What Constitutes A Professional High Definition Camcorder

Professional high definition camcorders exist in something of a murky area of techno-space. Few people, outside of the dedicated professional world, know exactly what constitutes a ‘good’ professional HD camcorder, or how to choose amongst even the most basic of options. In all honesty, there are only three main things that are necessary to learn before buying a high definition camcorder.

The first thing that you need to learn is the meaning of the term ‘High Definition’ itself, as some camcorders boost high definition recording when in fact, they are not truly HD. High Definition is a term for video formats consisting of 1080p (active lines of progressive), 1080i (interlaced), or 720p. These formats allow for crisper pictures and better image capturing. For a camcorder to qualify as ‘High Definition’, it MUST record in one of those three formats. Otherwise, there is a good chance that you are being scammed by some buzzword-savvy marketing strategies.

The next thing to realize is that high definition camcorders come in a variety of shapes and sizes. For most, lower end camcorders will be the most logical choice, as they display a similar range of basic features as their more expensive counterparts. A low end digital high definition camcorder shouldn’t pass the $1,450 USD mark. These types of camcorders generally shoot in HDV, a compressed form of High Definition, which is, incidentally, also great for those who would like to keep the space consumption of their High Definition videos small.

HDV generally records in an MPEG-2 format, which is the exact same form of compression used on common DVDs. The format output for an HDV high definition camcorder is 1080i or 720p, and they shoot in a 16:9 wide screen format. Resolutions for HDV camcorders vary from 19 megabytes per second at 1280 x 720 (HDV1) to 25 megabytes per second at 1920 x 1080 (HDV2).

Finally, you have to decide on how many sensor chips you want in your device. This will affect the quality of the image capture greatly. There are some who believe that the two different types of chips make a large difference, and will tout their chips above all else, but the chipsets (CCD and CMOS) have negligable differences. The important part is the number of sensors. As you may already know, color on a screen is recorded and produced from three primary light colors; these colors are red, green, and blue.

If you choose to use a camcorder with three chips, each chip will record a different ‘channel’ of light. If you plan on doing extensive computer-based editing, this is the choice for you. If you do not plan on extensive editing, or want to lower your price by a few hundred dollars, you can go with a single chip system, which does not separate channels. Another term you might see is 24P. Simply put, its unnecessary, unless you are ultimately planning to produce high definition files for use in film or theater with the best high definition camcorder.

That might be Polaroid, Sony, CanonCanon digital camcorder or JVC high definition camcorder models. All have the reputation to back up their performance and price tag. I recommend using one of the above in any professional video situation.