From a beginner: problems viewing HD footage with iMovie

I wondered if someone could just tell me whether iMovie is in some way fundamentally unsuitable for viewing footage from a HD camera? I don't really understand this technology, but basically, footage shot on a HD camera plays back beautifully clearly on the camera's flip screen but looks awful when played back on the computer with iMovie. In the first instance I just need to establish whether the problem is with the camera, the software, or the connection between the camera and the computer (USB). It'd also help to know whether iMovie just plays what it sees, or whether it codes the footage in some way in the background, so that what you're seeing is a 'rendered' version of the film.
Thanks for any help you can give, and I'm sorry about the lack of technical terminology!

It won't be the connection - If you are getting anything at all from the camcorder, you can pretty much assume that the connection is working - Its all digital.
When you say Panasonic, is it one of the new 600 / 700 models ?? And if so, are you recording in 1080p format (with the button inside the screen flap) ?? I'm guessing not, otherwise, you generally won't be able to see anything in iMovie without some additional steps.
Assuming it is a Panasonic AVCHD camcorder, and you're recording in one of the standard AVCHD settings, iMovie 09 should import the video off the camcorder without any issues. It is generally discussed that iMovie 09 does lower the resolution when you are dealing with interlaced footage (as standard AVCHD is). Even if you import it as Full Size (rather than large), the software will remove every other line of resolution in order to turn your interlaced footage (where half the image is transmitted, then the other half - as was always traditional) into Progressive video (as is the preference for modern LCD and computer screens etc.
This might be the cause of your problem. There are plenty of discussions on this forum regarding the loss of quality resolution with iMovie 09 (something that didn't happen with iMovie 06). If you think this might be the issue, there are solutions and work arounds but it is all a bit complicated. I believe iMovie 11 is better, but I've never tried it.

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