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

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?

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?

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...?