HPX3000 user white paper available/this is a great camera!

[Joe Incardona]

Hello, I am very pleased to be one of fewer than 100 owners worldwide of the fantastic Panasonic HPX3000 P2 HD camera (according to the Panasonic rep for our region, who recently was given this statistic by the company's order entry people).

 

We've had this outstanding camera since early March. My staff and I have learned an awful lot in the past couple of months about P2, and about how to showcase the amazing images from this camera by creating viewable Blu-ray video DVDs of the full-raster 1920x1080 material from the HPX3000.

 

I have created a blog on our Web site. I have also written a white paper about our learnings over the past few months. You can download the PDF of my white paper either directly from the blog, at http://joeincardona.wordpress.com, or by accessing the blog from the home page of our Web site, http://www.memphismediasource.com.

 

I will be glad to answer any questions you might have about the HPX3000, the P2 workflow with the camera and the Panasonic P2 Mobile, which we also own, and about our Blu-ray authoring experiences. My e-mail address is at the end of the white paper.

 

Thanks!

Joe Incardona

President

Media Source

Memphis, TN

[Bill Totolo]

That was extremely fascinating and enlightening, Joe. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

I'm considering the HPX3000 for a gig next month and this answered a lot of questions and allowed me to anticipate issues I'd like to address in prep.

[Mitch Gross]

Nice job, Joe. Abel rents (and sells) the HPX3000 and we really believe in the technology as well. It's a terrific camera.

[Saul Rodgar]

Joe:

 

In the second page of the white paper you posted you claim that the compression DVCPRO HD uses is interframe while AVC Intra's is intraframe.

 

That statement is not accurate. They both are intraframe, meaning each frame is compressed independetly form each other, like DV. The HD formats that use interframe compression are HDV and XDCAM, which are based on MPEG-2 compression, which is interframe, long GOP based.

 

In fact, ALL DVCPRO (SD and HD) formats are intraframe, which is why some people prefer them to HDV. The reason why AVC intra is supperior to DVCPRO HD is because it uses the H.263 MPG4 based codec which allows it to compress and code data at 4:2:2 10 bit full resolution, superior to the older intraframe non H.264 MPEG 4 compression scheme associated with DVCPRO HD and two or three times the rate of the much older and less advanced interframe MPEG2 compression used on HDV .

 

In the third and second pages of these pdf's you can find the proof to my claims:

 

www.panasonic.ca/english/broadcast/pdf/dvcpro_dv_to_hd.pdf

 

www.serv.com.ua/img/zstored/File/AVC_Intra_White_Paper_Ver_1_3.pdf

Edited May 19, 2008 by Saul Rodgar

[Joe Incardona]

Joe:

 

In the second page of the white paper you posted you claim that the compression DVCPRO HD uses is interframe while AVC Intra's is intraframe.

 

That statement is not accurate. They both are intraframe, meaning each frame is compressed independetly form each other, like DV. The HD formats that use interframe compression are HDV and XDCAM, which are based on MPEG-2 compression, which is interframe, long GOP based.

 

In fact, ALL DVCPRO (SD and HD) formats are intraframe, which is why some people prefer them to HDV. The reason why AVC intra is supperior to DVCPRO HD is because it uses the H.263 MPG4 based codec which allows it to compress and code data at 4:2:2 10 bit full resolution, superior to the older intraframe non H.264 MPEG 4 compression scheme associated with DVCPRO HD and two or three times the rate of the much older and less advanced interframe MPEG2 compression used on HDV .

 

In the third and second pages of these pdf's you can find the proof to my claims:

 

www.panasonic.ca/english/broadcast/pdf/dvcpro_dv_to_hd.pdf

 

www.serv.com.ua/img/zstored/File/AVC_Intra_White_Paper_Ver_1_3.pdf

 

Saul, thank you so much for clarifying that point about DVCPRO HD vs. AVC-Intra 100 compression. As I said in my blog where I've posted my white paper, I do not claim in any way to be an expert on everything related to the HPX3000 and P2. I got the information about the DVCPRO HD vs. AVC-Intra 100 compression differences from one of the two Panasonic dealers here in Memphis.

 

Your post demonstrates the power of forums such as this one, because they are monitored by so many knowledgeable people in the industry.

 

Would it be OK if I quoted your explanation above in my blog, http://joeincardona.wordpress.com ?

 

Thanks again, you've educated me on a very important point, i.e., the correct technical explanation for why the AVC-Intra 100 codec is considered by some to be superior to the DVCPRO HD codec.

[Saul Rodgar]

Saul, thank you so much for clarifying that point about DVCPRO HD vs. AVC-Intra 100 compression. As I said in my blog where I've posted my white paper, I do not claim in any way to be an expert on everything related to the HPX3000 and P2. I got the information about the DVCPRO HD vs. AVC-Intra 100 compression differences from one of the two Panasonic dealers here in Memphis.

 

Your post demonstrates the power of forums such as this one, because they are monitored by so many knowledgeable people in the industry.

 

Would it be OK if I quoted your explanation above in my blog, http://joeincardona.wordpress.com ?

 

Thanks again, you've educated me on a very important point, i.e., the correct technical explanation for why the AVC-Intra 100 codec is considered by some to be superior to the DVCPRO HD codec.

 

Joe:

 

I actually think my explanation is kinda primitive and not worth quoting. It needs tiding up at best. I am sure you can find better written explanations elsewhere on the web. But that is just me.

 

Thank you for asking though!

 

S