Simple question from DV beginner

[singlecoil]

I have a Sony dcr-trv140e Digital 8 camera. I've had it a few years now and most of that time it's been shut away in a drawer.
Anyway, now I want to start doing some video stuff and I find that when connected to the computer via USB, the biggest picture I can get is 320x240. Now the resolution of the camera is supposed to be (effective) 350Kpix, so is there some way I can get a bigger picture, would a firewire cable be better? Is there another way? Or do I just need to upgrade the camera?
TIA

[Imperialism2024]

Firewire is the only type of connection that can sustain full-quality transfer. Even high-speed USB can only transfer at high quality in bursts, so it transfers at lower speeds sustained.

[roop]

Hrm, not sure about the USB argument. Both USB2 (High Speed USB) and Firewire can transfer not only full-resolution DV but also full resolution HD in real time (even 1080p). USB is 12MBit/s, IEEE1394 Firewire is 400MBit/s and USB2 (High Speed USB) is 480MBit/s.

I reckon your camera is USB 1.1 and not USB 2 hence 12MBit/s maximum not 480MBit/s ergo it can't transfer full resolution. Use Firewire and job done.

[Wildfire]

roop said:

Hrm, not sure about the USB argument. Both USB2 (High Speed USB) and Firewire can transfer not only full-resolution DV but also full resolution HD in real time (even 1080p). USB is 12MBit/s, IEEE1394 Firewire is 400MBit/s and USB2 (High Speed USB) is 480MBit/s.

I reckon your camera is USB 1.1 and not USB 2 hence 12MBit/s maximum not 480MBit/s ergo it can't transfer full resolution. Use Firewire and job done.

What he sai, we use a Panasonic HVX-200 to shoot on, everything from SD to HD (1080) and use both USB 2.0 or firewire. But Firewire does have a constant transfer rate, as oppose to USB 1.1 or 2.0

The max resolution you will get for DV is 720 x 576 @a 1.067 pixel aspect ratio.

[imperialism2024]

Wildfire said:

roop said:

Hrm, not sure about the USB argument. Both USB2 (High Speed USB) and Firewire can transfer not only full-resolution DV but also full resolution HD in real time (even 1080p). USB is 12MBit/s, IEEE1394 Firewire is 400MBit/s and USB2 (High Speed USB) is 480MBit/s.

I reckon your camera is USB 1.1 and not USB 2 hence 12MBit/s maximum not 480MBit/s ergo it can't transfer full resolution. Use Firewire and job done.

What he sai, we use a Panasonic HVX-200 to shoot on, everything from SD to HD (1080) and use both USB 2.0 or firewire. But Firewire does have a constant transfer rate, as oppose to USB 1.1 or 2.0

The max resolution you will get for DV is 720 x 576 @a 1.067 pixel aspect ratio.

But do you shoot on tapes or another format?

From what I know, when you shoot on tapes, you can still only transfer with Firewire due to the inability of USB2.0 to transfer sustained. With hard disk, solid state, or some other type of storage that saves the video as a file, you can get similar transfer speeds because you're not really capturing, and it doesnt matter that you're transferring in bursts.

[roop]

imperialism2024 said:

But do you shoot on tapes or another format?

From what I know, when you shoot on tapes, you can still only transfer with Firewire due to the inability of USB2.0 to transfer sustained. With hard disk, solid state, or some other type of storage that saves the video as a file, you can get similar transfer speeds because you're not really capturing, and it doesnt matter that you're transferring in bursts.

IIRC, when capturing via USB2, buffers handle the burst nature so no problems...