Burning FZ 150 video.

I use the Photofunstudio 6.5 BD that came with the camera for burning the FZ 150 video to DVD's. I believe at full 1080P AVCHD recording, the bit rate is about 28 MBps. However, when I burn the 1080P AVCHD videos to DVD in Photofunstudio 6.5 BD and play it on a Sony Blu Ray player, the Blu Ray player tells me the bit rate of the burned video is only about 13 - 14 MBps. Why did the bit rate go down? Is there downconversion or compression involved when Photofunstudio 6.5 turns a 28 MBps video into a 14 MBps video? Would the results be better if I had used a Blu Ray Burner and burned to a Blu Ray Disc instead?? I hope someone more knowledgable or experienced than I can explain this. It would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Scott.

Hi Scott, I think the simplest way to look at it is that 1080/60p AVCHD is progressive, with 60 full frames per second. However, for DVD on Blu-Ray the video must be converted to interlaced. Interlaced is 1/2 frames, where each complete full frame becomes two interlaced half frames.

So, 60 full frames per second becomes 60 fields per second or 60 half frames per second. Thus the bitrate is about half. I hope that helps.

Ian
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Ianperegian

http://www.ianperegian.com/

Hi Ian.

Thank you for the clarification. So how do I burn it such that the disc will produce the 28 MB video that's captured by the camera? In other words, how do I burn a 60P video so that the disc can reproduce the 60P video or maintain the 28MB bit rate? Is it by burning onto a blu ray disc? Can the Photofunstudio create a 60P video or I need to use third party software? Sorry for all these questions.

I just feel stumped that the camera can produce a 28 MBps video, but its accompanying software won't be able to put that on a disc for sharing and viewing with family, friends via DVD or blu ray discs. Or am I wrong?

Regards,

Scott.

Hi Scott,

I'm afraid it isn't possible to burn 60p video to a disk. That's because Blu-Ray can only handle a maximum of 30fps at 1920x1080, even though it is HD, so you can only burn 60i.

The only ways to view 60p on a TV is to play the AVCHD directly from the camera, or play it from the SD card on a compatible HDTV (recent Panasonic or Sony HDTVs). There are also dedicated media players that can handle it (but again, not on disks).

It isn't really a problem though, as you can get excellent results by burning it at 60i onto an ordinary DVD and playing it via a Blu-Ray player on a HDTV. Depending how large your HDTV screen is, and how far you view it from, the quality can be extremely good. I do this myself and I've been quite happy with the results.

You said you had made such disks from your FZ150 video, so I guess the real question is whether you were pleased with the result when you viewed it on your TV?

Ian
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Ianperegian

http://www.ianperegian.com/

Hi Ian.

Thanks so much for spending the time to explain all this. Now I understand.

Can you elaborate on "dedicated media players" that can play the video at 60P on an HDTV? I'm not familiar with them.

To my eyes, the video seem excellent until I saw the bit rate at 13-14 MBps. I then felt cheated that I've got a 28MB video source that when burned to DVD becomes a 14 MBps. I was hoping if the burned DVD produce a 28 MBps bit rate, the picture quality would even be more stunning. I guess I was being greedy. My bad.

I guess then burning to a blu ray disc only increases the duration of the video, but not the picture quality, correct?

Again, thank you for your time.

Cheers,

Scott.

fungrace98 said:

Can you elaborate on "dedicated media players" that can play the video at 60P on an HDTV? I'm not familiar with them.

Click to expand...

I have a WD TV HD media player that plays almost everything.

http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

(mine is an older version, bought it several years ago, still working perfectly)

Antal

fungrace98 said:

Can you elaborate on "dedicated media players" that can play the video at 60P on an HDTV? I'm not familiar with them.

Click to expand...

I'm glad Antal stepped in, because I haven't used a media a player myself, as I burn to ordinary DVDs.

fungrace98 said:

To my eyes, the video seem excellent

Click to expand...

I think that's the important thing!

fungrace98 said:

I guess then burning to a blu ray disc only increases the duration of the video, but not the picture quality, correct?

Click to expand...

Yes, a Blu-Ray disk can hold more data, and I think a Blu-Ray recorder can actually burn at a somewhat higher bitrate (I'm not quite sure about that) but the difference in viewing quality might not be apparent, depending on the equipment, etc.

Ian
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Ianperegian

http://www.ianperegian.com/

Blu-Ray has had only a small amount of penetration into households, so how would we expect a new and higher resolution format to replace it? There are several new things in video that are challenging for recording and viewing systems. As well as 60p, there is 3-D and ultra-high definition TV (UHDTV), which is paralled by a professional format known as 4k. It has a picture with 4 Megapixels, rather than the standard 2.1 Megapixels for HDTV.

With such a small amount of adoption for Blu-Ray, a moderately-priced system for recording and viewing these more advanced features, does not seem feasible for home use. Some newer TV sets now display 60p, but it has to come from a satellite or cable source or from playback from a camera or camcorder. It could also be played from an HDD in a computer or in a media player. Your own home videos are the best source for these advanced features. Broadcast TV doesn't carry them and it's not likely it ever will. Some computer programs will allow these features to be preserved after editing.

Even if home formats were developed to record or play 60p, 3-D and UHDTV, on disks or other easily-exchanged and low-cost media, the cost of the equipment needed would keep most people from buying it. Knowing this, most manufacturers would not even try to produce them, except for professional use. The best possibility might be to sell pre-recorded UHDTV, 60p (maybe even 120p) and 3-D movies on solid-state memory cards, that could be put into a computer or card-reader and viewed on computer monitors, rather than TV sets.
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Steve McDonald
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