High Definition TV Video

Move into the entertainment experience you've been waiting for with the LK330 LCD HDTV.

Everything looks crisper, more vibrant, and more colorful on an HDTV. It's about time your entertainment stepped up to meet your expectations.

On September 18 of 2005, Canon broke new ground in the digital video camera industry, announcing the XL H1, which was Canon's first DVC featuring high definition. Originally developed based on the needs of professional and enthusiast videographers, the XL H1 retains the operability of Canon's very popular XL2 while increasing the professional function and supporting high definition recording.

The flagship DVC for the company of Canon, the XL H1 is ideal for use all across the spectrum of professional content making, from film and television production to filming weddings. The XL H1 also comes equipped with a HD 20X zoom video lens, the XL 5.4-108 mm L IS II, which contributes to Canon's development aim of delivering the highest possible quality of recording available today.

As Canon's first HD video camera, the XL H1 camcorder and 20X HD video zoom lens will provide broadcasters with a low budget 1080i resolution option for ENG, documentary or even reality television productions.

Film makes will also fall for the extensive Cine controls and 24 frame rate option the XL H1 has to offer. Canon's custom jackpack features include uncompressed digital HD-SDI output for seamless integration into broadcast studios or high quality image transfer to non linear editing systems.

The genlock feature will allow movie sets to easily synchronize camera settings across multiple camcorders and SMPTE time codes will allow for streamlined tape and edit management.

The XL H1 also offers three 1/3 inch 1.67 megapixel interlaced CCDs that capture images at 1080i resolution. It also features selectable frame rates of 50i and 25F, so capturing fast motion and just about everything else is possible with the
XL H1.

The amazing company of JVC (Victor Company of Japan)released the first high definition video camera for consumers back in 2003. The GR-HD1 high def camera was the first digital video camera in the world to record and play back high definition images.

By utilizing a newly developed 1/3 inch type 1.18 million pixel progressive scan CCD and JVC type processing, the new camera records and plays back 750/30p digital high definition and 525p progressive wide screen images to mini DV tape.

Features
The GR-HD1 is was the first digital video camera in the world to record and play back high definition video and images. The GR-HD1 records digital images to mini DV tapes using MPEG 2 compression, recording and playing back digital high definition images while still maintaining conventional 525i DV standard recording times.

The GR-HD1 also comes with an optical 10X zoom lens and a built in optical image stabilizer. It also uses a newly developed 1/3 inch type 1.18 million pixel (1.14 million effective pixels) progressive scan CCD. Due to the JVC original signal
processing circuitry and driving system, it can record muti format high quality images.

There are three recording modes; HD mode, SD mode, and DV mode that are based according to the camera operators requirements.

The HD mode records 750/30p digital high definition images, SD mode 525p progressive wide images, DV mode at the conventional 525i DV standard. This
way, camera users can freely choose among the 3 modes according to their specific requirements.

Even though it was the first high definition video camera to release to consumers, the GR-HD1 is still a very impressive camera. It has a slew of other features, which are sure to please camera lovers everywhere.

If you are new to HD video cameras, you've probably found yourself wondering if you really need to have one around. For a majority of people, a HD video camera represents the best way to capture memories and pictures with the best technology available today.

For producers or those looking to start their own productions, HD video cameras may be easier to rent than to buy. While most HD video cameras cost quite a bit of money, they may be easier to rent than just to go out and buy.

If you only plan to use your camera for a few days or just a short period of time, then renting may be your best option. Producers and professional photographers looking to take things to the next level, may choose rent a HD video camera to test the waters before making the purchase. If you've never experienced HD before, renting a camera may be the best idea before you sink a ton of money into buying
one of your very own.

On the other hand, if you take a lot of pictures and enjoy making videos, buying a camera may be the best option for you. Even though they cost a lot of money, these cameras are ideal for anyone who is seeking the absolute best in technology. These cameras are nothing like cameras of the past, as they can do so much more - with a lot better quality.

For the average photographer, a HD video camera may not be the best purchase. If you are on a budget or don't have a lot of money to spend, then this type of camera is probably going to be out of your league. If you have a lot of money on the ther hand, this type of camera is more than worth the purchase.

There are several companies that rent out HD cameras, from many different manufacturers. Normally, those that rent are looking to try the camera out, or just
needing it for a brief amount of time. Trying out the camera is a good thing, although it normally leads to buying it. It can be very difficult to try out a camera that is this good then not buy it.

When the time comes to test out HD video cameras, renting is sometimes the best way to go. If you've used these types of cameras in the past, then you may want to go ahead and buy one. There are several to choose from, and you really can't go wrong with jumping on the band wagon and immersing yourself in the amazing world of HD.

Working with the video of camcorders such as the Sony HDR-HC1 can produce a serious business.  HD video contains four times the number of pixels that  standard definition offers, and it's much more heavily compressed.

Keep in mind that you need a powerful computer with a lot of memory to deal with the extra data and compression.  Pinnacle for example, recommends a minimum 512 MB of RAM and a graphics card with 128
MB of RAM for standard resolution video, although that goes up to a GB of RAM and a 256 MB graphics
card when working with 1080i HD video.

You can find plenty of software available that supports editing high definition videos.  For example, the latest versions of Pinnacle Studio and Ulead Media Studio 8 can import and edit files in HDV format.

Even though the high definition video with these types of looks great when played back on an HDTV, at the present time is there is no way store HD video on a DVD.  The only way you can store HD video for playback is on your PC or the same type of media you used in your HD camcorder.

There is however, a new generation of high definition optical media format coming soon.  Products that are based on the HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc formats are very expensive, and they will remain that way for the near future.

HD-DVD players were announced a while back that they will cost $500 and up, and will be available very soon.  You'll also need one of the new HD-DVD drives to write to the disc, which will cost as much again.  You can expect the same story with the Blu-ray disc, as both the recorders and the players are going to be expensive for a while to come.

There is one other option as well.  There is a  DVD player from KISS, the DP-600, which can play back high definition files that have been compressed to Microsoft's Windows Media 9 format.  This can at least provide a stop gap until the price of the HD-DVD and Blue-ray disc players and writes come down to an affordable price.

You can always play back the recorded video you  have through the camcorder itself, although you shouldn't expect to be able to write it out on a disc with the current available equipment and preserve its quality.  If you wait it out, the new generation of available media will be everything you need for your HD video.

All video cameras contain 3 major components - the lens, imager, and recorder. The lens gathers and focuses the light on the imager, which is normally a charge coupled device (CCD) or CMOS sensor IC. Finally, the recorder will encode the video signal into a form that can be stored. Commonly, the optics and imager are known as the camera section.

The optic lens is the first component in the camera section's light path. The optics normally have one or more the following adjustments:
1. aperture - controls the amount of light
2. zoom - controls the field of view
3. shutter speed - captures continuous motion
In most consumer units, these adjustments are automatically controlled by the video camera's electronics, normally to maintain constant exposure onto the imager.

The imager is the "eye" of the camera, housing a photo sensitive device or devices. The imager works to convert light into an electronic video signal
through an elaborate electronic process. The camera lens projects an image to the imager surface, exposing the photo sensitive array to the light.

The light exposure is then converted into an electrical charge. Towards the end of the timed exposure, the imager will convert the accumulated charge into a continuous analog voltage at the imager's output terminals.

The third piece, the recorder, is responsible for writing the video signal to a recording medium, such as magnetic videotape. The recording function
involves many steps of signal processing, and historically, the recording process introduced some distortion and noise to the stored video, such that the playback of stored signal may not retain the same detail as the original live feed.

All but the most primitive of video cameras will also need to have a recorder controlling section which will allow you to control the camera. You can also swich the recorder into playback mode for reviewing your recorded footage.

The image you recorded doesn't need to be limited to what appeared in the view finder. For a documentation of events such as those used by the police, the fields of view will overlay such things as the time and date of the recording along the top and bottom of the image.

As you can probably tell now, a high definition video camera is very complex indeed. There are several other parts involved as well, although the above are the most important. A HD video camera is very complex in build, making it something that is more than worth the time it takes to create.

The central part of a DV camcorder is the CCD, or Charge Coupled Device. This sensor creates a video picture by recording the light intensity to recognize an image or shape, along with the color levels to reproduce a full color picture.

There are several tape based DV camcorders that have both color eyepiece viewfinders and a flip out TFT LCD screen to view the action as well as the previous recorded footage. Most tape-less models however, only offer the TFT screen to preview your captured video and to view while you make a recording.

When you need to get closer to the action, a zoom lens can be a great feature. Don't get swayed by the digital zoom figure however; as no matter how large it may be, you should always base your final decision on the optical zoom.

The optical zoom will give you a true indication of the video image, where digital zooms interpolate the available pixels to zoom in on an image. Optical zooms will normally range around the 10X mark, with digital zooms ranging from 100X and above.

The auto focusing systems are great as well, although manual focus options can be ideal for low light or when focusing on a subject against a landscape. Being available on most video cameras, the manual focus control can be found as either a ring on the lens or as a dual button system on the body.

Most video cameras these days will provide a tilting feature in the camera itself, although this feature should be avoided unless you don't intend to edit the video on a computer. The title effects on many cameras are quite limited and cannot be removed afterwards.

Almost all new high definition video cameras will use a rechargeable Li-ion battery, even though a spare battery might be useful as the batteries are unique to each camcorder maker and normally each model.

Most of the latest cameras allow you to capture digital still images onto a removable flash memory card. The most popular media is SD or MMC, but Sony and Samsung cameras often capture to a memory stick.

If your video camera doesn't offer still image capabilities, you can always perform a capture of the screen in your editing program. Always remember that the image resolution when capturing a still this way will always be 640X480, which is actually less than 1 MB, or Mega Byte.