV sets.
Sometimes I make DivX files for viewing on a computer.

Frank Granovski · April 9th, 2004, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Is that because the electricity supply in the USA has 60 Hz while the PAL makes 50 fields per sec

Yes. But it also depends on the kind of lighting. Only some kinds of lighting gives me problems with my PAL cam.

Vasily Kopyl · April 11th, 2004, 01:08 PM

Frank,
so you are using a PAL camcorder in the USA. Any regrets, some other dissatisfactions?

Frank Granovski · April 11th, 2004, 02:30 PM

I'm not using a PAL cam in the USA. I live in Canada. Using PAL in Canada---which is also NTSC.

For me there are no "regrets...dissatisfactions" because I was aware of the limitations before I bought PAL. All my shooting isn't PAL though. Most of it is NTSC these days.

Yik Kuen · April 24th, 2004, 08:22 PM

Vasily,

If your country's TV system is PAL, then I strongly suggest that you get a PAL cam.

It's quite troublesome to convert from one system to another.

Also, please take note that most Sony consumer models use an "E" to indicate PAL system.

Usually, PAL cams are slightly more expensive than NTSC (no idea why).

There are 950 and 950E, 940 and 940E.

950s = Bluetooth + browser + stylus.

Since Bluetooth is becoming more popular now, and, more and more mobile phones are equiped with Bluetooth and GPRS, it may be useful in some situation.

I remember I once used my 950E to take some stills and sent them back via Bluetooth+mobile GPRS to my boss when I was abroad sourcing for some equipments. It's indeed useful.

Dennis Kane · April 27th, 2004, 01:16 PM

I am a little confused, does the DCR TRV950 also record in the 16:9 mode or is this only a feature of the DSR PDX10 ? If the TRV 950 does record 16:9 is the quality the same.
Thank you

Dustin Waits · April 27th, 2004, 01:43 PM

It has a 16:9 mode but it is not a true 16:9 so there is quality loss in the picture. The pdx10 will shoot true 16:9 though.

John Jay · April 27th, 2004, 03:12 PM

the 950 has an excellent 16:9 mode

http://www4.big.or.jp/~a_haru/SO/TRV...ide/resoDV.jpg

Ignacio Rodriguez · April 27th, 2004, 09:38 PM

I think the 950's 16:9 mode, even though it does not use a wider portion of the CCD than 4:3 mode like the PDX10 does, still uses enough pixels to produce an image better (resolutionwise) than that of native DV resolution cameras like the PD170. You will get a slightly sharper, slightly cleaner (less noise) picture from a PDX10 in comparison to a '950 thanks to it using a larger surface of the CCD (more pixels). Also it seems the 950 does not include the same 14-bit image processing hardware as the PDX10, so there could also be better color fidelity with the latter. This is all theory, though. I have operated and read about the '950 but I don't have one and have never tried it side by side with my PDX10. Would be great for somebody who actually owns both to compare and post pictures... anybody?

Boyd Ostroff · April 28th, 2004, 07:55 AM

Have you seen the photos and info at this site?

Dustin Waits · April 28th, 2004, 08:13 AM

Wow Boyd. Thats pretty interesting. All this time I thought there would be a significant loss in resolution when using 16:9 on the TRV950. Guess I was wrong.

April 9th, 2004, 04:05 PM	#121
Vasily Kopyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: USA Posts: 5	TRV950 or TRV940E Hello, I am about to buy a TRV950 from B&H. Just noticed they also offer TRV940E for extra $100 with 90-Day B&H warranty. So, my question: is there any point to prefer PAL camcorder over the NTSC one? I mostly care about the video quality. Have anybody noticed any difference in perception because of some extra lines and/or different frame rate? I live in USA and in Russia, so any format is acceptable for me. However I've been using TRV30 NTSC for two years. Collected about 30 tapes of archived videos. So I am thinking if it makes sense to switch to another standard for higher video quality... Thanks All. vk

April 27th, 2004, 01:16 PM	#130
Dennis Kane Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: san francisco, ca Posts: 106	DCR TRV950 in 16:9 mode I am a little confused, does the DCR TRV950 also record in the 16:9 mode or is this only a feature of the DSR PDX10 ? If the TRV 950 does record 16:9 is the quality the same. Thank you

April 27th, 2004, 03:12 PM	#132
John Jay Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: US & THEM Posts: 827	the 950 has an excellent 16:9 mode http://www4.big.or.jp/~a_haru/SO/TRV...ide/resoDV.jpg __________________ John Jay Beware *PLUGGER-BYTES*

April 27th, 2004, 09:38 PM	#133
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	I think the 950's 16:9 mode, even though it does not use a wider portion of the CCD than 4:3 mode like the PDX10 does, still uses enough pixels to produce an image better (resolutionwise) than that of native DV resolution cameras like the PD170. You will get a slightly sharper, slightly cleaner (less noise) picture from a PDX10 in comparison to a '950 thanks to it using a larger surface of the CCD (more pixels). Also it seems the 950 does not include the same 14-bit image processing hardware as the PDX10, so there could also be better color fidelity with the latter. This is all theory, though. I have operated and read about the '950 but I don't have one and have never tried it side by side with my PDX10. Would be great for somebody who actually owns both to compare and post pictures... anybody? __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.

April 9th, 2004, 04:37 PM	#122
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	Welcome to dvinfo, Vasily! Isn't the TRV940 the TRV950 but without the bluetooth? Where do you do most of your shooting (Russia or USA, indoor or outdoor)? What is the footage for? Where does most of your footage go?

April 9th, 2004, 04:58 PM	#123
Vasily Kopyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: USA Posts: 5	Thanks! Maybe you are right about the Bluetooth. I was never paying any attention to this feature and I missed it again. For me bluetooth is not important at all. Am I correct when I assume that 950 and 940E are the same models (excluding bluetooth) except one is for NTSC and another is for PAL. I am an amateur videographer :) All the footage I make for myself and my friends, nothing for sale. Most of my shootings I do outdoor in America, but who knows, might be very soon I will be taping indoor in Russia :) Thanks vk

April 9th, 2004, 05:17 PM	#124
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	It's just that using a PAL cam in the USA will cause flickering with some indoor lighting. Bluetooth is pretty much useless on cams. Do you convert your NTSC footage for your friends? Via a multi-system converting VCR?

April 9th, 2004, 05:35 PM	#125
Vasily Kopyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: USA Posts: 5	Oh, right! Good to know. Is that because the electricity supply in the USA has 60 Hz while the PAL makes 50 fields per sec? About converting... When I have to make a VHS cassette, yes, you are right, I am using Samsung SV-5000W for that. However it happens not that often. Usually I make DVD disks. Fortunately in Russia all DVD players can play NTSC disks on PAL TV sets. Sometimes I make DivX files for viewing on a computer.

April 11th, 2004, 01:08 PM	#127
Vasily Kopyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: USA Posts: 5	Frank, so you are using a PAL camcorder in the USA. Any regrets, some other dissatisfactions?

April 11th, 2004, 02:30 PM	#128
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	I'm not using a PAL cam in the USA. I live in Canada. Using PAL in Canada---which is also NTSC. For me there are no "regrets...dissatisfactions" because I was aware of the limitations before I bought PAL. All my shooting isn't PAL though. Most of it is NTSC these days.

April 24th, 2004, 08:22 PM	#129
Yik Kuen Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Johor Bahru, Malaysia Posts: 135	Vasily, If your country's TV system is PAL, then I strongly suggest that you get a PAL cam. It's quite troublesome to convert from one system to another. Also, please take note that most Sony consumer models use an "E" to indicate PAL system. Usually, PAL cams are slightly more expensive than NTSC (no idea why). There are 950 and 950E, 940 and 940E. 950s = Bluetooth + browser + stylus. Since Bluetooth is becoming more popular now, and, more and more mobile phones are equiped with Bluetooth and GPRS, it may be useful in some situation. I remember I once used my 950E to take some stills and sent them back via Bluetooth+mobile GPRS to my boss when I was abroad sourcing for some equipments. It's indeed useful.

April 27th, 2004, 01:43 PM	#131
Dustin Waits Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ft. Myers Beach, Fl Posts: 243	It has a 16:9 mode but it is not a true 16:9 so there is quality loss in the picture. The pdx10 will shoot true 16:9 though.

April 28th, 2004, 07:55 AM	#134
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	Have you seen the photos and info at this site?

April 28th, 2004, 08:13 AM	#135
Dustin Waits Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ft. Myers Beach, Fl Posts: 243	Wow Boyd. Thats pretty interesting. All this time I thought there would be a significant loss in resolution when using 16:9 on the TRV950. Guess I was wrong.