Will a Sony AX700 with HDR/HLG benefit me at all with VMS15 and DVDA7?

Teagan wrote on 2/5/2019, 6:09 PM

Hi, after a couple hours of research I have come to the conclusion that I have almost no idea what I am doing. HDR, HDR HLG, if my current 4k camera is the best I can get with VMS15 and DVDA7, etc.

Currently I have a Sony AX53, and I LOVE it. The only bad part is that it does not have any form of HDR. I am thinking about upgrading to the Sony AX700 and using my AX53 as a backup/second angle camera for recordings.

The reason for this upgrade is that I see that the AX700 supports a form of HDR called HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), which I have researched to a bit and know that it's backwards compatible with non HDR screens, but beyond that the only other thing I know is that it supports a higher color gamut - I think.

My question is that will this form of HDR - "HLG" - benefit me in any way with Vegas Movie Studio 15 and DVD Architect 7? Can I export in the same formats I've been using and get better quality DVD and Blu Ray discs out of the AX700 than with my AX53 or is HLG just a gimmick? I know that currently I can't make 10 bit color 4k blu rays as that's still years away but will this benefit my DVD and Blu Ray outputs even though they're 8 bit color and non HDR/HLG? And also, I assume that the AX700 is still 8 bit color as well, or is it 10 bit?

Sorry for my ignorance, it's just that there's no clear answer for this I can seem to find.

 

EDIT: After some research I have found that the camera supports ITU-R BT.2100 but sony support says it can only do 8 bit color.

Source: https://helpguide.sony.net/cam/1710/v1/en/contents/TP0001492378.html

Comments

Musicvid wrote on 2/5/2019, 6:16 PM

Can I export in the same formats I've been using and get better quality DVD and Blu Ray discs 

No, the standards for DVD and conventional BluRay are fixed at 8-bit REC 709. Downsampling from HDR won't improve that.

No harm in keeping your HDR masters around for future use, though.

Teagan wrote on 2/5/2019, 6:19 PM

Can I export in the same formats I've been using and get better quality DVD and Blu Ray discs 

No, the standards for DVD and conventional BluRay are fixed at 8-bit REC 709.


So the only benefit I will get out of the HLG is if I use the digital file on a PC or on a website like Youtube that supports HLG?

 

EDIT: and yes, of course, the hdr masters for future use is always a good thing to archive.

Teagan wrote on 2/5/2019, 7:09 PM

Can I export in the same formats I've been using and get better quality DVD and Blu Ray discs 

No, the standards for DVD and conventional BluRay are fixed at 8-bit REC 709. Downsampling from HDR won't improve that.

No harm in keeping your HDR masters around for future use, though.

I have one more question, can I export a file in any format from VMS15 with the REC 2020 color gamut or is it all REC 709?

Musicvid wrote on 2/5/2019, 8:15 PM

You can correctly export REC 2020 only in 4k and up.

You can correctly export REC 709 only in HD.

You can correctly export REC 601 only in SD.

Why do you ask? The colorspace transformation is an automatic encoder function, not a user control, unless one is hellbound to screw it up.

Teagan wrote on 7/12/2019, 10:03 AM

You can correctly export REC 2020 only in 4k and up.

You can correctly export REC 709 only in HD.

You can correctly export REC 601 only in SD.

Why do you ask? The colorspace transformation is an automatic encoder function, not a user control, unless one is hellbound to screw it up.

Unfortunately after trying, VMSP15 does not support 10 bit color for REC.2020 output in 4k. I would have to upgrade to Vegas Pro for 10 bit color.

VMSP15 only supports 8 bit color, the 10 bit is greyed out, even with rec 2020 input files.