Really bad image quality for Handycam HDR-CX 190E

[georgep24]

Hello,

I bought a Handycam HDR-CX 190E 2 days ago because it said full HD and it seemed to be much better than the competition. What I found out tho is the image quality is horrible. I've set the Rec Mode to HD 50i FX (Highest Quality) and when I import the video to iMovie (importing at full size) I get really bad pixelation and noise.

I don't know if it's the camera or I need to make some settings, but I can't work with it. See this photo for an exact screenshot of the video at 1080p: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26109944/video-quality.jpg

Does anyone else have the same problems? If so, how can I fix it?

Thank you in advance,

Adi

[Mick2011]

Hi Adi, welcome to the Sony Forums

The problem is almost certainlythe way your Mac is converting the AVCHD files. From the look of your still image, I'd say the video was originally imported at a size smaller than your output size. In other words, it may be 1080p exported from 720p or less.

This isn't anything to do with your camera settings or even the actual size of the captured footage, but with the way iMovie has been known to convert the files on import.

Check that you have the latest version updates of both the OS and iMovie; it's has been an issue in the past but I believe most Mac users have resolved this issue. The apple forums are a good place to cross-reference your Mac model, OS version and iMovie version and hopefully find a fix.

One workaround is to convert the files from .mts to .mp4, which will then open natively in any version of iMovie and should give you 1080p without quality loss. Googling 'mts converter' will give you a good range of options.

Cheers

Mick

[georgep24]

Hi Mick,

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I've tried it your way and it's still the same quality. I even used the Windows software provided with the camera to import, but it's the exact same quality.

Adi

[Mick2011 · Accepted solution]

Looking again at your sample image, the monitor behind looks to be quite bright, suggesting you were shooting at low light levels. This can and does create noise, which the camera corrects by 'smoothing' the image; at very low light levels, details can become significantly blurred and the overall image begins to look 'soft'.

Just a suggestion, but you could try shooting in stronger light and see if image quality improves. Outdoors is ideal; if you intend shooting indoors you could try moving closer to a bright window, although for the best quality you need some form of additional 'studio' lighting.

Cheers

Mick

[georgep24]

Hi Mick,

I tested in a better light and the quality has indeed improved. Since I'm thinking of filming this on a white background from now on I should be good to go. Thank you : )

Adi

[Mick2011]

That's great to know Adi

Good luck with the filming.

Mick