I have noticed similar results. I did an 8 minutes video and the 2 files were close to the same size. I didn't bother trying to figure it out. For my purpose it wasn't important. 1080p is available in MPEG 2 HD and AVCHD. Maybe others, but I haven't checked every profile.

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Quote: Can anyone explain?

Size of the file is dependent on the information in that file. 1080 interlaced @ 30fps has the equivalent of 1080x1920x30 pixels per second = 62208000 pixels to encode. For 720p @ 60 fps it is 720x1280x60 = 55296000 pixels to encode. This is quite similar and hence in Digital Television broadcasts in HD there is some who use 720p others who use 1080i.

Anyway now you must consider that not every pixel is encoded...this would be huge task so a compressor is used to make the amount of information more manageable. H264 (AVC & MPEG4) is the often used one in consumer cameras at the moment. Depending on how much information the compressor is told to "save" the larger the file becomes. So at 24Mbps the file size is larger but arguably better quality for the same resolution than 17Mbps.

PD9 720p profile is around 24Mbps and the 1080i is 17Mbps hence the larger file size in the 720p profile. If you use 1080i (24Mbps) the file size would have been similar.

Quote: Also, would there be any improvement in quality if I rendered it in 1080p. Is that even possible?

The problem would be that the frame rate would have changed from 30fps to 24fps and you may experience judder on panning.

I suggest using the PanaSD9 (which I also own) you should render it 1080i 24Mbps . Unfortunately SVRT does not work with the SD9 Panasonic SD9, Panasonic TM700, Panasonic SD600, GoPro HD Hero.

The reason why 720p files are larger than 1080i is due to the fact that 720p is a better video quality than 1080i.

I will explain "Progressive scanning (alternatively referred to as noninterlaced scanning) is a way of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images in which [b]all the lines [/b]of each frame are drawn in sequence. This is in contrast to interlaced video used in traditional analog television systems where only the odd lines, then the even lines of each frame (each image called a video field) are drawn alternately, so that only half the number of actual image frames are used to produce video" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_scan

now 720p resolution is 1366* or 1280*720 depending on the display
going off the 1280*720 that is 921,600 pixels
going off of the 1366*768 is 1,049,088 pixels


the 1080i is 1920*1080 so that's 2,073,600 now wait, you only see odd lines than even lines with the (I) interlaced?
than the real resolution is half that so 2,073,600/2 is 1,036,800 pixels

so evidently if your 720p is recording at 1280*720 resolution than it is smaller than 1080i video
but if it happens to be 1366*786 than it will be larger. and\\


^^^^^^actual answer