JVC GY-HM100 Handheld
Last week, my friend Phil Goetz from Texas Media Systems invited me to a JVC: Solid Solutions seminar hosted by Scott A. Burch, a JVC district sales manager from the great state of Texas. Scott introduced us to the JVC GY-HM100 and its older brother the JVC GY-HM700 back in May. This time, he hosted a full breakdown of what these cameras can do with SDHC and SxS workflows. Check out my previous blog review of these two cameras here:
The JVC GY-HM100 & JVC GY-HM700
I want to take the time to go over a few more things that I both love and hate about these new cameras. First, I will give some love to the JVC GY-HM100 on its size and flexibility. Mounting this little guy on a Steadicam is easy. And the best part of this is it’s a full 1080p camera that only weighs 3lbs. Can you say smooth and simple?
Big & Little Brother
HM100 Up Close
Almost Ready!
For the JVC GY-HM700, having the SxS recorder and Anton Bauer batteries added on this line of camera is purely professional and a great addition to the SxS workflow. Let’s not forget its beautiful Canon and Fuji lens options.
HM700 & Battery
HM700 with SxS Recorder
Sony SxS Recorder
Now, let me get into why I think this camera really loses its flavor with me. MPEG-2! Why oh why would JVC choose such an old codec to work with? Let me go into further details about MPEG-2 in case you need a little refresher. MPEG-2 is widely used as the format for digital television signals that are broadcast by analog, cable, and direct broadcast satellite TV systems. It also specifies the format of movies and other programs that are distributed on DVD. As such, TV stations, TV receivers, DVD players, and other equipment are often designed to the MPEG-2 standard. However, this is not the case anymore.
More and more television stations are beginning to adopt Panasonic’s DVCPROHD format as a broadcast standard, and DVCPROHD happens to be an Intra-frame codec, which means it doesn’t incorporate Long GOP the way MPEG-2 does. Long-GOP refers to how video is encoded using temporal compression. In MPEG-2 recording, a GOP (group of pictures) contains three types of frames. The method involves reducing the redundancy found in moving images. Each GOP starts with an I-frame. This frame is wholly independent and contains the most information about the image and can be decoded without reference to any other frame. I-frames are followed by B- and P-frames. A P-frame stands for a predicted picture and uses the previous I- or P-frame for motion compensation and reference for prediction. A B-frame contains the least amount of information, and is bi-directionally predictive, referencing previous or next I- or P-frames.
Long GOP Seqeunce
Intraframe vs Interframe
I-Frame + Filler Frames
In simple terms, MPEG-2 is a distribution codec. It should not be used in an HD camera like this. I really wish JVC had decided to go with MPEG-4 AVCHD as the main codec instead of MPEG-2. Even at 35Mbits per second with these JVC cameras, the codec cannot handle anything MAJOR or else the codec will break apart. Check out the photos below.
Water on HDTV
MPEG-2 Breakage
MPEG-2 at 35Mbits
As you can see, the first picture is what was showing on the HDTV. It was real-time footage taken from the camera and brought into Final Cut Pro with no problem. But upon closer inspection of the Water Footage, the codec began to really show its age as the blocky MPEG-2 codec began to fall apart since there was too much information on the screen for it to handle. This won’t happen however, if you decide to record from the HD-SDI out of the camera. The JVC GY-HM700 does offer full 10-bit 4:2:2 uncompressed video via the HD-SDI out but unfortunately, not all of us can drag around expensive capturing hardware to every field production shoot with Hard-drives and Laptops on set.
Yes, I know that my observation on the codec can be a bit biased since I am an Editor first. But in reality, I love JVC and their new products! We’ve used the JVC GY-HD110U/GY-HD200/GY-HD250 for feature films, documentaries, and even some high level corporate videos with tremendous results. MPEG-2 was okay to deal with in 2004 when these cameras first came out. It’s 2009 and MPEG-2 is dying. Let’s give this codec a proper burial.
this is rubbish test – increase the shutter speed and you will have yr pic
It’s not rubbish at all actually. My camera is just extremely close to the HDTV so one can see the artifacting that is happening. Try looking closely frame by frame on some of the JVC Footage that is posted on DVInfo.
Here is a good example of MPEG2 Breakage:
http://files.dvinfo.net/dashwoodHM700/DASH0093_01_720p60overcrank-MOV.zip
Watch this footage frame-by frame as the dog splashes into the water. If you have an HDTV or External Monitor, even better. You will see the breakage of the codec.
I think there has to be consideration given to the ease of which the footage is edited. You can’t (yet, least) plop AVCHD on an FCP timeline and get busy. Until that is possible a lot of shooters don’t see the improvement in image clarity as enough incentive to use AVCHD. Many are coming from SD editing and are more than satisfied with MPEG-2 codecs and their efficiency.
Here’s an email I thought I would share that I received about this article. This is just a summary of the full email and I’ll keep the sender anonymous:
“The fact of the matter is that Mpeg2 as an acquisition format is alive and well currently the best selling camera system in the world is XDCAM EX, which is a format based on Mpeg2.
Whether you like it or not, Mpeg2 acquisition is alive and well, and what I’m looking for on DV Info Net are articles and reviews about how to use it, from real-world experience. I’m not interested in opinions about its viability. The reality is that It is here and it’s now, and that’s what we deal with on the site.
Same for Mpeg4, AVCHD and DVCPRO HD. We don’t do format wars or platform wars or the which-is-better nonsense. All of these formats have their good points and bad. We cover all of them equally and fairly.
Finally, nobody watches HD frame by frame with their nose to the screen. HD is best analyzed the same way the audience sees it: from a normal viewing distance, in full motion. “
in regards to the above…
from an editors/compositors perspective we do watch ” HD frame by frame with their nose to the screen” for a job… and if footage has ugly compression, the obvious greenscreens, color corrections in the dark areas, even graduated skies with even the least of compression between colors… us in post don’t really care what it was shot on, as it often becomes unusabe… for when it’s ready for people to not “watche HD frame by frame with their nose to the screen” but just sit back and enjoy. Go back to your DV website… you must be a sales man who learned the hard word… just like the guy at my tv shop, whoever you were.. as with an attitude like that, you will never be anyone useful in the technical realm.
cheers mate.
“Finally, nobody watches HD frame by frame”….
ok… i’d better stop directing/edting/grading/fx all togeather coz that stuff out of the camera always looks good… as long as I shoot it.