updated 14 Oct 2004

 

JVC HD10 vs. Panasonic DVX100
an article by Jon Fordham, Director of Photography

Jon Fordham - Director of Photography

Jon is a contributing member of our DV Info Net Community.

While I had the JVC JY-HD10U on loan from Heath, I decided to do a few informal side by sides with the Panasonic AG-DVX100 as well. These side by sides were not in any way scientific. Nor were they meant to be. They were simply me using a few minutes of my free time to satisfy my curiosity. And it should also be noted that this comparison is with the original model DVX100, not the updated DVX100A model.

I put the JVC HD10 next to the Panasonic DVX100 in a "side by side" to get an idea of how these two cameras stack up next to other. Well "alternately mounted on the same tripod" instead of actually side by side! And no anamorphic lens on the DVX100. Just the in camera letterbox to match the HD10's framing.

I modified the Panasonic DVX100's DSP to a "normal level" in the Scene File menu. No Cine-Gamma or Cine-Like color settings. Just a normal gamma and color setting, 30P frame rate and full 480P vertical resolution with the Thin Line detail mode.

I set up a simple shot of a few colorful items on my black computer desk with my white kitchen appliances in the background (it's NY people, when I reach the point of shooting Deniro on a regular basis I'll find an apartment where my computer desk doesn¹t sit so closely to my kitchen) and plenty of bright daylight pouring through my apartment windows (see, I have large windows, what more could you want).

Right away I found I was able to achieve a better exposed and more focused image with the DVX100 due to its manual control. The DVX100 shows better color saturation and more accurate color reproduction. As well as holding the highlights a little better. The HD10 shows some noticeable edge enhancement, but a little surprisingly doesn't show any more detail from increased resolution when viewing the image on a Sony 13" VEGA Flat Screen. I kinda thought the HD10 might still show a little more detail than the DVX100 after the way it was able to resolve the buildings in those outdoors shots at the Macy's parade. But now I'm wondering how the DVX100 would've handled those distant buildings that day... I may go shoot some outdoor stuff when the snow lets up in the next few days to see how the DVX100 handles some wide shots compared to the HD10.

Interestingly, I've actually had to restructure how my reel was cut because of the noticeable difference in resolution between HD and SD. I had to take footage from a 480/60i NTSC Sony DSR-500WS and move it, so it wasn't cut next to footage from the 720/24P HD Panasonic HDC27F. Because it looked slightly out of focus or soft in comparison. I have shot a lot of SD stuff that does plainly look out of focus next to HD footage. But in my very unscientific and raw test for fun, the HD10 is not performing on that kind of level. Sorry. It just isn't. There are many factors that are playing into this. But I believe the primary factor is control.

Everytime I tried to switch to aperture priority to achieve a shallower depth of field, the shutter kicked into a screwed up speed, and vice versa. And once I set the shutter back to 1/60, I lost control over the exposure leaving me a slightly brighter than desired image and everything in perfect focus.

In my opinion, the DVX100's full 480P vertical resolution is comparable to the HD10's HDV 720P resolution when viewed on a Standard Definition Monitor. And with the ability to control every aspect of the image parameters, the DVX100 seems to be producing a superior image.

All in all, the HD10 doesn't seem to be seriously inferior to the DVX100 in good light. But, the DVX100 certainly produces more precise images with higher color saturation, accurate color reproduction and better handling of highlights and shadows.

Written by Jon Fordham, Director of Photography.
Thrown together by Chris Hurd.