Sony Cybershot P100 VX '640x480' movie mode is fake

I bought a Nikon Coolpix 3700 for its 640x480/30fps movie mode. I
returned it because of the notorious sync problem (audio lags video by
270ms). Got the P100, but 640 movie images appeared soft, 3700's were
much more detailed (chalk and cheese). Some research on the web found
the claim below, that Sony's 640 VX is only interpolated 320x240.
Suspiciously, the P100 offers only 640 and 160 modes--no 320
option--I'm guessing to prevent direct comparison.

Is this outright deception from "It's a Sony"? I was unhappy about
this enough to return an otherwise very good P&S camera and buy back
the 3700 (AU$200 cheaper, and I'll correct the lag with an editor; I
want and use true hi res video).

See also:

"Here's the skinny on the new MPEG-VX 640 x 480 movie recording mode.
It doesn't look any better than 320x240 movies!!!!

"The MPEG-VX mode is an interpolated MPEG-HQX 320x240. And trust
me.....I have tried and tried and tried to look for any difference
between the VX and HQX (320x240) or even HQ (also 320x240) movies.
There just simply isn't any discernable difference. I've even done
back to back comparisons between the three (using a DSC-P1 and
DSC-P9), and I have yet to find any difference.

"The most compelling evidence of interpolation is that the recording
times for a 128MB memory stick are identical for MPEG-HQX and MPEG-VX.
"

http://howstuffworks.shopping.com/xP...D-104205946500

Mark


PS Fine mode refers to frame rate, not resolution. The three P100
movie modes a

1. VX Fine - 640 x 480 pixels, 30 fps
2. VX Standard - 640 x 480 pixels, 16 fps
3. Low res mode - 160 x 112 pixels, ? fps

My comments refer to 1.

I just got one of these and look forward to comparing its video mode to that
of my Fuji S602 which DOES apparently have 640x480 resolution and IS a
lousy interpolated 3.2 megapixel still mode camera??

I wonder why none of the review sites mention the reasonably obvious point
you state, if it is true? They all review these cameras to the Nth degree
and all say that the video mode is great??

(I cant explain why those file sizes should be the same)

"Maria Ripanykhazova" wrote in message ...
I just got one of these and look forward to comparing its video mode to that
of my Fuji S602 which DOES apparently have 640x480 resolution and IS a
lousy interpolated 3.2 megapixel still mode camera??

I wonder why none of the review sites mention the reasonably obvious point
you state, if it is true? They all review these cameras to the Nth degree
and all say that the video mode is great??

Some digicam reviewers don't even test the video mode, and often those
that do give it a disproportionately small coverage. "Oh yeah it has
X video mode and I recorded a clip you can download here, only 15MB."

Believe me, the difference is real and obvious, enough for me to
choose the Coolpix 3700 over the generally superior (though more
expensive) P100. Perhaps one third of my holiday images were movies,
so true hi-res support matters to me.

Mark

Mark Elkington wrote:

Some research on the web found the claim below, that Sony's 640 VX is
only interpolated 320x240.

I have a Sony DCS-T1, that also produces MPEG Vx movies. For what it's
worth, I contacted Sony support and they told me "The 640x480pixel MPEG
Vx movies from the DCS-T1 camera are not interpolated from
320x240pixels."

Suspiciously, the P100 offers only 640 and 160 modes--no 320 option--
I'm guessing to prevent direct comparison.

The T1 lacks a 320x240 mode too. Another guess as to why would be that
an ordinary Memory Stick is capable of handling 320x240pixels at 30fps.
Maybe such a mode would mean that more people bought the slower (and
cheaper) sticks instead of the faster ones?

I am not arguing but I am in the US and have usually found that it is
IMPOSSIBLE to get anyone on the phone at Sony who actually has any knowledge
about their machines: All they ever do is repeat what is in the catalogues
in case you couldn't read it yourself. If you try to get technical, they
just refer to the manuals which would hardly dare to admit that what they
advertise as 640x480 is actually 320x240. Something legal? False
advertising? Is it LIKELY that their telephone support centre would admit
to this?

Last week, it was so obvious that he was just reading from the manual when I
called them about getting my P100 into flash mode and he initially tried to
tell me to refer to page 57.

Where are you and how did you manage this feat?

Maria Ripanykhazova wrote:

I am not arguing but I am in the US and have usually found that it
is IMPOSSIBLE to get anyone on the phone at Sony who actually has
any knowledge about their machines: [...]

Where are you and how did you manage this feat?

Denmark. I just used the online support form on their webpage. The
first answer wasn't usable: "We do not have any issues with the DSC-P8
Camera and the DSC-T1 Camera. We also do no have any customers having
such an issue with these Cameras.", so I asked the person to clarify
and he answered with the quote I gave before. Snappy service BTW.

Maria Ripanykhazova wrote:

I am not arguing but I am in the US and have usually found that it
is IMPOSSIBLE to get anyone on the phone at Sony who actually has
any knowledge about their machines: [...]

Where are you and how did you manage this feat?

Denmark. I just used the online support form on their webpage. The
first answer wasn't usable: "We do not have any issues with the DSC-P8
Camera and the DSC-T1 Camera. We also do no have any customers having
such an issue with these Cameras.", so I asked the person to clarify
and he answered with the quote I gave before. Snappy service BTW.

Maria Ripanykhazova wrote:

I am not arguing but I am in the US and have usually found that it
is IMPOSSIBLE to get anyone on the phone at Sony who actually has
any knowledge about their machines: [...]

Where are you and how did you manage this feat?

Denmark. I just used the online support form on their webpage. The
first answer wasn't usable: "We do not have any issues with the DSC-P8
Camera and the DSC-T1 Camera. We also do no have any customers having
such an issue with these Cameras.", so I asked the person to clarify
and he answered with the quote I gave before. Snappy service BTW.

I just compared Nikon 640 and 320 movies with a Sony 640. The Sony 640
is much closer to the Nikon 640 than 320 (though noticeably less
sharp), so if it is an interpolation it works well. If Sony is saying
it's not, maybe the difference is the result of differences in the
compression algs etc.

Also, there were at times obvious compression artefacts on the Nikon
for large homogenous blocks within an image, something the Sony didn't
seem as susceptable to.

I guess check it out for yourself. The Sony movies are still good, and
I think with better audio (at least in sync, unlike the Nikon).
Overall the P100 is a very good camera, better than the nifty 3700
IMO.

Mark


Toke Eskildsen wrote in message .. .
Mark Elkington wrote:

Some research on the web found the claim below, that Sony's 640 VX is
only interpolated 320x240.

I have a Sony DCS-T1, that also produces MPEG Vx movies. For what it's
worth, I contacted Sony support and they told me "The 640x480pixel MPEG
Vx movies from the DCS-T1 camera are not interpolated from
320x240pixels."

Suspiciously, the P100 offers only 640 and 160 modes--no 320 option--
I'm guessing to prevent direct comparison.

The T1 lacks a 320x240 mode too. Another guess as to why would be that
an ordinary Memory Stick is capable of handling 320x240pixels at 30fps.
Maybe such a mode would mean that more people bought the slower (and
cheaper) sticks instead of the faster ones?

Possibly...?

I am not arguing but I am in the US and have usually found that it is
IMPOSSIBLE to get anyone on the phone at Sony who actually has any knowledge
about their machines: All they ever do is repeat what is in the catalogues
in case you couldn't read it yourself. If you try to get technical, they
just refer to the manuals which would hardly dare to admit that what they
advertise as 640x480 is actually 320x240. Something legal? False
advertising? Is it LIKELY that their telephone support centre would admit
to this?

Last week, it was so obvious that he was just reading from the manual when I
called them about getting my P100 into flash mode and he initially tried to
tell me to refer to page 57.

Where are you and how did you manage this feat?