"Grandpa Mike" <mmoskowitz@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message news:4ba46c46.0307150305.4c146d6a@posting.google.com...

> My apologies if this has been iscussed before.

It has. Computer and TV video displays are very different - send the

captured image back to the camera with FireWire and look at it on

TV - it will be identical to the original tape in quality...

> Recently purchased a JVC 725 miniDV camcorder and played it directly

> to the TV with excellent results. Last week bought a new laptop: HP

> ze5375us, 2.4GHz P4, 512 MB, built in firewire. This sounds great,

> however the captured video quality is significantly worse. No dropped

> frames, but whenever there is any movement in the picture, it seems

> choppy, almost like looking through a textured glass. Used Windows

> MovieMaker, Premiere, and Sonic MyDVD with same results. Looks good in

> a small window but loses sharpness in full screen display.

(See above...;-)

> Tried

> burning a VCD and running in the DVD player, quality is much poorer as

> compared to direct feed from the camera.

Of course - the compression is MUCH higher than the original. A well-made

DVD will show minimal losses, though...

> Recorded the video on SP setting.

SP and LP will look the same (except for *possibly* greater dropout rate,

and less camera-to-camera consistency in playing LP tapes properly...).

--

David Ruether

d_ruether@hotmail.com

http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com

Hey, take a gander at www.visitithaca.com, too...!