What do I need for HD?

[Caezar]

If I buy an HD camcorder, such as the JVC GZ-HD7, what else do I need to edit and play the movies in the best conditions?

I guess I can edit on iMovie HD. But then, can I just burn the movies on a plain DVD to watch them on a High-Def flat-panel TV? Or do I need a blue-ray DVD writer?

If I want to share the movies with my parents who only have a 720p TV, do I need to convert the movies to the lower resolution with iMovie?

 

[Father Jack]

I have a Sanyo 720p HD camcorder and use iMovie and iDVD to produce DVD's that play on a widescreen HD TV. I don't have a Blu-Ray so just burn onto ordinary DVD. The quality is better than normal DV but obviously not as good as you would get from a dedicated HD player. I also have Final Cut Express HD but haven't go round to trying it.

FJ

 

[Caezar]

Thank you Father. Do you have the Sanyo Xacti HD1? If so, how do you like it?

 

[rvpete]

u sure know HD DVDs and Blu Ray Disks are somthing .. how to say it .. different?

 

[Cromulent]

You can burn HD films etc to a standard DVD but you just won't be able to fit much on it. If you want to burn a full length DVD then you will need to look into an HD DVD or Blu-Ray drive.

 

[Caezar]

u sure know HD DVDs and Blu Ray Disks are somthing .. how to say it .. different?

Yes, I do. I was just mentioning blu-ray because it is supported by Apple and I plan to buy a PS3.

 

[Caezar]

You can burn HD films etc to a standard DVD but you just won't be able to fit much on it. If you want to burn a full length DVD then you will need to look into an HD DVD or Blu-Ray drive.

Thanks, this is exactly what I wanted to know.

 

[Father Jack]

Thank you Father. Do you have the Sanyo Xacti HD1? If so, how do you like it?

HI, the one I just bought is the Xacti HD2. The difference is the HD2 is better in low light and the still camera images are 7 Mp To be honest I haven't really had a chance to give it much of a test, but first impressions are good. A 4 Gb SD HC card can hold 58 minutes of video at the highest setting ..

 

[Caezar]

I bought the Sanyo HD2 yesterday as well, and I am disappointed by the performance indoors.

It is functioning okay in full daylight, but nothing fantastic.

 

[Erendiox]

You can burn HD films etc to a standard DVD but you just won't be able to fit much on it. If you want to burn a full length DVD then you will need to look into an HD DVD or Blu-Ray drive.

No, this isn't true. Yes, you can burn HD content onto regular DVDs, but it has to be downscaled from HD to standard definition MPEG-2. In other words, unless you burn onto HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, you're not getting HD. The quality would be similar to watching a regular DVD on your HD TV. If that's acceptable for you, then cool, but just realise you won't be getting 720x1280 pixels from regular DVDs, ever. They don't have the bandwidth to deliver that.