Firewire vs USB Video Transfer Cable Quality Test.avi

I heard rumors that firewire/DV transfer gives an overall better picture quality when transferring it from the camera. I was unconvinced so I decided to try it out myself on my Panasonic PV-GS320.

The tape was transferred through MotionDV Studio using first the USB 2.0 cable, then again using the Firewire 1394 connection. Both videos were then exported using the same AVI DV settings, assembled in Adobe Premiere, then exported uncompressed as an AVI, and finally uploaded to Youtube. I know Youtube compresses the video, but I hoped that any differences would still be visible.

Before assembling the video together, the file size was the same (71.6MB) for both pieces of video, and watching them separately, and together yielded no visible degradation in either video.

My conclusion: If one video looks better than the other, it is likely due to the program doing the exporting/importing.

(Note: If I want transfer video back to Tape, the Firewire/DV cable is required.)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Firewire vs USB
• PV-GS320

[pianoalien]

did you have to find and download drivers to be able to use the usb?

[Zott820]

@pianoalien The camera has to support USB in the first place, which in this case it did. I used the software that came with the camera to do the test. Otherwise, Windows would probably find the USB driver for the device automatically.

[xalentcash]

test it with a better camera.

[FilmSphereFilms]

I heard the same thing. I am buying a video camera and I want the best possible quality but my computer doesnt have firewire. Im sticking with USB, thank you for testing this rumor