Tag: hd

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Panasonic HDC-HS20 Camcorder Raw AVCHD Sample

Panasonic HDC-HS20 – Retail Price $749.95
Panasonic HDC-HS20 is priced as low as $609.95 at Amazon.com (July 15th, 2009).
Panasonic HDC-HS20 is priced as low as $618.06 at Buy.com (July 14th, 2009).

Check out the sample video from Panasonic HDC-HS20 below.

panasonic_hdc_hs20

ISO of the raw AVCHD files is also available here.

Panasonic HDC-HS20 features:

  • 1920×1080 HD video recording
  • 80GB HDD & SD Card Hybrid
  • 16x Optical Zoom with O.I.S.
  • LEICA DICOMAR Lens
  • iA Mode with AF Tracking & Touch Screen

I do not like Hard Drive based camcorders for personal reasons. The Hard Drive capacity is getting bigger and bigger; I am having hard time archiving the raw AVCHD files. Panasonic HDC-HS20 also uses SDHC card as recording media. I’d get Panasonic HDC-SD20 instead of Panasonic HDC-HS20, but that’s just me. Having to own and use numbers of Panasonic and Canon AVCHD Camcorders, I’d now go with Canon Vixia HV40 HDV and Canon Vixia HFS100. The 1/6-inch MOS image sensor is a bit small to produce crisp and vibrant video. Compared to Canon Vixia HFS100 and Sony HDR-XR520V, Panasonic HDC-HS20 is way outclassed. But considering the price, it is a much better choice for those who are looking for an HD camcorder at a lower price.

panasonic_hdc-hs20_1

panasonic_hdc-hs20_2

panasonic_hdc-hs20_3

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Disclaimer:

If you bought anything through Amazon link above, and I get some kickbacks.

“If you buy Panasonic HDC-HS20, I can buy this Canon Vixia HV40 HDV Camcorder” to paraphrase the great Robert Schimmel.

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South Park Season 13 Premieres March 11th, 2009.

South Park Season 13 is set to premiere on Wednesday March 11th, 2009 in High-Definition (wherever available).

As usual, new episode will be available for streaming the same day it premieres at South Park Studios. The episode will be made available on Amazon, iTunes Store and Xbox Marketplace days after it premieres.

Please check back for more info on South Park Season 13 Premiere Episode. We’re expecting some info on late Saturday night or Sunday.

p.s.

South Park Season 12 DVD and Blu-Ray will be released on March 10th, 2009. YOU WILL BUY IT!

soutpark_season12

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Canon Unveils New Camcorder Line-Up

Canon announces numbers of High-Definition and Standard-Definition camcorders today (read Press Release).

New HD Vixia Line-Up:

  • Canon VIXIA HF S10 and VIXIA HF S100 Flash Memory Camcorders
  • Canon VIXIA HF20 and VIXIA HF200 Flash Memory Camcorders
  • Canon VIXIA HV40 HDV Camcorder

New Standard-Definition Line-Up:

  • Canon FS22, FS21 and FS200 Flash Memory Camcorders
  • Canon DC420 and DC410 DVD Camcorders
  • Canon ZR960 MiniDV Camcorder

Availability of the products are to be announced.

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Review: Samsung SyncMaster 2343BWX

I picked up Samsung SyncMaster 2343BWX 23.3-inch LCD display. It is the newly released 16:9 LCD display. It supports QWXGA resolutions (2048×1152).

First Impressions

Samsung SyncMaster 2343BWX looks a little bit out of place due to its extra wide profile. It doesn’t take long to get used to the 16:9 width to height ratio that is commonly found in HD-TV. The brightness and color of this LCD monitor are above average in my opinion.

Resolutions: 2048×1152 @60Hz
Maximum Refresh Rate: 75Hz
Diagonal Measurement: 23.3 inch

This monitor is not intended for gaming. First it is the aspect ratio, most games will be stretch to fit the screen. Second, this monitor seems to have a slow response time for intense 3D-games such as Call of Duty (first person shooter game).

This monitor seems to be designed primarily for one thing: widescreen video. This monitor provides extra horizontal space for programs like Final Cut Express/Pro. This monitor is a perfect companion for those who use HD camcorders since they share the same aspect ratio. No more dealing with the letter-boxing on the monitor when viewing the HD video full-screen.

The monitor does not come with Height Adjustable Stand (HAS, however it does come with one VGA (D-sub) cable and one DVI cable.

to be continued.

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Panasonic HDC-SD9: The Answer Lies Within QuickTime 7.5

For the past few months, Panasonic HDC-SD9 owners have not been able to import videos from Panasonic HDC-SD9 correctly. The temporary solutions for Final Cut Pro 6.0.3 users was to install Perian 1.1 plugin.

AVCHD

With the release of QuickTime 7.5, Panasonic HDC-SD9 videos can now be imported using iMovie ’08, Final Cut Express 4, and Final Cut Pro 6.

It is recommended to update all the applications to the latest versions. QuickTime 7.5 is the most critical component to make this work.

I can only confirm this on the North American version of Panasonic HDC-SD9 (with 24p Cinema Mode). The European version (with 25p Cinema Mode) theoretically should now work with the Mac.

UPDATE:

Hans Eklundh left a comment and confirmed that the 25p PAL version (Europe) also works with QuickTime 7.5

Panasonic HDC-SD9 AVCHD Camcorder

Test results using 15-inch MacBook Pro Core Duo 2GHz 2GB RAM:

Mac OS X 10.4.11

QuickTime 7.4.5
iMovie 7.1
HA1920 24p – Video is faster than Audio
HA1920 – Crash during imports

QuickTime 7.5
iMovie 7.1
HA1920 24p – Video imported successfully; 37s -> 36s
HA1920 – Video imported successfully; 38s -> 38s

QuickTime 7.5
iMovie 7.1.2
HA1920 24p – Video imported successfully; 37s -> 37s
HA1920 – Video imported successfully; 38s -> 38s

Mac OS X 10.5.3

QuickTime 7.5
iMovie 7.1.1
HA1920 24p – Video imported successfully; 37s -> 36s
HA1920 – Video imported successfully; 38s -> 38s

QuickTime 7.5
iMovie 7.1.2
HA1920 24p – Video imported successfully; 37s -> 36s
HA1920 – Video imported successfully; 38s -> 38s

Get QuickTime 7.5 and iMovie 7.1.2 updates from Apple Software Update or through the Downloads site.

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Panasonic HDC-SD9: Playing nice with iMovie 7.1.2

UPDATE:
It seems that QuickTime 7.5 update adds the compatibilities between Panasonic HDC-SD9 and iMovie ’08, Final Cut Express 4, and Final Cut Pro 6.

UPDATE:
Thanks to James and Hans Eklundh for confirming that QuickTime 7.5 now supports PAL/European HDC-SD9.

Immediately after applying iMovie 7.1.2 update, I recorded a number of videos on Panasonic HDC-SD9.

  • HA1920
  • HA1920 24p
  • HG1920

I managed to import the videos without any problems at all, and the audio is in sync with the video. Previously, iMovie ’08 was unable to import the video from Panasonic HDC-SD9 correctly. It crashes during HA1920 import. The HA1920 24p video was playing faster than the audio track.

I am doing more testing on this issue, and will post the result as soon as possible.

The gears:

  • Panasonic HDC-SD9
  • 15-inch MacBook Pro Core Duo 2.0GHz 2GB
  • iMovie 7.1.2
  • QuickTime 7.5
  • Mac OS X 10.5.3

Stay tuned.

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Panasonic HDC-SD9: 1080p/24p Video Sample

Since I can now use Final Cut Pro 6 to “Log and Transfer” 1080p/24p clip from my Panasonic HDC-SD9, I will be posting more video sample from this camera.

It was a nice day, so I took a little walk and film some footage using Panasonic HDC-SD9. Check out the video, QuickTime 7 is required for playback.

Prepare for Landing

Video info:

  • Format: H.264, 1920×1080
  • File Size: 16.66 MB
  • Frame Rate: 23.98 FPS
  • Data rate: 8.73 mbits/s
  • Length: 16.01 seconds

Panasonic HDC-SD9 settings:

  • Recording Mode: HA1920
  • 24p Digital Cinema: On
  • Intelligent Contrast: On

Software info:

I will post more videos.