How to get clips to appear in good quality when editing?

Question

I worked with PE over a decade ago when I had a PC.  In 2008 I migrated to Apple -- specifcally desktop Intel duo-processor Mac, OS X Snow Lion 10.6.8.  So regretably I was forced to leave PE behind and begin using Final Cut Express 4.0.1.   Recently I bought a new HD camera so I thought it was a good time to return to PE 11 since the program is now being made for Macs too.  (I had missed the Organizer tremendously!)  Before working with my new camera however, I could not resist importing some old standard definition clips into a timeline to play around with.  Well they look horrible in the viewer -- all pixelated and poor quality!  I selected the clips, pressed render and nothing happened.  I am used to automatic rendering when editing in FCE so that what you see in the viewer is what you get, of course unless you run into compression issues later on.  But I need to see what I'm editing and can't do that with this poor quality.  So what is the problem?   The clips are all in .mp4 or .mov format.  The .mp4 clips were shot with a Panasonic SDR-H85P in that format and the .mov clip was converted from DV footage on a tape recorded with a Canon ZR900. 
Also, I am used to seeing and working on a minutia level -- sometimes frame by frame with a "blade" tool in FCE.  I switched to expert view but still can't tell where 1 frame ends and another begins.  Is there an easy way to do that?
Thanks! 

Answer 1

Thank you for your helpful answer.   Regarding frame view, I found the  options you indicated.  However, I think my issue has more to do with  "timeline view" if you will.   For example, in Final Cut, you could  press "option +" several times to "lengthen" the timeline which in turn  would "stretch" out each frame to an extent necessary to make really  precise edits on a minutia scale.  Then in order to "compress" it so you  could see the entire timeline on the computer screen, pressing "option  -" several times would bring it back down to that size which was handy  for seeing exactly where all your other effects on other timelines were  arranged.  Does that make sense?  Is there a way to do that in PE 11?    It's zooming in and  out of the timeline essentially in order to see  more of the detail while editing. 
Regarding  the poor quality of playback, I was able to correct the problem by  setting the playback settings to "highest."  That was a relief.   Also  the clip properties did match the project properties, but if I had  wanted to change project properties, I don't think I could have because  so many of the options remained blanked out or unavailable -- all light  in color not allowing me to access them.  Don't know what the term for  that is but you probably know what I mean.  So does that mean that  project properties are always automatically determined or must they be  preset somehow?  Any direction on that issue would be helpfui because I  also work with infrared clips a lot from a Bushnell camcorder and often  combine those with regular video clips.  What is going to happen then?   Again, thanks so much for your help!