Test Pattern Comparison HVX200 - Raylight/Avid/Apple/Panasonic This shows roughly equal performance from 3 codecs, the exceptions are that the Apple codec always applies a gamma warp and so it is darker, and the 4th codec from Panasonic shows minor decoding artifacts (see details at bottom) Raw camera data and Apple test frame courtesy Barry Green and dvxuser.com Raylight Avid DV100 Codec Apple DVCPROHD Codec

Panasonic Decoder




Below: 4X Magnified close-up of Raylight vs. Panasonic decoders

Raylight Magnified 4X

Panasonic Magnified 4X showing artifacts

Another example of the decompression artifacts. Note the horizontal bars in the flat areas on the left side. (Source Image Barry Green, dvxuser.com)

Technical Note:The artifacts in the Panasonic decoder are due to the fact that it uses the hardware-accelerated MPEG decoder provided by some video display adaptors, originally intended to be used for DVD playback. The MPEG decoder has the wrong coefficient matrix for DVCProHD, and as a result the high frequencies are two times overemphasized. This is not a defect that can be corrected since it's in the computer hardware. If you use CineForm for editing DVCProHD, DVFilm recommends that you get the Raylight Decoder which is a $95 drop-in replacement for the Panasonic decoder. Click here for more info.