Blue Ray 1920x1080 (in my opinion) should produce the highest quality video. It has the highest bitrate of 25mln bits per second. I have not tried it yet to confirm by comparing it to the original video straight from my Sony HD that records in 1080i. I am still waiting for the prices of BD-burners to go down. For now, I am producing AVC files, copy them onto a portable media and watching them on Playstation 3 through USB. Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted... but to weigh and consider.

Hi Andy

So are AVC files HD. If so, how does a standard DVD play back HD ? Or is AVC a format that a standard DVD can handle ?

Like I said, I get confused at the moment by the different formats (MPEG, MPEG2, .AVI, AVC.264, .MOV ect) and dont fully understand which format is better and when.

Thanks
Aaron

AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) is a new format owned by Sony. This format can ONLY be played on Blue Ray Disk Players (PlayStation 3 including). DVD players or PC DVD-Rom will not recognize this format.

If you want to be able to play your clips on DVD players, then you will have to go with HD DVD Mpeg-2 (1080), i think, but not sure. I have not tried to produce this format, so cannot tell. In the past I only burned High Quality DVDs (480p) that are Standard video , not HD.

Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted... but to weigh and consider.

Hi guys -

Edit: I shouldn't try to multitask like that! I missed out on the original post!

Aaron - Produce means create a file that can be played on your PC or through a media player. Creating discs is slightly different.

If you want to produce your video to a file, the two best choices are AVCHD 1920X1080 (24MBps, depending on the source clips) and MPEG-2 MPEG-2 BD 1920X1080

If you want to burn blu-ray discs (too expensive for me), then AVCHD 1920X1080 (24MBps... depending) would be a good choice. In Create Disc, select Blu-Ray H.264 1920x1080. MPEG-2 HD 1920X1080 is another option.

As Andy said, "Normal" DVD players cannot decode hi def formats even if the data is on a DVD disc. It's a bit like burning audio to a DVD disc an expecting your Audio CD player to play it.

If you're going to burn your video to DVD, the best quality option is AVCHD format burned on a standard DVD - played back on a PS3 or HD player compatible with AVCHD format. Other playback options for AVCHD DVDs are Blu-ray players (newer ones all support AVCHD).

Another possibility (better than disc burning!) is viewing the video through a HD media player (no disc burning - play file directly from USB storage device).

If you want to burn a DVD for a standard DVD player, MPEG-2 DVD HQ is the best option. It's my understanding that standard DVDs are burnt in one of two resolutions; 720 x 576 pixels (PAL), or 720 x 480 pixels (NTSC).

Oddly, in the middle of all that technobabble, I couldn't even get my mic to work on Skype!

Maybe some of it helped anyway -

Cheers - Tony
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Hi Aaron,

By any test, the technical landscape for videography is totally confusing with a huge array of options, standards and file formats. The terminology isn't too user friendly either.

Tony's explanation is probably one of the best you will find - you certainly can't go wrong if you follow his suggestions.

If you are still a little confused, take heart - you are not alone.

As you complete each project, your knowledge and expertise will improve and eventually your learning curve will flatten out.

Welcome to the crazy (but highly satisfying) world of videography. You seem to have all the latest gear, so you are well prepared.

Good luck!

Cheers - Con Windows 7 - i7 860, 8Gb RAM, 2 x 1 TB HDD, GTS 250 1Gb Video