Progressive Scan Compatibility

DavidPJ wrote on 7/1/2003, 6:16 AM
I'm considering recording in progressive scan with most of my new projects. If I later replace my Canon DV camera with a model that doesn't support progressive scan, will the tapes with progressive scan still play properly on the new video camera?

I haven't been in the market for a camcorder for some time. Do most DV cameras in the $1000-$1500 range have progressive scan?

Thanks.

Comments

RBartlett wrote on 7/1/2003, 7:03 AM
some cameras in $1000-$1500 range do non-DV video clips to flash memory (and some do multimedia clips onto the DV tape also). Progressive scan doesn't always mean the same to all marketing departments when they label up prosumer cameras. Not unlike APS film now having a higher grade/grain structure so called High Definition. When they probably mean, "sorry, but this one is almost as good as 35mm and noticably better than your old disc camera"! Whereas medium-format would be High Definition for photography in my book.

Not sure about the specific forward compatibility should you not stick with progressive cameras/decks. I'd guess 59.94i is the order of the day for NTSC DV and the NLE is told manually (or prompted by the header or camera ID) for progressive footage. So read further down this thread for the facts.....
mikkie wrote on 7/1/2003, 7:35 AM
Agreeing with RBartlett, I think eventually many (most?) cameras will have true progressive scan, but for now it's a term with many definitions, often tailored by marketing folks. In your place I think I'd spend a couple of hours in the local stores, a tape for testing in hand - wouldn't tell everything but at least would give you an idea...
wcoxe1 wrote on 7/2/2003, 10:11 AM
Kinda like calling a camcorder HD, when there are at least a dozen legal definitions for High Definition TV. To me, only 1080i is true HD, but try getting any marketing department which wants to push 480p or 720i or 720p out the door to agree to that.

Panasonic's new MX7000 is being sold as HD, and as best as I can tell, that means 540 lines of resolution, which is, true, better than previous DV resolutions by a hair, but it is NOT, to me, HD.

In many ways the MX7000 is a fantastic camcorder, but my 3 year old Sony has 520 lines. Panasonic's claimed 540 is not even a 4 percent increase, it is NO Big deal, unless you are the person writing the ad copy.