C100 MII. I prefer to shoot at 30P.

[MarkD]

I prefer to shoot at 30P. In AVCHD there is only a PF29.97 choice. Is that the same as 30p? I see there is a 30P, (29.97P),  choice in MP4 but I'm guessing that is a lower quality than AVCHD since the manual notes MP4 is mainly for web use.. Am I correct?

Thanks!

[Mykolas]

Hi MarkD!

Thanks for posting and welcome to the Canon Forum.

When shooting AVCHD, only 59.94P (60P), 59.94i (60i), PF29.97 and 23.98P (24P) are available.  PF29.97 is video shot at 29.97 fps, progressive, but it is recorded as 59.94i.  AVCHD is considered the better quality, but you can still shoot at a bitrate of 24 Mbps in MP4 at 29.97P, which is the same maximum bitrate you can shoot at in AVCHD at PF29.97.  If you like 30P though, you may like shooting at 59.94P, which offers the best video quality when shooting both AVCHD and MP4.

[MarkD]

Thanks for your reply to my my question!~

I really appreciate your patience on these questions. I'm not too concerned with file size or space. I am just looking for the best quality. That said, I know 60P is sharper but I still like the having some of that crispness taken off by going 30P. It fels more natural to me.

Is there a difference in compression or quality between AVCHD and MP4 if I'm shooting both at 24mbps? Am I compromisong anything going MP4? Also, what still confuses me is shooting at 29.97 progressive but recording at 59.94i. Do I still end up effectively with a 30p image?  I totally get 29.97=30P having shot film and video for 30 years. I'm just a bit thrown by the "PF" thing. Why does AVCHD not offer straight 30P?

[JonKline]

AVCHD compression is a generation newer than MP4 compression. Assuming all other things equal, you should see better image quality from your AVCHD video. It may be harder to work with in your editing program, so do some tests, first. If you're just going to upload the file directly to YouTube or wherever without editing, it's much simpler to shoot in MP4.

I believe that we're talking about 29.97p in a 59.94i container. You have an actual 30p image that looks like 30p regardless of where you play it.  The explanation is complicated, but basically, you're sending an "interlaced signal" but the image itself isn't interlaced. On playback, it just drawns odd lines, then even lines of the same frame.  Which is exactly what would happen if you fed a progressive signal to an interlaced monitor anyway.  Not that anyone has those, anymore.

There are different levels of compatibility with all the codecs and containers. AVCHD is usually limited to 1080i at 59.94 to ensure compatibility with older set-top players and other decoders. 

[JonKline]

Hi Mark,

29.97 is often called 30 in the video world. Most cameras haven't shot at exactly 30 fps since the invention of color television. Either AVCHD or MP4 will both record in 29.97.