Please help with highest quality export settings...

Question

I have searched the forum and web for hours (no joke!) and I am still trying to figure out what are the best video settings to give me the highest HD quality video in daylight. I am using a Canon HF200 and the latest updated version of FCE. My problem is that I am unable to produce an HD quality video at 1920 x 1080 Full HD without being "jagged". I have two questions; what do you suggest to be the best FCE import and export settings to produce the best HD video, and what settings do you have your HF200 set to (for normal daylight conditions), to produce the best HD video file? The file will be played directly thru my computer to a plasma HDTV.
I have tried several settings, but using anything above 1280x720 16:9, makes the video "jagged". Again, I don't care about the size of the file or how long it takes, I just want the best. Is there something I am missing?
My FCP settings are the following:
I log and transfer the video from the camera into FCP (on a black MacBook; 2.16 GHz with 4 GB RAM) using the AVCHD Apple Intermediate Codec 1920 x 1080i source. I then export the video using the following:
Export using "Quicktime Conversion".
Quicktime options video settings are:
Frame Rate set to "Current"
Key Frames set to every "24" frames
Compressor quality: "best" (Encoding set to "best quality")
Data Rate set to "automatic"
Quicktime options video size are:
"HD 1280 x 720 16:9" (anything higher produces the jags!)
Deinterlace source video is NOT checked
My Canon HF 200 settings are the following:
- P mode
- FXP (17 Mbps)
- 60i framerate
all others are set to the normal default
I have read some reports saying the above is good and others suggesting changing FXP to MXP (24 Mbps) and/or the framerate from 60i to PF30. I don't care about the size of the file, I just want the highest quality HD file.
Any suggestions for the best FCE settings and/or HF200 settings would be very much appreciated!
Thanks for your help,
Evan

Answer 1

Thanks again for the feedback
Let me try my best to answer the above (I'm new at all this and I appreciate you guys taking the time to try and help me out).
First off, I tried rendering and that did not help.
Here is my sequence. I am not going into FCE from the camera directly. I have archived the video file from the camera using iMovie (as well as just making an exact copy of the camera files; they both appear to me to be the exact same, both can be logged and transferred into FCE, and both files give me a jagged FCE result).
Once I log and transfer the file(s), I then take the clip and add it to a sequence file (rendering or not rendering the clip(s) at this point does not make a difference), and then click/highlight the sequence file in the browser and export it.
As for "editing the video in a 1920x1080i60 sequence", I think I am. I am not doing any editing to the clip. It is logged and transferred using the AVCHD Apple Intermediate Codec 1920 x 1080i and then exported using either as a Quicktime Movie or Quicktime Conversion (set for 1920 x 1080 using H.264 compression; both ways still result in a jagged video).
That's about it...log and transfer, add clip to sequence, and then export sequence...
I hope this answers the above, but if not, I apologize; I'm still learning!
Also, if I use iMovie, with similar export (share) settings, I get a non-jagged video (I have tried with deinterlacing and not deinterlacing, and both video results are fine)
Thanks again,
Evan