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View Full Version : Cineform vfw codec and YUV conversions?


WorBry
14th November 2013, 04:27
Over in the DV section (yes, it is still exists - next floor up from here, four doors down), on the topic of vfw DVCProHD codecs, or lack of them, I drew some comparisons with the Cineform codec now available (as an accessible vfw codec) with the free Go-Pro editing suite.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1653199#post1653199

My understanding is that the Cineform codec is essentially a 10-bit YUV 4:2:2 format (although I think 3D capture on their Hero cams is in 4:4:4?).

In the self-discussion that ensued, the question arose as to whether conversion from 8-bit MPEG-2 4:2:0 YV12 HDV, and for that matter, AVCHD, to 10-bit YUV 4:2:2 and back, is inherently more or less efficient, in terms of sampling accuracy, than to and from 8-bit YUY2 4:2:2, as used in DVCProHD. Same consideration would apply to SD (DV, MPEG-2 etc) YUV conversions to and from Cineform.

As it stands, the Cineform codec (as accessed in VirtualDub) appears to accept both YUY2 and YV12 inputs from AVISynth, but I am wondering if it would pay to convert HDV/AVCHD YV12 decodes into a more "Cineform-ready" YUV format, should there be one?

Cheers.

WorBry
15th November 2013, 14:55
Kind of answered my own question with some 'in-use' generation testing (same thread as posted above). This is what Go-Pro (Cineform) has to say about 8-bit to 10-bit:

https://cineform.zendesk.com/entries/23259533-Visual-Quality-Difference-Between-10-bit-and-8-bit-precision