Canon Vixia HV40

Color (8.03)

The Canon HV40 had a decent showing in our bright light color test, but the colors produced weren’t as accurate as those from Canon’s HF S series of flash memory camcorders. The HV40 earned a color error of 4.36 and a strong saturation level of 96.76%. Both of these numbers are good, but we’ve definitely seen better from other high-end models. More on how we test color.

Color Accuracy Performance
	Color Error Map
	The map on the left is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camera processed each particular color while capturing video. The Canon Vixia HV40 produced a color error of 4.36 and a saturation level of 96.76% in our bright light color testing.

The Color Error Map above shows how the HV40 did with specific colors from our test. The camcorder was quite even throughout the color spectrum. No specific colors were that much more accurate than others, which is actually a good sign. This means the camcorder doesn’t have a color bias or skew towards a certain tone.

Like all HD camcorders from Canon, the HV40 has a few pre-set color modes that can be engaged to produce a different image effect. The differences between these settings are subtle, but the camcorder actually had the best color accuracy when we used the Soft Skin Detail mode (4.16 color error). In addition to these color modes, the HV40 also has the option of making a custom color setting, although the range of controls is very limited.

Canon Vixia HV40 Color Modes
Auto 100% Crop
Vivid 100% Crop Neutral 100% Crop Low Sharpening 100% Crop Soft Skin Detail 100% Crop More...

The Canon HV40 rendered very similar colors to the Canon HF S100, with the main difference being a stronger saturation level on the HV40 and better accuracy on the HF S100. You can see these two camcorders side-by-side in our comparison table below. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 had similar saturation to the HV40, and you can see the strong, vivid colors in its image. The Sony HDR-XR520V had a darker image in auto mode than the rest of these camcorders, which brought out the black tones and accentuated the contrast of the image.

Canon Vixia HV40 Color Comparisons
Canon Vixia HV40
Canon Vixia HF S100 Panasonic HDC-TM300 Sony HDR-XR520V More...

Close-Up Color Comparisons				Expand
	Ideal	Canon Vixia HV40	Canon Vixia HF S100	Panasonic HDC-TM300	Sony HDR-XR520V
Red
Green
Blue
Light Skin
Dark Skin

Since all the camcorders shown above are high-end models, it comes as no surprise that they all managed good color accuracy in bright light. The Sony was a bit worse than the rest of the pack, but since color quality is very subjective, it wouldn’t be out of the question for someone to actually prefer the HDR-XR520V—or any of the other models.

Low Light Color (6.92)

The Canon HV40 didn’t have great color accuracy in low light, but its results were about average for a camcorder of its class. What the HV40 did have was deep, vivid colors in low light—a testament to the 74.9% saturation we measured in our low light test. The Canon HV40 registered a color error of 5.3. More on how we test low light color.

Low Light Color Accuracy Performance
	Color Error Map
	The map on the left is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camera processed each particular color while capturing video. The Canon Vixia HV40 produced a color error of and a saturation level of in our bright light color testing.

At 60 lux, which is the light level for our low light testing, the Canon HV40 produced a dark image. Most camcorders produce a dark image at 60 lux, but the HV40’s was a bit darker than the Canon HF S100, and significantly darker than both the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and the Sony HDR-XR520V. The exposure levels on the HV40 can be manually altered, however, by simply adjusting the overall exposure setting or changing the aperture and shutter speed. In the comparisons below, check out how much more color the HV40 retained than its competitors—including the Canon HF S100, which had a much lower saturation level (58.01%).

The Canon HV40 actually had worse color accuracy in low light when using its 24p and 30p modes: the camcorder had a color error of 5.8 when recording at 30p, and an error of 6.09 when using its native-progressive 24p mode. Usually we see better color accuracy with alternate frame rates because they help the camcorder produce a brighter image in low light, but accuracy was not the result with the HV40.

Noise (11.17)

The Canon HV40 produced low levels of noise in our bright light testing—a solid performance for the camcorder. We measured the noise levels to be 0.48%, which is a good portion lower than the decent score put up by the Canon HF S100 (0.88%). Both the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and the Sony HDR-XR520V also had low noise levels in bright light. More on how we test noise.

Canon Vixia HV40 Noise Comparisons
Canon Vixia HV40 100% Crop	Canon Vixia HF S100 100% Crop Panasonic HDC-TM300 100% Crop Sony HDR-XR520V 100% Crop More...

Since all these camcorders had relatively low noise levels in our testing, you can’t really see any noise in the cropped images above. The images do let you compare the sharpness of each camcorder, however. The Canon HV40’s image isn’t quite as sharp as the rest of the camcorders shown above, but it came very close. Compare the bottom of the vertical trumpet in each still frame. With the HV40, the lines blur together at the bottom; the other camcorders show more detail and distinction between the lines. In the next section of our review we’ll look at the HV40’s sharpness numbers more closely.