Novice's Question About High Def. Camcorder?
Do I need a high definition DVD recorder, player and a TV to finally watch HD video footage?
Is it possible to burn and play high definition video using a standard DVD recorder that comes accompanying with laptops?
:-))
Answers:
first off you need a HD TV to watch HD footage.
You do not need a HD DVD recorder, i for one have never heard of such a thing and believe "normal" players can play HD.
Similarly, a standard DVD drive in laptops can burn HD video onto DVDs, however whether or not it plays in HD will depend whether your laptop has a HD screen (i guess not).
its worth considering whether an HD camcorder is a good investment at this point in time.
The pros - HD looks great, and HD TVs are now coming on the market.
The cons - not many people have HD TVs and they are expensive to buy, most HD camcorders can only record 20 or so minutes in HD.
Also think what you want the camcorder for, if you want to use it on the internet (i.e YouTube, a HD camcorder is pointless as only 100MB can be uploaded).
If I were you, I'd look into getting a 3CCD camcorder, in standard definition. This will give you very near broadcast quality at the very least, some even argue that 3CCD in standard definition is broadcast quality.
A CCD camcorder in SD, is poorer quality than a 3CCD as each colour (red, blue, green) has to share the same charge coupling device (CCD) rather than each having their own CCD (i.e. 3CCD). This pixelates the image more and results in the poorer quality.
You are right that MiniDV produce higher quality, as what both harddrive or DVD camcorders do is compress the video to store it in the harddrive or DVD, decreasing the quality. MiniDV doesn't do this. If you want to edit you video from MiniDV, you will need a firwire cable to upload it into your computer (then you can play around with it in windows movie maker, imovie etc.); so make sure your cam has a "DV out" port.
Ok, first let me point out DVD IS NOT HD. DVDs while they do look good are actually only native widescreen SD players they can't play HD footage at all. If you buy a better camcorder like the one below that records in native widescreen and has 3ccds then it will be hard to tell the differance. Also HD only benifits you if you have a widescreen HD tv. If you dont have a widescreen TV then HD makes no differance at all. In fact HD with it not taking up the whole screen on a SD TV is just anoying. Also the problem with HD is if you want it on a disc and not just on a camcorder tape, you have to buy a HD ( either HD-DVD or BlueRay) recorder ( around $600 ) and a HD player ( around $500). So if you want to burn the footage to a disk it is not worth it. I would say SD is the way to go, at least right now. When I bought my XL2 ( SD professional camcorder) I bought it knowing that HD was comming. Right now HD players are a long way off. Stick with the DVD after all look how long it took for them to catch on. Plus if you dont have a HD TV it is just stupid and a waste of money. Buy a great SD camera and on a normal TV, or through a DVD player you wont be able to tell the difference. The camera below uses 3ccds so you will get a great picture also it will do native ( non distorted) widescreen for if you ever do get a HD tv. For more information on 3ccds see some of my other answers.
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