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canon optura 50 playback on HD TV

Jules
Contributor

I connected my camcorder to my new 55 inch Samsung HD TV.  I also have a DVD and sound bar connected to this device.  When playing back a recorded tape, the sound comes through the, but the picture is in Black and White.  The screen on the camcorder shows the playback video in color.  I am not sure if it is a connection problem, TV setting problem or perhaps one of the camcorder was inadvertently set to an incorrect setting for playback.  The other problem might be playing SD recorded tape on a TV with 1080 resolution.

 

Previously on an older television, I had no problems with this except that the colors were never as brilliant as on the small camcorder screen.  Someone at the forum indicated with SD recordings playing back on HD TV, the colors would not be a sharp.

 

Any suggestions regarding the colors would be appreciated.  

 

Thanks.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Jules,

 

Reducing the resolution setting on your computer will allow the played back video to be larger in physical size on your monitor when you watch it, but it will not improve color and picture quality.

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6 REPLIES 6

Tim
Authority

Hello Jules,

When connecting a Standard Definition [SD] device to a High Definition [HD] set, you can expect that everything from color to resolution will not be as sharp or crisp.  This is because the resolution of the tape is 640 x 480 while the TV is 1920 x 1080, so there is quite a difference in resolution, meaning that the TV must now stretch the video to fit.  That is where the lackluster color and lack of sharpness is coming from. 

 

Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done about either as it's just the nature of the technology.  The one way to improve the quality at all would be to use an S- Video cable, which plugs into the very front of the camcorder under the lens.  You would do well to check that your TV has this input first though. 

Now, with regards to the black and white, it should be known that there is a black and white effect on the camcorder, so you should ensure that the Optura 50 is not set to that effect.  You mention the camcorder playing back in color so there's a good chance that's not it, but it's worth a check. 

I would also recommend trying the S- Video connection too.  As this would rule out the camcorder being the issue.  The one note about using S- Video is that it does not carry audio, so while the video quality is superior to RCA, you need to also plug in the STV- 250N stereo video cable too.  However- and this is important- realize that you are only using it to carry audio, so you only connect the red and white RCA connectors to your TV under the S- Video input.  You do not use the yellow RCA at all when using the S- Video connection.

This should resolve the issue, if not, then you are looking at an issue with the TV.  In this case, you would need to contact Samsung and see if there is a specialized method to connect older SD devices to the new HD set top. 

If you have further questions of if this is an urgent inquiry, please feel free to contact Canon technical support directly through our Support and Service web site.   

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Thanks Tim.  This is very helpful.

 

Unfortunately, my TV does not have S-Video input, so this option is not available.  

 

Is it possible to use a cable such as the EEE1394 that I have used to upload my video tapes to my computer?  I know that cable does not fit one of the HDMI slots on my TV.  is there a cable that would connect to the camcorder and then also to a HMDI slot on the TV and that would allow playback?  I am not sure that would work, but since I can copy these uploaded videos to a flash drive, insert the flash drive in the HDMI slot and it plays back, color picture and audio, and the quality is good although not a sharp as on the camcorder.

 

Please let me know if this might be an option or any other alternatives.  If not, I can simply continue uploading to my computer and then either burn a DVD, or copy to a flash drive.    Thanks again for your help.

Jules,

 

It is not possible to connect the camcorder to your TV via the IEEE1394 connection to send a video signal to the TV.  It is only used to carry the data from your camcorder to a computer.  We also do not make a cable that converts to an HDMI connection so you can connect to the HDMI ports on your TV.  The best way is to continue to download the video and place it on another form of media that can be played back by your TV.

 

This didn't answer your question? Find more help at Contact Us.

 

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Thanks Mike.

 

I am still considering a purchase of a newer HD camcorder  and see where some support Wi-Fi as well as recording in 1080 resolution.  I would prefer something that is not too expensive, but would allow for filming with brilliant colors and sharpness to play back on the HD TV or my computer.  In addition, I want to be able to upload these files to my computer, so I can preserve with computer backup.  The camcorder should be able to store an adequate amount of video.

 

I would again appreciate any suggestions on current models in terms of auto point and film, clarity, comparison to competition, etc.  Thanks.

Jules
Contributor

As a follow up, when playing back my uploaded tapes on my computer, would the colors and picture quality improve if I reduced the resolution on my computer?  Again, my videos are not HD and the previous suggestions was the higher resolution requirements of my computer system (and also HDTV) was causing the colors not to be as crisp and sharp.

 

My computer system allows for changing the resolution, so for all of my uploaded camcorder tapes, I would reduce the resolution if this would help.  I did not try this as I did not want to create other system issues.  Of course, after playback, I would change the resolution back to the recommended setting, which is 1080.

 

Thanks for any additional feedback you can provide.

 

P.S.  I hope to purchase a HD camcorder in the future, which hopefully will eliminate this issue completely.

Jules,

 

Reducing the resolution setting on your computer will allow the played back video to be larger in physical size on your monitor when you watch it, but it will not improve color and picture quality.

Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.
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