HD camcorder reviews: FAQs
What is so good about HD camcorders?
To get the most out of your HD Camcorder you need a HDTV
HD camcorders look like standard camcorders from the outside, but inside their sensors can record more detail.
Most can record 1,080 horizontal lines of an image, which is the same as a typical HDTV can display.
Image quality is so good that we rate it on a different scale than standard camcorders. You see more fine details, and a sharper picture overall. Colours are often better too.
What other equipment do I need?
To make the most of an HD camcorder, you need a good, large HDTV, to find out more check our guide to HDTV and Best Buy LCD and plasma TV reviews.
A Blu-ray player can also be useful when playing back discs you’ve created using a computer – see ‘How about viewing on a computer and editing’, below – but it's not essential if you're not into editing.
What if I don’t have an HDTV?
You can still use a normal, standard-definition TV, but you won’t benefit from your HD camcorder’s better video quality.
How about viewing on a computer and editing?
You transfer HD footage onto your computer in the same way you would with a standard camcorder. However, make sure you have a powerful computer, especially if you want to edit.
We recommend a minimum of an Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4GHz) processor and 2GB of RAM.
Most recent editing software is HD-compatible, but check carefully – some don't accept AVCHD, the usual format recorded by HD camcorders recording on memory card, DVD or hard disk.
Does HD footage take up a lot of disk space?
If you're using an HD Mini-DV camcorder, allow up to around 13GB per one hour of footage.
Otherwise, DVD/hard-disk/memory card camcorders usually record using the AVCHD format which takes up about as much space as standard definition camcorders – roughly 6-10GB per hour of footage.
If you are recording using a DVD camcorder, it's worth remembering that a basic single sided blank camcorder DVD holds 1.4GB.
Check out our interactive memory use calculator to figure out how much memory your footage is likely to use.
After editing, how can I watch my HD footage on a television?
You can burn a standard DVD with your HD footage on it using DVD burning software – most video-editing software has this built-in.
A standard DVD will only hold about 20 minutes of HD film initially recorded on Mini-DV however. You’ll then need a Blu-ray player to play it.
Alternatively, if you have a Blu-ray drive on your computer (still reasonably rare and quite expensive), you can burn using this and playback on your television using a compatible player.
A third option is to transfer your edited footage back onto the camcorder and connect to a HDTV – though this works only with Mini-DV HD camcorders.