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Idea The differences between XAVCS and XAVC HD

  • CeeDee
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The differences between XAVCS and XAVC HD was created by CeeDee

Posted 04 Jan 2018 21:31 #1
Having sold my Sony PXW-X70 video cam, I am now looking to upgrade to either the Sony HXR-NX80 or the PXW-Z90v. The fundamental differences between these two are basically, PXW-Z90 = professional broadcast use HXR-NX80 = high end consumer use. Both are 4K camcorders.

The PXW-Z90v highest quality is XAVC HD : MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 4:2:2 Long profile whilst the
HXR-NX80 shoots at XAVC S quality (AVC S 4K 100/60 Mbps recordings at 30p/25p/24p, XAVC S and AVCHD).

I am not sure whether the differences in quality of the footage between these two formats warrants paying so much more for the 'pro' broadcast format and the connectivity on offer (which I won't use anyway).

Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
Sony Vegas Pro 15, DVD Architect 9, Acid Music Studio 9, Sound Forge Audio Studio 10, Photoshop Elements 9
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Last Edit:05 Jan 2018 11:00 by CeeDee

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Replied by DoctorZen on topic The differences between XAVCS and XAVC HD

Posted 05 Jan 2018 10:58 #2
I checked the specs on the B&H website for both cameras.
Looks like the main difference between both of them is the Pro camera can record in 10 bit and Pro-sumer camera shoots in 8 bit.
I watched a lot of videos on YouTube from professionals discussing 8 bit vs 10 bit in Sony cameras.
A lot of people reckon that recording 8 bit with latest Sony sensors is extremely good in most situations and is hard to tell the difference between 10 bit versions. Professional, professionals still want to use 10 bit.

Dave Dugdale has spoken about this in some of his videos.
Watch the videos, in the order below.
2nd video is from a fellow countrymen, Matthew Scott





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Last Edit:05 Jan 2018 11:02 by DoctorZen
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  • CeeDee
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Replied by CeeDee on topic The differences between XAVCS and XAVC HD

Posted 06 Jan 2018 08:28 #3
Thanks Derek! Very helpful. You come to the rescue as always....
Sony Vegas Pro 15, DVD Architect 9, Acid Music Studio 9, Sound Forge Audio Studio 10, Photoshop Elements 9
PC: Intel six Core i7 Processor i7-5820K (3.3GHz) 15MB Cache
ASUS® X99-S: ATX, HSW-E CPU, USB 3.0, SATA 6 GB/s
32GB CRUCIAL DDR4 RAM
3GB AMD RADEON™ R9 280X
Last Edit:06 Jan 2018 08:29 by CeeDee

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