On Wed, 9 Oct 2002 08:57:33 -0700, "Paul Tauger"
>"Neuman - Ruether"
>news:3da44a2b.6010696@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu...
>> On Tue, 8 Oct 2002 08:18:44 -0700, "Paul Tauger"
>>
[...]
>> >I've noticed, though, that I still get some of the stair-step artifacting
>on
>> >strong, thin diagonal lines which were typical of my previous TRV-20. Is
>> >this a problem with this particular unit, or is it just endemic to
>miniDV?
>> >I've never seen it on any of the DV-shot reality shows, e.g. Amazing
>Race.
>> >
>> >It's not as bad as my older consumer camera, and seems to be more a
>problem
>> >in low light than well-lit scenes.
>> Read DMcC's response, above.
>I did, and was reassured. I think, too, that part of the problem may be a
>rather poor comb filter on the TV I was using to view the output of the
>camcorder (I was lazy, and didn't bother using the s-video jack, so it was
>straight composite in).
Ah, so you are seeing "dot crawl" also - and somewhat
reduced resolution... Also, this came up in correspondence
with someone complaining about stairstepping: the jpg
he sent me as an example was shot in 16:9 mode, which
will also exaggerate the stairstepping when viewed in
4:3...
>>But having owned both the
>> PC100 (same imager as the TRV20) and the VX2000, I can
>> say that motion-artifacting of all types is considerably
>> lower in the VX2000 than with the TRV20 when shooting
>> the same material in the same lighting (try shooting
>> a clapboard-sided house with roof shingles that have
>> contrasting edges with both, hand-held - one will drive
>> you totally nuts, the other only partially so...;-).
>> Near-horizontal line stairstepping is the one artifact
>> that is quite present in all Mini-DV (D25) formats and
>> cameras, unfortunately, and it is exaggerated when
>> increasing the sharpening (a good compromise for me for
>> most things is "+1" sharpening in the custom controls,
>> but when shooting buildings or contrasty bare-stemmed
>> plant masses, I sometimes lower it.
>Um, this isn't an option on the VX2000, is it? I've been through the manual
>and the menus, and don't see any options for sharpening. Have I missed
>something?
Yes. Press the tiny button at the bottom rear of the
VX2000 handle, and the "custom controls" menu comes
up. There are some suggested settings in the review
at www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/sony_dcr-vx2000.htm.
This can be used to bias the excellent auto controls
for preferences in exposure, hue, sharpening, and
color saturation, and allows gain-rise limiting...
>> Shooting in lower
>> contrast lighting also reduces the effect. BTW,
>> lowering the shutter speed below 1/60th will increase
>> the stairstepping effect, since one field is dropped,
>> increasing the "step height"...
>Ah, that may have been what happened, since I was playing with low light
>indoors. For what it's worth, I shot some test things yesterday in full
>daylight and can't get over the saturation and resolution -- the image is
>truly spectacular, compared to what I've been using.
The picture can be improved even a bit more, using
the custom controls - if used carefully...! ;-).
>The TRV20 went up on ebay this morning, and I've already ordered an extra
>battery and a couple of filters for the VX2000, so it looks like I'm keeping
>it. ;)
Glad it worked out.