On Tue, 25 Jul 2000 01:29:28 +0800, "David Winter" wrote:

[...]
>Decompression, processing (like transitions) and recompression have the same
>effect as transcoding. The MS (Windows) CODEC as used by Studio.DV,
>MediaStudio Pro 6 and probably quite a few other OHCI applications is
>reputed to be the worst for this - with noticable loss of luminance among
>other observed weaknesses. The Canopus CODEC is claimed to be much superior,
>for example - as well as a lot faster.

When I was using the DPS Spark card, I did not notice
changes with rendering until I edited B&W Mini-DV - then
it was evident that the area of a transition was slightly
darker and greener than adjacent footage; with the Raptor
I do not see any difference between rendered and
non-rendered Mini-DV footage, and the render time is
much faster (almost twice...). One negative with the
Raptor card, though: "alt" key scrubbing is too light,
making it less useful for judging color/contrast/brightness
effects with filter changes - rendering is needed to see
the changes accurately.