just what video can the netbook handle

I'm thinking of buying a new HD video camera. Lots of choices. I don't know whether to get a 720p or 1080i/p. The 720p HD caught my eye and is certainly cheap enough. SD storage. Small for easy carry.

My question is not about the camera nor about suitable subject matter but about the ability of a netbook to handle video. I currently own a ASUS 1000HE. Image size for the 720p is 1280X720 pixels. The 1080i/p is 1920X1080 pixels. That's larger than the 1024X600 pixels of my netbook. My largest external monitor is 1680X1050 pixels.

My setup doesn't seem to be prepared to handle full HD. However, I watched HD trailers at both 720p and 1080p. Both videos went off the sides of the screen but could be minimized to my screen size.

I downloaded the trailer to my 7200rpm HDD so file feed was fast enough. There weren't any discernible skips or blurring in the motion or lapses in the audio. I didn't see any problems with color or contrast shifts.

I don't have any editing software in the netbook but I could edit in a different computer. Most of the editing I do anyway is limited to cuts, voice overs and contrast uniformity.

Anyone want to jump in on this decision making?

[cokids]

I'm very interested in this too. I just bought a Zi6 with HD, but a very small, first camera...very basic!

I too need a piece of softare that can be downloaded from the net onto a netbook to edit video.

Ideas?
Beth

[ericinboston]

Here is my advice:

I would go with the higher/highest video cam resolution...because you can ALWAYS scale it down. Scaling UP makes video look poorer than what it is (simple test is to make a 320x240 video full screen on a 20" or larger monitor running at 1280x1024 or better resolution...but when you run it in a normal 320x240 window it looks nice).

So grab that camera with the 1080p resolution. First, you won't regret it for its amazing quality; Second you can always scale it down on monitors; Third, 720 resolution is sooooo 2005. I can't imagine 720 lasting much longer on any tv or vid camera or anything. Maybe 1 more year?

On a side note, the only thing you should consider since you are using a netbook is storage...1080p video is going to be very very large per minute of video...a normal dvd rips out at 1gig per 20mins...blurary is probably 4gigs per 20 min block (or about 1gig every 5 min which is 200MB per min). Don't quote me on the BR storage...but I know it's a lot since a standard BR disc holds 25GB while a standard DVD holds roughly 4GB. So you'll want a drive that can hold that kind of space as well as drive that is fast enough so when you play it back, the player/system isn't waiting for the hard drive to catch up. A 5400RPM notebook drive should barely make the cut...if you can get a 7200RPM notebook drive that would be much better. Again, these are general ballparks to live by.

Let us know what you choose and how things go!


-Eric

I haven't forgotten you. I've been looking for smaller video editing programs. I've downloaded several trials to see what size they are and check how to work with them. I have to find some HD clips to edit. I still do SD. One of the reasons I went to the store is to check on one for me but also to check on included editing software.

I'm back home on vacation so while that means I don't have a job distraction it means I am fully involved with family so computing is taking a back seat.

Take some time to start threads and post ideas. You could still win on of the nice prizes being offered.

Originally Posted by cokids

I'm very interested in this too. I just bought a Zi6 with HD, but a very small, first camera...very basic!

I too need a piece of softare that can be downloaded from the net onto a netbook to edit video.

Ideas?
Beth

Thanks EIB. I have a 7200rpm 500GB drive in my netbook right now. I'm downloading clips to edit on the 1.6GHz netbook. It seems to me the higher resolution I choose the more I will stress the computer moving all those little bits and bytes. The high res camera also costs almost twice as much. Netbookery is low cost non-stress, isn't it?

[ThisIsNot]

All-in-all, netbooks really shouldn't be used for HD video editing. You might be able to get away with some things in Windows Movie Maker but that is about it. Otherwise, you are going to stay up all night editing a 2 minute 1080p video clip.

As for netbook playback, it depends on the video bitrate that the camcorder used. From my experience, the Intel GMA 950 (and 1.6GHz/1.66GHz Atom PCs) is pretty much limited to 720p. I can get 4-5Mbps 720p mpeg-4 AVC, mpeg-2, and VC-1 videos to work through VLC without issues. I can even get 1-2Mbps 1080p mpeg-4 AVC and VC-1 videos to work in VLC. Any video bitrate higher and 1080p is pretty much out the window. The 1080p camcorder that I have uses a video bitrate of 5Mbps (although it can use 2Mbps if I choose a different setting) and its videos can be played back only on my desktop. My tablet PCs (which run a 800 series GMA and 900 series GMA) can't even play my 1080p camcorder videos back and one of them is running a 2GHz dual-core processor (something about the GPU that chokes everything down).

I agree with eric though, always go with the largest resolution and most feature packed camcorder that you can afford at the time. Resolution isn't everything though. For example, Best Buy's in-house Insignia labeled camcorder can shoot up to 720p but I have seen other "pocket" SD camcorders that produced better quality. Even my 10.1 MP Sony digital camera produces better videos (they are 480p) than that Insignia model. So you have to be careful with these pocket video camcorders as they seem to be all the rage these days. The Kodak Zi8 is getting positive reviews pretty much all across the board. It is the camcorder that I am using now (it isn't out in stores now but will be released on September 1st) and it produces great quality. Granted, the quality isn't as good as a $1000 Sony 1080p camcorder but it isn't bad at all for a $180 unit.

Thanks for the heads up TIN.

[ericinboston]

Originally Posted by netbooking

It seems to me the higher resolution I choose the more I will stress the computer moving all those little bits and bytes. The high res camera also costs almost twice as much. Netbookery is low cost non-stress, isn't it?

Well, your computer in general (any computer) will always work harder with large(r) files than "normal" and with complex processing like video rendering. Stress? Nope...stress does not equal work. As TIN mentioned, you can probably do it...but you'll be waiting forever.

Netbookery is surely about low cost...but how low is low? It's not the netbook's fault the user buys a $10,000 video camera or a $299 camera. As many of us have stated on this board NUMEROUS times...use a netbook for what it is intended...heavy duty tasks (as defined today like video editing (ANY editing...any quality) and rendering for example) should be done on some other computer. Playback? Sure...see how your netbook performs by testing 2-5 different sized/quality video files at different screen resolutions and/or video output. I would expect that netbooks of July 2010 will be far superior in video playback than today's newest models....that's my prediction.

-Eric

[ThisIsNot]

Also, with the advent of the Nvidia ION platform, video encoding will be a lot faster. The ION platform supports hardware accelerated encoding for mpeg-4 AVC, VC-1, and mpeg-2 videos along with decoding. This means that it will take only a few minutes to encode a 1080p video that is 30 minutes in length. That is one of the reasons why I thought about waiting as Broadcom's Crystal HD chip is only for decoding, not encoding. I then realized that I have an 8 core desktop that can encode a 4 hour 1080p movie in about 15 minutes. No need to try to do that on a netbook (at least right now).

2010 seems like the magic year when everything is going to start changing for netbooks. Microsoft just needs to open up their standard so that we can get dual-core processors in them. That would really bridge the gap between netbooks and notebooks. Manufacturers also need to stop coming out with budget notebooks. Wal-Mart is selling a Celeron powered Compaq notebook and a Celeron powered Toshiba for $399 (or less). Do away with budget notebooks and then netbooks will be able to excel even further.

Beth, I used this company's editing software several years ago so I checked on it for you. It needs 1024X768 pixel screen resolution but will run awkwardly (i.e. you will need to scroll) on smaller screens. They offer a 15 day trial which must be registered. Installation is friendly by allowing options of what to install and where. Specifications. Trial download.

It comes with a nice tutorial and sample clips to practice. The software is three step easy: capture video, edit, and make movie. Just drag the clips to the timeline. There are some basic effects you can add to the edits. You can make a movie of yourself with the built in camera.

My Asus 1000HE has a 500GB hard drive to save video clips. You won't need that much but don't try a 16GB drive.

Because of screen resolution I had a problem accessing some buttons on the bottom of the screen. You will definitely need the screen real estate.

The netbook is marginal for this software. It is good software however. If you use a larger notebook with it, you won't have any problems. May be pricey to you.

Originally Posted by cokids

I'm very interested in this too. I just bought a Zi6 with HD, but a very small, first camera...very basic!

I too need a piece of softare that can be downloaded from the net onto a netbook to edit video.

Ideas?
Beth