How do I get HD videos like I see on YouTube from my SX40?

[olowkow]

My videos are grainy and very disappointing compared to what I see in demos of SX40 on youtube.  Panning gives a very confusing effect, and there is some waviness in the video when seen on my monitor or on LG big screen.  Still pics are acceptable.

I called tech support shortly after buying it, but they were of no help.  I guess I should have returned it, but I was more interested in still photos and the 35x zoom at the time.  It's now 2 years old.

[hsbn]

You see all those image of juicy steak in super market ad right? When you go out to buy it, does it look like the photo? No right. You have to go home and cook it and depend on your skill you can make it ok or make it good.

It's the same concept for video camera. Promo video mostly has been edited to look good. You will need to do some of the processing to get the look that you want. Grainy video dues to high ISO use (from lack of light). You can use software to denoise it. Here is one that I use but it requires After Effect: http://www.neatvideo.com/examples.html

Good luck.

[olowkow]

Thanks hsbn for the "neatvideo" site and your response.  That is quite a remarkable improvement. 

I have seen that kind of grainess when using my ipod touch to take videos in insufficient light.  That is understandable. Does this site permit me to upload a short 5 second or so clip?  I have some clips on a sunny day in a garden that are still grainy (not as bad as the "neatvideo" site), and/or full of what looks to me like JPG compression artefacts. I could upload a sample if allowed.  Detailed stuff like lawn looks awful, as I pan, as if the camera can't get enough data quickly enough and is filliing in the blanks...badly.  I would think that if the data is so compressed already, it cannot then be retrieved, no?  My videos look almost as bad as highly compressed cheap phone videos. 

Maybe posting something to YouTube would be a good way to figure this out.  I've never done it before, but I could try.  The thing is, I recently bought an Ipad air, and it takes fantastic videos and stills.  This is what started me wondering what could be going on with my SX40. 

I expect this kind of HD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJFUUIr5QrA

Or something like this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgwsOPQacec

or this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zXsntvvbyw

I've never come close to that kind of quality.  When I attempt to Chromecast, the videos look even worse, with jitter.  Videos that I download from a variety of sources don't do that on Chromecast.

One more thing.  I tried to play a video directly to my LG TV, with the cable, and LG does not recognize Canon audio, so no audio is heard.

[hsbn]

Chromecast increase the display size of your video so it makes bad video become worst. Are you using HDMI cable for out put onto TV (something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-Digital-Camera-Cable/dp/B0065880YO)? Also don't zoom in too much (even though you can), or use digital zoom, also make sure you get a fast SD card (class 10). Some sample video would help us figure out if there is anything wrong with your camera. 🙂 Good luck, and I understand your frustration.

[olowkow]

I'll post a link to my other thread so I don't have to repeat.

http://forums.usa.canon.com/t5/PowerShot/SX40-poor-quality-videos/m-p/105339#U105339

If I use an HDMI to my LG TV 48", there is no audio.  A message appears telling me Canon audio is not recognized by LG.  Go figure!

I need to check on SD card.  The person who sold me the card, sold me the wrong type first time around, wouldn't fit, so this could well be a cheapie, 32 gig.

One problem was for sure, the MP4 conversion.  Wondershare improved that immensely!  Colors still are too  vivid, causing kind of sparkly effect, what seems like graininess I think. Fast panning, very poor, feels like I'm crosseyed. Looking for better software to try out, I wound up with a bunch of malware.  Bummer! Cost me a few hours.

I discovered Videostream the other day.  Works pretty well for testing all of this stuff with the Chrome and LG.

I have a photobucket account, and will try to get a sample on there.  Kind of busy these days.