August 10, 2006 David Pogue NY Times
A Head Start on the Future of High-Def http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/technology/10pogue.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print HIGH-TECH projects often take longer to complete than anticipated; just ask Microsofts Windows team. But it seems as if weve been hearing about high-definition video since the Eisenhower administration. The Federal Communications Commissions mandatory cutoff of old-fashioned analog TV broadcasts, now scheduled for 2009, has been delayed, what, 500 times? Part of the holdup is the extent and expense of the switch to the new, better-looking format. To achieve HDTV nirvana, you have to replace every element of your video setup: the TV set, cable box, DVD player, DVD movie collection and even your camcorder. Next month, Canon will release the worlds smallest and least expensive high-definition tape camcorder, a one-handable beauty called the HV10. Its list price is $1,300. As any gadget freak can tell you, however, thats an inflated, fanciful figure provided for well, for no good reason. The online price, once the camcorder is on store shelves, will be lower. The HV10 is not the first high-def consumer camcorder by any means; Sony began blazing this path at the beginning of 2005. In fact, Sonys third HD camcorder, not counting pro models, has been available for months: the HC3 ($1,500 list price; under $1,200 online), the previous price and size champ. As Canon rolls out its HV10, Sonys HC3 seems to be squarely in its cross hairs. Both camcorders produce video in the 1080i format, which you can edit in Apples iMovie or many Windows programs (Premiere, Vegas, PowerDirector and so on). Both have built-in, automatic lens caps but lack headphone and microphone jacks. Both are HDV camcorders, which means that they record onto standard, easy-to-find, inexpensive MiniDV cassettes. The eyepiece viewfinder is immobile and nonextendable on both. And both cameras are so compact, the other parents at the baseball game will have absolutely no clue that youre filming in high definition. OF course, theyll also have no idea that you paid more than $1,000 for your camcorder, compared with as little as $300 for a standard-def model at least until they see the result on a high-definition TV. Thats when theyll see what all the fuss is about. The clarity, color fidelity and detail of good high-def video is absolutely astonishing, and its wide-screen shape makes even home movies look like Hollywood movies. With four times the resolution of a standard TV picture, high-def movies look like the view out a window. This image-quality business, as it turns out, is the new Canons specialty. Talk about being blown away the first time you play back your recordings lets hope you have a sturdy couch. Several advances are responsible for the brilliant picture quality. First, Canon has paid extra attention to two of the most important aspects of HD recording: focus and stability. Because the high-def picture is so sharp and so wide, moments of blurriness or hand-held jitters are far more noticeable and disturbing than in regular video. So the front of the HV10 bears a special external sensor that, when you change your aim, handles the bulk of the refocusing extremely rapidly. A standard through-the-lens focusing system does the fine tuning after that. Together, these two mechanisms nearly eliminate the awkward moment of blurry focus-hunting that mars other camcorders output. (Take care to avoid covering the focus sensor with your fingers as they wrap around this vertically oriented, chunky camera.) The HV10 also aims to iron out camera shake with a true optical stabilizer. A gyroscope inside the lens mechanism sends real-time feedback to the sensor itself, resulting, Canon says, in a more stable picture than youd get from electronic stabilizers like the one in Sonys HC3. In practice, the Canons stabilizer works fantastically when youre zoomed out; if you use two hands, the picture is indistinguishable from a tripod shot. As you zoom in, however, camera shake becomes more noticeable; at the 10X maximum, keeping the video rock-solid requires either a tripod or nerves of steel. Now, depending on where the Canons street price winds up, Sonys HC3 may be slightly more expensive. But it offers some goodies that the Canon lacks: a minutes-remaining readout for the battery; a nightshot mode for filming in total blackness, infrared-style; and an accessory shoe for video lights and microphones (proprietary Sony accessories only). The Sony model also has an HDMI jack. HDMI is a single cable that carries high-definition video and audio a common, extremely convenient connector on high-def equipment. Connecting the Canon to a high-def TV, on the other hand, requires plugging in five connections: left and right audio, and three component-video jacks. But the Canon offers some perks of its own. In addition to its superior stabilizer and focusing system, it does better in low light, with fewer of the dancing, grainy pixels that mar the HC3s dim-setting work. It also has a built-in video light thats a real help at least within interview range at nighttime parties, postconcert wrap-ups and Blair Witch-style memos to posterity. Neither camera takes very good still photos. But for what its worth, the Canons photo-shutter button works even while youre filming. When you consider how often you might want both stills and video in life the wedding kiss, the baseball swing, the diploma handshake this is a great feature. The Canon even counts to 10 every time you begin filming a small 1 sec, 2 sec counter appears on the very bright, very sharp flip-out screen. Its an ingenious idea because it alerts you, even more effectively than the red REC dot, to when you are, and are not, recording. Finally, the HV10 can convert all your old analog video, like VHS and 8-millimeter tapes, into digital form (not high definition), for ease in computer editing and reassurance in longevity. The HV10s only serious drawback, in fact, is one that it shares with recent Sony models (including the HC3): a really pathetic wide-angle view. Even at the most zoomed-out setting, these camcorders are zoomed in, if that makes any sense; in camera terms, its zoom range is 43 to 436 millimeters. Fitting a whole six-foot person into the frame involves backing up 15 feet, which often puts you into the street, the sea or the restroom. Now, you could argue that its too soon to be buying any high-def camcorder. How, for example, will you show off your finished high-definition masterpieces? High-def DVD recorders are still on the drawing boards, and high-def VCRs are an expensive oddity. At the moment, the only way to play back your high-def work is to connect the camcorder to your TV. But the worlds eventual switch to high definition is inevitable. Meanwhile, time is passing. If anything is worth filming, isnt it worth filming in the best possible quality starting right now? (My infant son, for example, had the good sense to take his very first steps while I was rolling with a high-def camcorder. Ill always be grateful for that piece of video.) True, a high-def camcorder is still much more expensive than a standard-def one. But if thats not an obstacle, remember that youre actually buying two camcorders in one; you can film in either standard or high-definition video on the same tape. And you can play back either kind of video on either kind of TV set, too (standard or HDTV), which makes these camcorders exceptionally versatile. In the meantime, by entering the high-def camcorder market a year and a half after its rivals, Canon has played the same conservative waiting game it once used with digital cameras and camcorders. Its goal, of course, is to watch and learn as the pioneers get all the arrows in their backs. If the HV10 is any indication, the company is off to a very good start. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
