1080p/24 playback

[fetigan]

I am currently overseeing the edit of a feature that has been shot on Alexa at 1080p/24. The rushes were transcoded to DNxHD 36 1080p/24. All good there.



The job was first started on Media Composer 5.5.2 and was monitored via a Matrox MXO2 Mini connected over HDMI to a 24p capable panasonic LCD. The monitor displays the image at 1080p/24. After a shot while the editor was unhappy with the quality of the images and has said they look to video/too HD and not at all filmic which is what the desired effect is supposed to be. As a trouble shooting step the project was transferred to a Media Composer 5.0.3 system and was again connected to a Panasonic LCD only this tiem the HDMi signal was 1080i/29.97, due to earlier versions of the Matrox drivers and i believe restrictions in Media Composer 5.0.3. The editor was much more impressed with this set up and has decided to work this way.

By way of comparison, i set up the two systems side by side and looked at the same images and there is indeed quite a difference in the look between the systems.



Is this simply due to the way the images are displayed and the way different versions of MC handle 1080p/24? Im strugglign to understand why rushes shot at 1080p/24 look better when displayed at a different frame rate from which they were intended.


Any thoughts or ideas?

[Matrox_Support_Joe]

Is your project a true 1080p 24 project or 1080p 23.976?

What Matrox software versions are you using in both your setups?

If using Matrox 2.2.3.0043 with your Avid MC 5.5.2 setup, then note that a 1080p 23.98 project is output as true 1080p 23.98 with both 'follow application' and '1080' set as the output format in the Matrox video output settings.

If using Matrox 2.1 with your Avid MC 5.0.3 setup, then note that a 1080p 23.98 project is output as 1080PsF 23.98 with the Matrox video output setting (in Matrox preferences) set to 'follow application'. You can convert it to 1080i 29.97 by changing the output format to '1080'.

It's very difficult to answer your question as to why the 1080i 29.97 setup looks better than the 1080p 23.98 setup. Often this is subjective but please feel free to elaborate more on what aspects of the 1080i 29.97 look better.
_________________
Regards,
Joe
Matrox Video Technical Support

[fetigan]

Set up one

MC 5.0.3/Matrox 2.1.1/Project 1080p/24

Set up two

MC 5.5.3/Matrox 2.2.3/Project 1080p/24


As you are aware set up one will result in images being displayed at 1080i/29.97 obvioulsy with soem sort of pull down applied, resulting in softer smoother images.

To be totally honest im not really sure what to expect wehn vieweing true 24p images

[Matrox_Support_Joe]

With true 1080p 24 Avid projects, the output will be a true 1080p 24 with Matrox 2.2.3 driver (Avid 5.5.3). With this driver, you cannot modify the output to 1080i 29.97.

The output will be 1080PsF 23.98 with Matrox 2.1 driver set to follow application (Avid 5.0.3). The output is only converted to 1080i 29.97 if setting the video output format to '1080' in the Matrox preferences application.

As mentioned, video quality is often a subjective matter. If the 1080i 29.97 setup is preferred, then it's fine to continue to use this setup with this particular monitor. If you wish, you can try other monitors to see if the output looks better with a 1080p 23.98 signal.
_________________
Regards,
Joe
Matrox Video Technical Support