Do I need a better SD card to transfer HD movies?

[NateRivers]

My Camera is a Canon A3200 and should record HD movies. When I transfer them to my laptop it does not show them in HD the quality is very poor. Is this because my SD card is a cheap Sandisk SDHC or is there another reason?

[jimmyosram]

The quality of the recording is only dependant on the camera and it's settings, not the card. That would determine the amount of recording time and the speed it reads and writes. Have a look at your camera settings I'd say.

[Cathus]

are you using the software provided with your camera to view the video files? it might be that your software is having problems rather than the files themselves.

[MattUK]

You need a class 6 SD card or higher in order to record HD movies. The fact that you are recording them but they're not appearing in good quality suggests the settings for recording might not be right. The other option, as Cathus mentions is that there's a problem with the media player you're using (or the codec). Are you using Windows Media Player? Do you have the correct and latest codec installed?

[NateRivers]

The camera is set to 1280 X 720. I'm also using VLC media player.

[NateRivers]

Originally Posted by jimmyosram

The quality of the recording is only dependant on the camera and it's settings, not the card. That would determine the amount of recording time and the speed it reads and writes. Have a look at your camera settings I'd say.

The settings are 1280 X 720.

[NateRivers]

Originally Posted by Cathus

are you using the software provided with your camera to view the video files? it might be that your software is having problems rather than the files themselves.

Yes I am using the software provided by Canon is this the problem?

[NateRivers]

Originally Posted by MattUK

You need a class 6 SD card or higher in order to record HD movies. The fact that you are recording them but they're not appearing in good quality suggests the settings for recording might not be right. The other option, as Cathus mentions is that there's a problem with the media player you're using (or the codec). Are you using Windows Media Player? Do you have the correct and latest codec installed?

Okay I'm using the settings 1280 X 720 and watching them on VLC media player. How do I find its codec?

[Cathus]

you need to make sure the video player has the right codec for the file extension that your camera is saving the file as. what are file formats of the video films?

[donoreo]

Originally Posted by Cathus

you need to make sure the video player has the right codec for the file extension that your camera is saving the file as. what are file formats of the video films?

He is using VLC, I have yet to run into a format it cannot play, but that could be the problem.