True, there is an advantage to more footage per DVD, but I find the quality more than compensates for this. Besides @ 8.5GiB per dual layer DVD you should be able to squeeze 48-52 minutes of 25Mbps video onto a single disc. For most stuff I shoot, this is fine for a single subject.

Additionally, you could always edit w/vegas, output to tape and then recapture to a single .m2t. This would give you a fully edited video with the best picture quality. I find this especially important with the HV20, since I want to be able to see all the detail I capture.

BTW, there are problems with the PS3 and raw .m2t files, some of them don’t playback, see here.

Another problem is that you can’t fit as much data on a DVD disk burned with .m2t as you can with h.264. I use 10mbps for my .h264 1080p videos, while HDV is 25mbps. This means that I can store 2.5 times more footage, at almost the same quality than you can. Plus, my footage would be well-edited while yours would be… welll… raw.

I’ve tried to find if you have covered this anywhere, but I haven’t been able to find the info on your site.

HDV Video playback on the PS3:
I have a PS3 and a Canon HV20. Playback of the RAW footage is actually quite easy with the PS3. As of firmware 1.80 (current is 1.91) you can play back a data DVD with the RAW .m2t files (captured from the camera) on the PS3 with no problem.

My basic method:
1) Capture video to computer using Vegas
2) Burn the desired RAW .m2t files to a regular DVD using Nero.
3) Insert DVD into PS3, it pops up as a DATA disc
4) Open the data disc and select the .m2t file for playback

This is a great solution, because you can see the footage completely untouched (except for the HDV compression). This is quite an affordable way to see your footage.

The disc format I’m using is ISO, but I will be testing UDF soon. If UDF works, you could technically have a single .m2t file that is the size of your entire DVD (dual or single layer). In this way, when you put the disc in, you could select the single file from the PS3 menu and playback a series of clips or a completely edited piece (by default the PS3 playback stops after each .m2t file)

Just thought this might add another (and quite easy) option to what looks like a fairly comprehensive look at the current state of the ~$1000 HD camcorder market.

I have ffdshow-tryout and it is NOT easier to use, it’s a mess instead. Besides, Huffyuv is a very popular free codec. More over, you can’t use ffdshow-tryout from WITHIN Vegas Movie Studio because the application itself does not let you export at 1920×1080. The app is artificially limited to export only up to 1440×1080, in order to differentiate the app from the Vegas professional version. Thing is, not everyone owns the pro version of Vegas.

I have a really simple question for you.If you could help me I would much appreciate.It is the following : I just bought a hv20 , and I dont have a proper tv set to enjoy it like it was supposed to be.I am thinking about buying the Lg 42PC7R
42′’
16:9
1024 x 768 pixels
Brightness : 1500 cd;m2
Contrast : 10.000:1
Hdmi input
Would this TV be good enough ?
Thank you so much for your time.
Mauricio Farias