A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a
video cameraA video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...
and a
video recorderA video tape recorder is a tape recorder that can record video material, usually on a magnetic tape. VTRs originated as individual tape reels, serving as a replacement for motion picture film stock and making recording for television applications cheaper and quicker. An improved form included the...
into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage. Marketing materials may present a video recording device as a camcorder, but the delivery package would identify content as video camera recorder.
In order to differentiate a camcorder from other devices that are capable of recording video, like
mobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s and digital compact cameras, a camcorder is generally identified as a portable, self-contained device having video capture and recording as its primary function.
The earliest camcorders employed analog recording onto
videotapeA videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
. Tape-based camcorders use removable media in the form of video cassettes. Nowadays, digital recording has become the norm, with tape being gradually replaced with other storage media such as internal
flash memoryFlash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
, hard drive, and
SD cardSecure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
. As of January 2011, none of the new consumer-class camcorders announced at the 2011 International
Consumer Electronics ShowThe International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
record on tape.
Camcorders that do not use magnetic tape are often called
tapeless camcorderA tapeless camcorder is a camcorder that does not use video tape for the digital recording of video productions as 20th century ones did. Tapeless camcorders record video as digital computer files onto random access data storage devices such as optical discs, hard disk drives and solid-state flash...
s, while camcorders that permit using more than one type of medium, like built-in hard disk drive and memory card, are sometimes called hybrid camcorders.
History
Video cameraA professional video camera is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images...
s originally designed for
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcastBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
were large and heavy, mounted on special pedestals, and wired to remote recorders located in separate rooms.
As technology advanced, out-of-studio video recording was made possible by means of compact video cameras and portable
video recordersThe videocassette recorder , is a type of electro-mechanical device that uses removable videocassettes that contain magnetic tape for recording analog audio and analog video from broadcast television so that the images and sound can be played back at a more convenient time...
. The recording unit could be detached from the camera and carried to a shooting location. While the camera itself could be quite compact, the fact that a separate recorder had to be carried along made on-location shooting a two-man job. Specialized
Videocassette recorderThe videocassette recorder , is a type of electro-mechanical device that uses removable videocassettes that contain magnetic tape for recording analog audio and analog video from broadcast television so that the images and sound can be played back at a more convenient time...
s were introduced by both JVC (
VHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
) and Sony (
U-maticU-matic is an analog recording videocassette format first shown by Sony in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a cassette, as opposed to the various Reel-to-Reel or open-reel formats of the...
and Betamax) to be used for mobile work. The advent of the portable recorders helped to eliminate the phrase "film at eleven"—rather than wait for the lengthy process of film developing, recorded video could be shown during the 6 o'clock news.
In 1982 Sony released the
BetacamBetacam is family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself....
system. A part of this system was a single camera-recorder unit, which eliminated the cable between camera and recorder and dramatically improved the freedom of a cameraman. Betacam used the same format 1/2" tape cassette as Betamax, but running much faster for higher quality and reliability. It quickly became the standard for both news-gathering and in-studio video editing.
The following year Sony released the first consumer camcorder—the Betamovie BMC-100P. It used a
BetamaxBetamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
cassette and could not be held with one hand, so it was typically resting on a shoulder.
In the same year JVC released the first camcorder based on
VHS-CVHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter...
format.
In 1985 Sony came up with its own compact video cassette format—Video8. Both VHS-C and Video8 had their benefits and drawbacks, and neither won the format war.
In the same year, Panasonic,
RCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, and
HitachiHitachi is a multinational corporation specializing in high-technology.Hitachi may also refer to:*Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan*Hitachi province, former province of Japan*Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi, members of the Japanese imperial family...
began producing camcorders that recorded to full-sized VHS cassette and offered up to 3 hours of record time. These shoulder-mount camcorders found a niche with videophiles, industrial videographers, and college TV studios. Super VHS (S-VHS) full-sized camcorders were released in 1987 which exceeded the broadcast quality of the day and provided an inexpensive way to collect news segments or videographies. Sony matched this with the release of Hi8, an upgraded version of Video8.
One year later Sony introduced the first digital video format,
D1D-1 is an SMPTE digital recording video standard, introduced in 1986 through efforts by SMPTE engineering committees. It started as a Sony and Bosch - BTS product and was the first major professional digital video format.- Format :...
. Video was recorded in uncompressed form and required enormous bandwidth for its time. In 1992
AmpexAmpex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...
used D1 form-factor to create
DCTDCT is a digital recording component videocassette format developed and introduced by Ampex in 1992. It was based on the D1 format, and unlike the uncompressed recording scheme of D1, it was the first digital videotape format to utilize data compression...
, the first digital video format that utilized
data compressionIn computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
. The compression utilized
discrete cosine transformA discrete cosine transform expresses a sequence of finitely many data points in terms of a sum of cosine functions oscillating at different frequencies. DCTs are important to numerous applications in science and engineering, from lossy compression of audio and images A discrete cosine transform...
algorithm, which is used in most modern commercial digital video formats.
In 1995 Sony, JVC, Panasonic and other video camera manufacturers launched
DVDV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
, which quickly became a de-facto standard for home video production, for independent filmmaking and for
citizen journalismCitizen journalism is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information...
. In the same year Ikegami introduced
EditcamEditcam is a professional digital camera system manufactured by Ikegami and first introduced in 1995, available both as professional camcorders and modular dock recorders...
- the first tapeless video recording system.
Panasonic launched DVCPRO HD in 2000, expanding the DV codec to support high definition. The format was intended for use in professional camcorders and used full-size DVCPRO cassettes. In 2003 Sony, JVC, Canon and Sharp introduced
HDVHDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon and Sharp...
, the first truly affordable high definition video format, which used inexpensive MiniDV cassettes.
In 2003 Sony pioneered
XDCAMXDCAM is a a series of products for digital recording using random access solid-state memory media, introduced by Sony in 2003. Four different product lines — the XDCAM SD, XDCAM HD, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD422 — differ in types of encoder used, frame size, container type and in...
, the first tapeless video format, which uses Professional Disc as recording media. Panasonic followed next year, offering
P2P2 is a professional digital recording solid-state memory storage media format introduced by Panasonic in 2004, and especially tailored to electronic news-gathering applications. It features tapeless recording of DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO25, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO-HD, or AVC-Intra streams on a solid-state...
solid state memory cards as recording medium for DVCPRO HD video.
In 2006 Panasonic and Sony introduced
AVCHDAVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video....
as an inexpensive consumer-grade tapeless high definition video format. Presently AVCHD camcorders are manufactured by Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC and Hitachi.
In the following year Sony introduced XDCAM EX, which offers similar recording modes to XDCAM HD, but records on
SxSSxS is a flash memory standard compliant to the Sony and Sandisk-created ExpressCard standard. According to Sandisk and Sony, the cards have transfer rates of 800 Mbit/s and burst transfer rate of up to 2.5 Gbit/s...
memory cards.
With proliferation of file-based digital formats the relationship between recording media and recording format became weaker than ever: the same video can be recorded onto different media. With tapeless formats, recording media has become a storage device for digital files, signifying convergence of video and computer industries.
Overview
Camcorders contain 3 major components: lens, imager, and recorder. The lens gathers and focuses light on the imager. The imager (usually a
CCDA charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
or
CMOS sensorAn active-pixel sensor is an image sensor consisting of an integrated circuit containing an array of pixel sensors, each pixel containing a photodetector and an active amplifier. There are many types of active pixel sensors including the CMOS APS used most commonly in cell phone cameras, web...
on modern camcorders; earlier examples often used vidicon tubes) converts incident light into an electrical signal. Finally, the recorder converts the electric signal into video and encodes it into a storable form. More commonly, the optics and imager are referred to as the camera section.
Lens
The lens is the first component in the light path. The camcorder's optics generally have one or more of the following adjustments:
- aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...
or iris to regulate the exposureIn photography, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the photographic medium during the process of taking a photograph. Exposure is measured in lux seconds, and can be computed from exposure value and scene luminance over a specified area.In photographic jargon, an exposure...
and to control depth of fieldIn optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...
;
- zoom
A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length lens...
to control the focal lengthThe focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light. For an optical system in air, it is the distance over which initially collimated rays are brought to a focus...
and angle of viewIn photography, angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view....
;
- shutter speed
In photography, shutter speed is a common term used to discuss exposure time, the effective length of time a camera's shutter is open....
to regulate the exposure and to maintain desired motion portrayal;
- gain
In electronics, gain is a measure of the ability of a circuit to increase the power or amplitude of a signal from the input to the output. It is usually defined as the mean ratio of the signal output of a system to the signal input of the same system. It may also be defined on a logarithmic scale,...
to amplifyGenerally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
signal strength in low-light conditions;
- neutral density filter
In photography and optics, a neutral density filter or ND filter can be a colorless or grey filter. An ideal neutral density filter reduces and/or modifies intensity of all wavelengths or colors of light equally, giving no changes in hue of color rendition.The purpose of standard photographic...
to regulate the exposure.
In consumer units, the above adjustments are often automatically controlled by the camcorder's electronics, but can be adjusted manually if desired. Professional units offer direct user control of all major optical functions.
Imager
The imager converts light into electric signal. The camera lens projects an image onto the imager surface, exposing the photosensitive array to light. The light exposure is converted into electrical charge. At the end of the timed exposure, the imager converts the accumulated charge into a continuous analog voltage at the imager's output terminals. After scan-out is complete, the photosites are reset to start the exposure-process for the next video frame.
Recorder
The recorder is responsible for writing the video-signal onto a recording medium (such as magnetic videotape.) The record function involves many signal-processing steps, and historically, the recording-process introduced some distortion and noise into the stored video, such that playback of the stored-signal may not retain the same characteristics/detail as the live video feed.
All but the most primitive camcorders imaginable also need to have a recorder-controlling section which allows the user to control the camcorder, switch the recorder into playback mode for reviewing the recorded footage and an image control section which controls exposure, focus and white-balance.
The image recorded need not be limited to what appeared in the viewfinder. For documentation of events, such as used by police, the field of view overlays such things as the time and date of the recording along the top and bottom of the image. Such things as the police car or constable to which the recorder has been allotted may also appear; also the speed of the car at the time of recording. Compass direction at time of recording and geographical coordinates may also be possible. These are not kept to world-standard fields; "month/day/year" may be seen, as well as "day/month/year", besides the
ISOThe International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
standard "year-month-day".
Analog vs. digital
Camcorders are often classified by their
storage devicethumb|200px|right|A reel-to-reel tape recorder .The magnetic tape is a data storage medium. The recorder is data storage equipment using a portable medium to store the data....
:
VHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
,
VHS-CVHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter...
,
BetamaxBetamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
, Video8 are examples of 20th century
videotapeA videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
-based camcorders which record video in analog form. Newer
digital videoDigital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
camcorder formats include
Digital8Digital8 is a consumer digital recording videocassette for camcorders based on the 8 mm video format developed by Sony, and introduced in 1999.The Digital8 format is a combination of the older Hi8 tape transport with the DV codec...
, MiniDV,
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, Hard disk drive
direct to disk recordingDirect-to-disk recording refers to methods by which analog signals and digital signals such as digital audio and digital video are digitally recorded to optical disc recording technologies such as DVDs, and CD optical discs...
and solid-state semiconductor
Flash memoryFlash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
memory. While all these formats record video in
digitalA digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
form, currently formats like Digital8, MiniDV and DVD have been losing favor, and are no longer used in the most recent consumer camcorders.
In older analog camcorders, the imaging device was based on
vacuum tubeIn electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
technology where the charge on a light sensitive target was in direct proportion to the amount of light striking it. A popular example of such an imaging tube was the Vidicon. Newer analog and all digital camcorders use a solid state Charge Coupled Device (CCD) imaging device, or more recently a CMOS imager. Both of these latter devices use photodiodes that pass a current proportional to the light striking them (i.e. they are analog detectors), but that current is then digitised before being electronically 'scanned' before being fed to the imager's output. The principal difference in the latter two devices is in the manner in which that 'scanning' is accomplished. In the CCD, the diodes are all sampled simultaneously, and the scanning then achieved by passing the digitised data from one register to the next (the Charge Coupled element). In the CMOS device the diodes are sampled directly by the scanning logic.
The take up of digital video storage improved quality. MiniDV storage allows full resolution video (720x576 for
PALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
, 720x480 for
NTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
), unlike previous analogue consumer video standards. Digital video does not experience
colour bleedingIn computer graphics and 3D rendering, color bleeding is the phenomenon in which objects or surfaces are colored by reflection of colored light from nearby surfaces....
, jitter, or fade, although some users still prefer the analog nature of Hi8 and
Super VHS-CVHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter...
, since neither of these produce the "background blur" or "mosquito noise" of digital video compression. In many cases, a high-quality analog recording shows more detail (such as rough textures on a wall) than a compressed digital recording (which would show the same wall as flat and featureless).
Unlike analog video formats, the digital video formats do not suffer
generation lossGeneration loss refers to the loss of quality between subsequent copies or transcodes of data. Anything that reduces the quality of the representation when copying, and would cause further reduction in quality on making a copy of the copy, can be considered a form of generation loss...
during dubbing, but can be more prone to complete loss. Theoretically digital information can be stored indefinitely with zero deterioration on a digital storage device (such as a hard drive), however since some digital formats (like MiniDV) often squeeze tracks only ~10 micrometers apart (versus 19 to 58 μm for
VHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
), a digital recording is more vulnerable to wrinkles or stretches in the tape that could permanently erase several scenes worth of digital data, but the additions
trackingVideo tracking is the process of locating a moving object over time using a camera. It has a variety of uses, some of which are: human-computer interaction, security and surveillance, video communication and compression, augmented reality, traffic control, medical imaging and video editing...
and error correction code on the tape will generally compensate for most defects. On analog media similar damage barely registers as "noise" in the video, still leaving a deteriorated but watchable video. The only limitation is that this video has to be played on a completely analogue viewing system, otherwise the tape will not display any video due to the damage and sync problems. Even digital recordings on DVD are known to suffer from
DVD rotDisc rot is a phrase describing the tendency of CD or DVD or other optical disks to become unreadable due to physical or chemical deterioration...
that permanently erase huge chunks of data. Thus the one advantage analog seems to have in this respect is that an analog recording may be "usable" even after the media it is stored on has suffered severe deterioration whereas it has been noticed that even slight media degradation in digital recordings may cause them to suffer from an "all or nothing" failure, i.e. the digital recording will end up being totally un-playable without very expensive restoration work.
Modern recording media
For more information, see
tapeless camcorderA tapeless camcorder is a camcorder that does not use video tape for the digital recording of video productions as 20th century ones did. Tapeless camcorders record video as digital computer files onto random access data storage devices such as optical discs, hard disk drives and solid-state flash...
.
While some older digital camcorders record video on
MicrodriveMicrodrive is a brand name for a miniature, 1-inch hard disk designed to fit in a CompactFlash Type II slot. The release of similar drives by other makers has led to them often being referred to as 'microdrives'...
s and size-reduced
DVD-RAMDVD-RAM is a disc specification presented in 1996 by the DVD Forum, which specifies rewritable DVD-RAM media and the appropriate DVD writers. DVD-RAM media have been used in computers as well as camcorders and personal video recorders since 1998.-Design:DVD-RAM is one of three competing...
or
DVD-RDVD-R is a DVD recordable format. A DVD-R typically has a storage capacity of 4.71 GB. Pioneer has also developed an 8.5 GB dual layer version, DVD-R DL, which appeared on the market in 2005....
s, as of 2011 most recent camcorders record video on
flash memoryFlash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
devices and small
hard diskA hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
s, using
MPEG-1MPEG-1 is a standard for lossy compression of video and audio. It is designed to compress VHS-quality raw digital video and CD audio down to 1.5 Mbit/s without excessive quality loss, making video CDs, digital cable/satellite TV and digital audio broadcasting possible.Today, MPEG-1 has become...
,
MPEG-2MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
or
MPEG-4MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
formats. However, because these codecs use
inter-frameAn inter frame is a frame in a video compression stream which is expressed in terms of one or more neighboring frames. The "inter" part of the term refers to the use of Inter frame prediction...
compression, frame-specific-editing requires frame regeneration, which incurs additional processing and can cause loss of picture information. (In professional usage, it is common to use a codec that will store every frame individually. This provides easier and faster frame-specific editing of scenes.)
Other digital consumer camcorders record in
DVDV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
or
HDVHDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon and Sharp...
format on tape and transfer content over FireWire (some also use USB 2.0) to a computer, where the huge files (for DV, 1GB for 4 to 4.6 minutes in
PALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
/
NTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
resolutions) can be
editedIn video, a non-linear editing system is a video editing or audio editing digital audio workstation system which can perform random access non-destructive editing on the source material...
, converted, and (with many camcorders) also recorded back to tape. The transfer is done in
real timeIn computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...
, so the complete transfer of a 60 minute tape needs one hour to transfer and about 13GB disk space for the raw footage only—excluding any space needed for render files, and other media. Time spent in
post-productionPost-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
(editing) to select and cut the best shots varies from instantaneous "magic" movies to hours of tedious selection, arrangement and rendering.
Consumer market
As the mass consumer market favors ease of use, portability, and price, most of the consumer-grade camcorders sold today emphasize handling and automation features over raw audio/video performance. Thus, the majority of devices capable of functioning as camcorders are
camera phoneA camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture still photographs . Since early in the 21st century the majority of mobile phones in use are camera phones....
s or compact digital cameras, for which video is only a feature or a secondary capability.
Even for separate devices intended primarily for motion video, this segment has followed an evolutionary path driven by relentless miniaturization and cost reduction, made possible by progress in design and manufacturing. Miniaturization conflicts with the imager's ability to gather light, and designers have delicately balanced improvements in sensor sensitivity with sensor size reduction, shrinking the overall camera imager & optics, while maintaining reasonably noise-free video in broad daylight. Indoor or dim light shooting is generally unacceptably noisy, and in such conditions, artificial lighting is highly recommended. Mechanical controls cannot scale below a certain size, and manual camera operation has given way to camera-controlled automation for every shooting parameter (focus, aperture, shutter speed, white balance, etc.) The few models that do retain manual override frequently require the user to navigate a cumbersome menu interface. Outputs include USB 2.0, Composite and S-Video, and IEEE 1394/Firewire (for MiniDV models). On the plus side, today's camcorders are affordable to a wider segment of the consumer market, and available in a wider variety of form factors and functionality, from the classic camcorder shape, to small flip-cameras, to video-capable camera-phones and "digicams."
At the high-end of the consumer market, there is a greater emphasis on user control and advanced shooting modes. Feature-wise, there is some overlap between the high-end consumer and "prosumer" markets. More expensive consumer camcorders generally offer manual exposure control, HDMI output and external audio input, progressive-scan framerates (24fps, 25fps, 30fps), and better lenses than basic models. In order to maximize low-light capability, color reproduction, and frame resolution, a few manufacturers offer multi-CCD/CMOS camcorders, which mimic the 3-element imager design used in professional equipment. Field tests have demonstrated most consumer camcorders (regardless of price), to produce noisy video in low light.
Before the 21st century,
video editingThe term video editing can refer to:* Linear video editing, using video tape* Non-linear editing system , using computers with video editing software* Offline editing* Online editing...
was a difficult task requiring a minimum of two recorders and possibly a
desktop videoDesktop video refers to a phenomenon lasting from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s when the graphics capabilities of personal computers such as Commodore's Amiga, the Apple Macintosh II and specially-upgraded IBM PC compatibles had advanced to the point where individuals and local broadcasters...
workstation to control them. Now, the typical home
personal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
can hold several hours of standard-definition video, and is fast enough to edit footage without additional upgrades. Most consumer camcorders are sold with basic
video editing softwareVideo editing software, is application software which handles the post-production video editing of digital video sequences on a computer non-linear editing systems...
, so users can easily create their own DVDs, or share their edited footage online.
In the
first worldThe concept of the First World first originated during the Cold War, where it was used to describe countries that were aligned with the United States. These countries were democratic and capitalistic. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the term "First World" took on a...
market, nearly all camcorders sold today are digital. Tape-based (MiniDV/HDV) camcorders are no longer popular, since tapeless models (SD card & internal drive) cost almost the same, but offer much greater convenience. For example, video captured on SD card can be transferred to a computer much faster than from digital tape. Hard disk camcorders feature the longest continuous recording time, though the durability of the hard drive is a concern for harsh and high-altitude environments. As of January 2011, none of the new consumer-class camcorders announced at the 2011 International
Consumer Electronics ShowThe International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
record on tape. However, in some parts of the world, newly-manufactured tape camcorders might still be available due to the lower purchasing power or greater price sensitivity of the consumers in these areas.
Other devices with video-capture capability
Video-capture capability is not confined to camcorders.
CellphonesA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
,
digital single lens reflexMost digital single-lens reflex cameras are digital cameras that use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera....
and compact
digicamsA digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
, laptops, and personal media players frequently offer some form of video-capture capability. In general, these multipurpose-devices offer less functionality for video-capture, than a traditional camcorder. The absence of manual adjustments, external-audio input, and even basic usability functions (such as autofocus and lens-zoom) are common limitations. Few can capture to standard TV-video formats (480p60, 720p60, 1080i30), and instead record in either non-TV resolutions (320x240, 640x480, etc.) or slower frame-rates (15fps, 30fps.)
When used in the role of a camcorder, a multipurpose-device tends to offer inferior handling and audio/video performance, which limits its usability for extended and/or adverse shooting situations. However, much as camera-equipped cellphones are now ubiquitous, video-equipped electronic devices will likely become commonplace, replacing the market for low-end camcorders.
The past few years have seen the introduction of DSLR cameras with
high-definition videoHigh-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
. Although they still suffer from the typical handling and usability deficiencies of other multipurpose-devices, HDSLR video offers two videographic features unavailable on consumer camcorders: shallow depth-of-field and interchangeable lenses.
Professional video cameraA professional video camera is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images...
s possessing these capabilities are currently more expensive than even the most expensive video-capable DSLR. In video applications where the DSLR's operational deficiencies can be mitigated by meticulous planning of the each shooting location, a growing number of video productions are employing DSLRs, such as the
Canon 5D Mark IIThe Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS digital single-lens reflex camera made by Canon. It succeeds the EOS 5D and was announced on September 17, 2008.-Improvements compared to original EOS 5D:...
, to fulfill the desire for depth-of-field and optical-perspective control. Whether in a studio or on-location setup, the scene's environmental factors and camera placement are known beforehand, allowing the director of photography to determine the proper camera/lens setup and apply any necessary environmental adjustments, such as lighting.
A recent development to combine the feature-sets of full-feature still-camera and camcorder in a single unit, is the combo-camera. The
Sanyois a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....
Xacti HD1 was the first such combo unit, combining the features of a 5.1 megapixel still-camera with a 720p video recorder. Overall, the product was a step forward in terms of a single-device's combined level of handling and usability . The combo camera's concept has caught on with competing manufacturers; Canon and Sony have introduced camcorders with still-photo performance approaching a traditional digicam, while Panasonic has introduced a DSLR-body with video features approaching a traditional camcorder.
HitachiHitachi is a multinational corporation specializing in high-technology.Hitachi may also refer to:*Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan*Hitachi province, former province of Japan*Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi, members of the Japanese imperial family...
have introduced the DZHV 584E/EW which has 1080p resolution. This model comes with a 3" pop-up touch screen, housed in a slim line-case and about the size of a mobile phone.
Interchangeable lens camcorder
As reverse of DSLR cameras with
high-definition videoHigh-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
, in 2011 at least there are 2 Interchangeable lens camcorders which can capture Full HD video with full control of camcorder, Panasonic AG-AF100 and Sony NEX-VG10 both with big sensor, not as usual as non-professional camcorders. The DSLR lenses can be used with adapter for versatilities.
Camcorder with built-in projector
In 2011 Sony released the HDR-PJ10/30/50 HD camcorders. These are the first camcorders in the world to incorporate a small projector located on the side of the unit. This feature allows the user to show their video to a group of viewers without the need to connect up to a television or a full-size projector or even to upload onto a computer. Such a feature would have been unimaginable only a generation ago. The specification varies between each model, the HDR-PJ10 is the base model with 16GB internal memory. The HDR-PJ30 has double the capacity (32GB), an additional light to aid in darkness and the ability to shoot a 25p image making the video appear as if it was shot on film. The HDR-PJ50 is the top of the range model with a 220GB hard disk drive as well as the light to aid in darkness. Similar products are available from
ViewSonicViewSonic Corporation is a manufacturer and provider of visual technology, specifically CRT monitors, liquid crystal displays, projectors, plasma displays, HDTV technology, and mobile products, including Mini and All-in-One PCs and wireless monitors....
and 3M.
3D Camcorder
In 2011 Panasonic released the world's first camcorder to be capable of shooting in 3D, the HDC-SDT750. It is a regular 2D camcorder that can shoot in full HD while 3D is achieved by the detachable conversion lens. Sony subsequently released its own 3D camcorder, the HDR-TD10. Unlike the Panasonic, the Sony HDR-TD10 has the 3D lens built in but it can still shoot a normal 2D video. The down side to this is that it results in a rather ugly design and a high price tag (£1,005.70 for the Sony vs. £686 for the Panasonic on Amazon). Panasonic have also released normal 2D camcorders with optional 3D recording with the conversion lens being an optional extra. The HDC-SD90, HDC-SD900, HDC-TM900 and HDC-HS900 are marketed as '3D ready' being affordable regular 2D camcorders with the option to add the 3D capability at a later date. Sony, Fujifilm, Aiptek, Vivitar and some other manufacturers have even marketed 3D pocket camcorders, an example being the Sony MHS-FS3. JVC then released its own 3D camcorder, the GS-TD1. Like the Sony HDR-TD10, it has the 3D lens built in and once again results in a rather ugly design and a high price tag £1,299.99 on Amazon. Sony have released the DEV-5 digital recording binoculars. It's a 3D camcorder but in the form of binoculars. The down side of this unusual camcorder is the hefty price tag, £2,605 on Sony's website, that's double the price of the JVC GS-TD1. Currently Panasonic, Sony and JVC are the only mainstream manufacturers that make 3D camcorders though several smaller manufacturers also market pocket camcorders but these are often only available online, not in retail outlets. It is unknown if any other manufacturers will market their own 3D camcorders, only time will tell.
Media
Camcorders have found use in nearly all corners of electronic media, from electronic news organizations to TV/current-affairs productions. In locations away from a distribution infrastructure, camcorders are invaluable for initial video acquisition. Subsequently, the video is transmitted electronically to a studio/production center for broadcast. Scheduled events such as official press conferences, where a video infrastructure is readily available or can be feasibly deployed in advance, are still covered by studio-type video cameras (tethered to "production trucks.")
Home video
For casual use, camcorders often cover weddings, birthdays, graduation ceremonies, children growing up, and other personal events. The rise of the consumer camcorder in the mid to late '80s led to the creation of shows such as the long-running
America's Funniest Home VideosAmerica's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
, where people could showcase homemade video footage.
Politics
Political
protestA protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
ors who have capitalized on the value of media coverage use camcorders to film things they believe to be unjust.
Animal rightsAnimal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
protesters who break into
factory farmsFactory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...
and
animal testingAnimal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
labs use camcorders to film the conditions the animals are living in. Anti-hunting protesters film
fox huntsFox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
. People expecting to witness political crimes use cameras for
surveillanceSurveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
to collect evidence. Activist videos often appear on
IndymediaThe Independent Media Center is a global participatory network of journalists that report on political and social issues. It originated during the Seattle anti-WTO protests worldwide in 1999 and remains closely associated with the global justice movement, which criticizes neo-liberalism and its...
.
The
policeThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
use camcorders to film
riotA riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
s, protests and the crowds at sporting events. The film can be used to spot and pick out troublemakers, who can then be prosecuted in court. In countries such as the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the use of compact dashboard camcorders in police cars allows the police to retain a record of any activity that takes place in front of the car, such as interaction with a motorist stopped on the highway.
Entertainment and movies
Camcorders are often used in the production of low-budget TV shows where the production crew does not have access to more expensive equipment. There are even examples of movies shot entirely on consumer camcorder equipment (such as
The Blair Witch ProjectThe Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur footage. The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company. The film relates the story of three student filmmakers The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur...
and
28 Days Later28 Days Later is an acclaimed 2002 British horror film directed by Danny Boyle. The screenplay was written by Alex Garland, and the film stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleston...
). In addition, many academic filmmaking programs have switched from 16mm film to digital video, due to the vastly reduced expense and ease of editing of the digital medium as well as the increasing scarcity of film stock and equipment. Some camcorder manufacturers cater to this market, particularly Canon and
PanasonicPanasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
, who both support "
24pIn video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second frame rate with progressive scanning . Originally, 24p was used in the non-linear editing of film-originated material...
" (24 frame/s, progressive scan; same frame rate as standard cinema film) video in some of their high-end models for easy film conversion.
Even high-budget cinema is done using camcorders in some cases;
George LucasGeorge Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
used Sony
CineAltaSony's CineAlta 24P HD Cameras are a series of professional digital video cameras that offer many of the same features of a 35mm motion picture film camera.- Concept :...
camcorders in two of his three
Star WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
prequel movies. This process is referred to as
digital cinematographyDigital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures as digital images, rather than on film. Digital capture may occur on video tape, hard disks, flash memory, or other media which can record digital data. As digital technology has improved, this practice has become increasingly common...
.
Education, Teacher Evaluation and Teacher Preparation
Secondary EducationSecondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
and
Higher EducationHigher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
in the developed world is increasingly integrating
digital mediaDigital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of...
and computing into the fabric of students learning experiences. Students often use camcorders to record
video diariesVideo Diaries was a BBC television programme produced by the Community Programme Unit. The series of programmes was created in 1990 by producer Jeremy Gibson. The programme's production team offered members of the public basic video training and ongoing...
, make short films, and develop a variety of multi-media projects across subject disciplines.
Meanwhile teacher evaluation increasingly involves teacher's classroom lessons being digitally recorded for review by school administrators and
school districtSchool districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
officials. This is especially common during the process of
tenureTenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
-granting (or withholding), and in cases where teacher's continued tenure may be in question. Some feel the use of digital recording allows both school districts and teacher's unions an opportunity to more objectively and comprehensively review aspects of teacher performance in the classroom setting, whilst others, such as
Alfie KohnAlfie Kohn is an American author and lecturer who has explored a number of topics in education, parenting, and human behavior...
are far more skeptical.
Recently in many a top ranked
School of EducationIn the United States and Canada, a school of education is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences encompassing sociology, psychology, linguistics, economics, political science, public...
, integration of student camcorder-created material as well as other digital technology has ingrained itself into the fabric of new teacher preparation courses. The
University of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
Department of Education
PGCEThe Postgraduate Certificate in Education is a one-year course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for undergraduate degree holders that allows them to train to be a teacher....
programme and NYU's Steinhardt School's Department of Teaching and Learning MAT programme provide two examples of this trend.
The
USC Rossier School of EducationThe University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education is one of the graduate schools of the University of Southern California. The Rossier School offers six Masters degree programs, a Doctor of Education degree, and a Ph.D. in Urban Education Policy. The Rossier School places an...
takes this one step further, by insisting that all students purchase their own camcorder (or similar digital video recording devise) as a prerequisite to beginning their MAT education programmes, many of which are delivered entirely online. These programmes employ a modified version of Adobe Connect to deliver the entire taught component of the MAT@USC. MAT students in-class teaching is captured by camcorder, posted to USC's
web portalA web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
, and then go through a process of
evaluationEvaluation is systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards.Evaluation often is used to characterize and appraise subjects of interest in a wide range of human enterprises, including the arts, criminal justice,...
by faculty in a similar manner to what they would use if they were physically present in class.
In this way the use of the camcorder has allowed USC to entirely de-centralize its teacher preparation away from
Southern CaliforniaSouthern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
to most American states, and several countries around the world; and this has greatly increased the number of teachers they are able to train at once. With significant teacher shortages looming in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia over the next few years, this is likely to be a model which other institutions seek to emulate.
Formats
The following list covers consumer equipment only. (For other formats see
VideotapeA videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
)
Analog
- Lo-Band: Approximately 3 megahertz bandwidth (250 lines EIA resolution or ~333x480 edge-to-edge)
-
- BCE (1954): First tape storage for video, manufactured by Bing Crosby Entertainment from Ampex equipment.
- BCE Coloer (1955): First color tape storage for video, manufactured by Bing Crosby Entertainment from Ampex equipment.
- Simplex (1955): Developed commercially by RCA and used to record several live broadcasts by NBC.
- Quadruplex (1955): Developed formally by Ampex, and this became the recording standard for the next 20 years.
- Vera (1955): An experimental recording standard developed by the BBC, but was never used or sold commercially.
- U-matic
U-matic is an analog recording videocassette format first shown by Sony in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a cassette, as opposed to the various Reel-to-Reel or open-reel formats of the...
(1971): The initial tape used by Sony to record video.
- U-matic
U-matic is an analog recording videocassette format first shown by Sony in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a cassette, as opposed to the various Reel-to-Reel or open-reel formats of the...
S (1974): A small sized version of U-matic used for portable recorders.
- Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
(1975): Only used on very old Sony and Sanyo camcorders and portables; obsolete by the mid/late-80s in the consumer market.
- VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
(1976): Compatible with VHS standard VCRs, though VHS camcorders are no longer made.
- VHS-C
VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter...
(1982): Originally designed for portable VCRs, this standard was later adapted for use in compact consumer camcorders; identical in quality to VHS; cassettes play in standard VHS VCRs using an adapter. Still available in the low-end consumer market (JVC model GR-AXM18 is VHS-C; see page 19 of the owner's manual). Relatively short running time compared to other formats.
- Video8 (1985): Small-format tape developed by Sony to combat VHS-C's compact palm-sized design; equivalent to VHS or Betamax in picture quality, but not compatible. High quality audio as standard.
- Hi-Band: Approximately 5 megahertz bandwidth (420 lines EIA resolution or ~550x480 edge-to-edge)
-
- U-matic
U-matic is an analog recording videocassette format first shown by Sony in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a cassette, as opposed to the various Reel-to-Reel or open-reel formats of the...
BVU (1982): Largely used in high-end consumer and professional equipment. The introduction of U-matic BVU spelled the end of 16mm film recordings.
- U-matic
U-matic is an analog recording videocassette format first shown by Sony in prototype in October 1969, and introduced to the market in September 1971. It was among the first video formats to contain the videotape inside a cassette, as opposed to the various Reel-to-Reel or open-reel formats of the...
BVU-SP (1985): Largely used in high-end consumer and professional equipment. The introduction of U-matic BVU spelled the end of 16mm film recordings.
- S-VHS
S-VHS is an improved version of the VHS standard for consumer-level analog recording videocassettes. It was introduced by JVC in Japan in April 1987 with the HR-S7000 VCR and certain overseas markets soon afterwards...
(1987): Largely used in medium-end consumer and prosumer equipment; rare among mainstream consumer equipment, and rendered obsolete by digital gear like DigiBetacam and DV.
- S-VHS-C (1987): An upgrade to provide near-laserdisc quality. Now limited to the low-end consumer market (example: JVC SXM38). As per VHS-C, relatively short running time compared to other formats.
- Hi8 (1988): Enhanced-quality Video8; roughly equivalent to Super VHS in picture quality, but not compatible. High quality audio as standard. Now limited to low-end consumer market (example: Sony TRV138)
Digital
-
-
- MiniDV (1995): Smaller version of the DV standard was released by Sony, which became the most widespread standard-definition digital camcorder technology for several years, and was the format which made capturing footage via the 4 pin DV socket to your computer easy for video editing.
- DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
(1995): Uses either Mini DVD-R or DVD-RAMDVD recordable and DVD rewritable refer to part of Optical disc recording technologies. DVD optical disc formats that can be recorded by a DVD recorder, , either write once or rewritable format written by laser, as compared to DVD-ROM, which is mass-produced by pressing, primarily for the...
. This is a multi-manufacturer standard that uses 8 cm DVDs for 30 minutes of video. DVD-R can be played on consumer DVD players but cannot be added to or recorded over once finalized for viewing. DVD-RAM can be added to and/or recorded over, but cannot be played on many consumer DVD players, and costs a lot more than other types of DVD recordable media. The DVD-RW is another option allowing the user to re-record, but only records sequentially and must be finalized for viewing. The discs do cost more than the DVD-R format, which only records once. DVDs are also very vulnerable to scratches. DVD camcorders are generally not designed to connect to computers for editing purposes, though some high-end DVD units do record surround soundSurround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
, a feature not standard with DV equipment.
- DV
DV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
(1996): Sony debuted the DV format tape with DVCAM being professional and DVCPRO being a Panasonic variant.
- D-VHS
D-VHS is a digital recording format developed by JVC, in collaboration with Hitachi, Matsushita, and Philips. The "D" in D-VHS originally stood for Data VHS, but with the expansion of the format from standard definition to high definition capability, JVC renamed it Digital VHS and uses that...
(1998): JVC debuted the digital standard of VHS tape and which supported 1080p HD. Many units also supported IEEE1394 recording.
- Digital8
Digital8 is a consumer digital recording videocassette for camcorders based on the 8 mm video format developed by Sony, and introduced in 1999.The Digital8 format is a combination of the older Hi8 tape transport with the DV codec...
(1999): Uses Hi8 tapes (Sony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
is the only company currently producing D8 camcorders, though Hitachiis a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group as part of the larger DKB Group companies...
once also did). Most, but not all models of Digital 8 cameras have the ability to read older Video8 and Hi8 analog format tapes. The format's technical specifications are of the same quality as MiniDV (both use the same DV codec), and although no professional-level Digital8 equipment exists, D8 has been used to make TV and movie productions (example: Hall of MirrorsHall of Mirrors is a 2001 independent film written and directed by Brad Osborne.-Plot:Hall of Mirrors concerns a young, desperate gambling addict who is plummeted into financial ruin. A strange, anonymous caller offers a unique solution to his situation...
).
- MICROMV
MicroMV was a proprietary videotape format introduced in 2001 by Sony. This cassette is physically smaller than a Digital8 or DV cassette. In fact, MicroMV is the smallest videotape format — 70% smaller than MiniDV or about the size of two US quarter coins. Each cassette can hold up to 60 minutes...
(2001): Uses a matchbox-sized cassette. Sony was the only electronics manufacturer for this format, and editing software was proprietary to Sony and only available on Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
; however, open sourceThe term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
programmers did manage to create capture software for Linux http://www.kinodv.org/article/view/54/1/11/. The hardware is no longer in production, though tapes are still available through Sony.
- Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
(2003): Presently, Hitachi is the only manufacturer of Blu-ray Disc camcorders.
- HDV
HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon and Sharp...
(2004): Records up to an hour of HDTVHigh-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
MPEG-2 signal roughly equal to broadcast quality HD on a standard MiniDV cassette.
- MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
codec based format, which records MPEG-2 program stream or MPEG-2 transport stream to various kinds of tapeless media (hard disks, solid-state memory, etc). Used both for standard definition (JVC, Panasonic) and high definition (JVC) recording.
- H.264, shorthand term for compressed video using the H.264 codec that is part of the MPEG-4 standard in an MPEG-4 file most often stored to tapeless media.
- AVCHD
AVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video....
, a format that puts H.264 video into a transport stream file format. The video is compressed according to the MPEG-4 AVC (aka H.264) format, but the file format is not MPEG-4.
- Multiview Video Coding
Multiview Video Coding is an amendment to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression standard developed with joint efforts by MPEG/VCEG that enables efficient encoding of sequences captured simultaneously from multiple cameras using a single video stream....
is an amendment to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression standard for sequences captured simultaneously from multiple cameras using a single video stream. An MVC stream is backward compatible with H.264/AVC, which allows older devices and software to decode stereoscopic video streams, ignoring additional information for the second view. Multiview video contains a large amount of inter-view statistical dependencies therefore combined temporal and inter-view prediction is the key for efficient MVC encoding. A frame from a certain camera can be predicted not only from temporally related frames from the same camera, but also from the frames of neighboring cameras. These interdependencies can be used for efficient prediction.
Digital camcorders and operating systems
Since most manufacturers focus their support on Windows and Mac users, users of other operating systems often are unable to receive support for these devices. However, open source products such as
CinelerraCinelerra is prosumer video editing software. It is designed for the GNU/Linux operating system. It is produced by Heroine Virtual, and is free software distributed under the GNU General Public License...
and
KinoKino is a free software GTK+-based video editing software for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. The development of Kino was started at the end of 2000 by Dan Dennedy and Arne Schirmacher...
(written for the
LinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system) do allow full editing of some digital formats on alternative operating systems, and software to edit DV streams in particular is available on most platforms.
Handycam
Handycam is a
Sony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
brand used to market its camcorder range. It was launched in 1985 as the name of the first Video8 camcorder, replacing Sony's previous line of
BetamaxBetamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
-based models, and the name was intended to emphasize the "handy" palm size nature of the camera, made possible by the new miniaturized tape format. This was in marked contrast to the larger, shoulder mounted cameras available before the creation of Video8, and competing smaller formats such as
VHS-CVHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter...
.
Sony has continued to produce Handycams in a variety of guises ever since, developing the Video8 format to produce Hi8 (equivalent to
S-VHSS-VHS is an improved version of the VHS standard for consumer-level analog recording videocassettes. It was introduced by JVC in Japan in April 1987 with the HR-S7000 VCR and certain overseas markets soon afterwards...
quality) and later
Digital8Digital8 is a consumer digital recording videocassette for camcorders based on the 8 mm video format developed by Sony, and introduced in 1999.The Digital8 format is a combination of the older Hi8 tape transport with the DV codec...
, using the same basic format to record
digital videoDigital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
. The Handycam label continues to be applied as recording formats evolve.
A commercial for the Sony Handycam was made in June 2005 in Europe with the song "I Love You, ONO" by
Stereo TotalStereo Total is a Berlin-based multilingual, French-German duo comprising Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring . Both Cactus and Göring sing and play multiple instruments...
.
Handycam models
- Handycam (Video8 (1985~2001))
- Hi8 Handycam (1989–2008)
- Digital8
Digital8 is a consumer digital recording videocassette for camcorders based on the 8 mm video format developed by Sony, and introduced in 1999.The Digital8 format is a combination of the older Hi8 tape transport with the DV codec...
Handycam (1998–2008)
- DV
DV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
Handycam (1995~)
- HDV
HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV cassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon and Sharp...
Handycam
- DVD-Handycam
- Hard disk drive|HDD Handycam
- Memory Stick
Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format, launched by Sony in October 1998, and is also used in general to describe the whole family of Memory Sticks...
Handycam (using Memory Stick Pro Duo. Up to 16GB)
- Sony Handycam NEX-VG10
The Sony Handycam NEX-VG10 is a large sensor interchangeable-lens video camera made and distributed by Sony. It uses Sony E-mount camera lenses that were first used on the Sony NEX-3 and Sony NEX-5. It is capable of shooting in 1920×1080 full high definition using a large APS-C sensor. The video...
See also
- 3CCD
A three-CCD camera is a camera whose imaging system uses three separate charge-coupled devices , each one taking a separate measurement of the primary colors, red, green, or blue light. Light coming into the lens is split by a trichroic prism assembly, which directs the appropriate wavelength...
- AVCHD
AVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video....
- CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits...
- Flip Video
The Flip Video camera is a tapeless camcorder for digital video created by Pure Digital Technologies, a company bought by Cisco Systems in March 2009...
- Firewire
- Charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
- Dew warning
A dew warning, also known as a dew alarm or dew signal, is an error indication on VCRs and camcorders if the VCR/camcorder develops dew inside the unit from being exposed to extreme temperature and/or humidity changes....
- PictBridge
PictBridge is an industry standard introduced in 2003 from the Camera & Imaging Products Association for direct printing. It allows images to be printed directly from digital cameras to a printer, without having to connect the camera to a computer. Its formal name is . CIPA DC-001-2003 Rev...
- PXL-2000
The PXL-2000 is a toy black-and-white camcorder produced in 1987 that uses a compact audio cassette as its recording medium. The original designer at Fisher-Price was Andrew I...
—A toy camcorder that used compact audio cassette to store video
- Pocket video camera
A pocket video camera is a tapeless camcorder that is small enough to be carried in one's pocket. Most pocket video cameras resemble mobile phones in shape and size, unlike traditional cameras....
- SteadyShot
SteadyShot is the trademarked name of an integrated video camera image stabilisation technology developed by Sony for its range of consumer and prosumer video camcorders...
- USB streaming and USB port.
- VTR
- Professional video camera
A professional video camera is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images...
External links
- History of Camcorders by Mark Shapiro
- How Camcorders Work from HowStuffWorks
HowStuffWorks is a commercial edutainment website that was founded by Marshall Brain with the goal of giving its target audience an insight into the way in which many things work. The site uses various media in its effort to explain complex concepts, terminology and mechanisms, including...
- http://bestcamcordersale.com
- http://bigcamerasale.com
- http://lensesdslrsale.com