CNET.com

Cell phones| Desktops| Digital cameras| Laptops| MP3 players| TVs| All Categories

HDTV World > Understanding HDTV > CNET's quick guide to HD camcorders

Understand HDTV

Optimize your HDTV

CNET's quick guide to HD camcorders

By Lori Grunin
(September 13, 2006)

Browse all HD camcorder topics

Four myths about HD camcorders

HD recording formats: 720p or 1080i

HD recording formats: 720p and 1080i

Need to know

CNET recommends

TALKBACK

Do you care about shooting HD video?

Post your
comment here

HD recording formats: 720p and 1080i

Example products	Sony Handycam HDR-FX1 Canon XL H1 Sony Handycam HDR-HC3 Canon XH G1	Sony Handycam HDR-UX1 Sony Handycam HDR-SR1	Panasonic AG-HVX200
Recording format	HDV Note: The HDV format specification supports both 720p and 1080i recording, but camcorders can generally record only one or the other--usually 1080i.	Sony/Panasonic AVCHD	Panasonic DVCPro HD (a.k.a. DVCPro 100)
Supported media types	Tape	Flash, DVD, hard disk	Tape, Flash (Panasonic P2), external hard drive
Format details	MPEG-2 inter- and intraframe compressed to fit on a standard MiniDV tape and use the same bit rate. Max bit rate: 25Mbps Capture resolution: 1,440x1,080/1,280x720 Encoding resolution: 1,920x1,080/1,280x720 Color sampling: 4:2:0 Variable frame rate: no	An HD version of the MPEG-4 Advanced Visual Codec--not to be confused with MPEG HD--which uses the H.264 compression scheme. Max bit rate: 24Mbps Capture resolution: 1,920x1,080/1,280x720 Encoding resolution: 1,920x1,080/1,280x720 Color sampling: 4:2:0 Variable frame rate: yes	MPEG-2 inter- and intraframe compressed to fit on a standard DVCPro tape and stream at the same bit rate. Max bit rate: 100Mbps Capture resolution: 1,920x1,080/1,280x720 Encoding resolution: 1,280x1,080/960x720 Color sampling: 4:2:2 Variable frame rate: yes
Hardware issues	Same limitations as all tape formats: must be converted to files for editing or connected directly to TV.	As yet undetermined; however, DVD-based models will likely be incompatible with older players.	None
Video-editing issues	Can be slow and tedious to work with because of time required to download to computer.	As yet undetermined. However, MPEG-4 wasn't really designed for capturing editable video, so we anticipate some difficulties.	As you might imagine, the video files produced can be huge and therefore cumbersome to capture and edit.

Next: See need to know

See other HD camcorder issues:
Four myths about HD camcorders | HD recording formats: 720p or 1080i | HD recording formats: 720p and 1080i | Need to know | CNET recommends

More HDTV World:

CNET newsletters:

Thought you were done paying for your HDTV? Think again. Read more

Comcast has the most HD

Comcast has more HD. More than Satellite. More than anyone. And there's no end in sight. From movies to sports, local networks to premium channels, Comcast has it covered. Comcast HD. More More More.

More Information

Editors' Choice - Samsung ToC™ LCD

The experts have spoken - the Samsung LN52A650 Touch of Color™ LCD TV is the latest CNET editors' choice award winner. Learn why the Samsung LCD 650 Series completely redefines the way you watch HDTV.

More Information

Printer-friendly version

E-mail to a friend

Featured HDTV videos:

Resources from our sponsors

aka

Samsung's award winning ToC™ LCD TV

The Samsung LN52A650 LCD is latest CNET editors' choice award winner.

aka

Now blacker than ever.

Don't just watch, don't just listen, be transformed. Be changed, mind, body and soul by experiences so intense they alter everything forever.

aka

Comcast has the most HD

Comcast has the most HD. More than satellite. More than anyone.

See all HDTV World:

Understand HDTV:

Choose an HDTV:

Optimize your HDTV:

More resources from CNET.com:

Buying advice

Commentary: Fully Equipped

Additional coverage from around the Web:

TalkBack
No discussions exist yet. Click here to be the first to post a comment on this article

Article discussion:

Post a comment

Help Center|Newsletters|Corrections|What's New|

Popular topics: Apple | Apple iPhone | CTIA | Digital camera | Drivers | Games | IE7 | iPod | iTunes | Leopard | Playstation 3 | PSP | Spyware | Vista | Wii | Xbox 360 | Zune

About CNET|Today on CNET|Reviews|News|Compare prices|Tips & Tricks|Downloads|CNET TV

Popular on CNET Networks: Akon|Free Music Downloads|Game Cheats|Heroes|Margarita recipes|PC Games|Prison Break|PS3|Recipes|Wii|Xbox 360

About CNET Networks|Jobs|Advertise|Partnerships|Site map

Copyright ©2008 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy policy|Terms of use