JVC Everio GZ-HD40 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Jul 10, 2008 1:00 PM
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Compression (13.0)The big news from JVC is that the GZ-HD30 and GZ-HD40 record in two formats, MPEG-2 TS and AVCHD. The first, MPEG-2 TS (transport stream), is used only by JVC in the world of consumer camcorders. In its highest quality, it offers a very high bitrate - maxing out at 30Mbps with an average 26.6Mbps - at full 1920 x 1080. You won't find a faster bitrate than this. Of course, bitrate isn't everything. In side-by-sides, we preferred the video from the Sony HDR-SR12 (Review, Specs, $833.33) and Canon HF10 to the JVC GZ-HD6 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $679.95), even though the JVC had a much faster bitrate.
MPEG-2 TS also has a second setting on the GZ-HD40 called "1440 CBR" - this records at an average 27Mbps in 1440 x 1080. Video recorded in this mode is completely compatible in an HDV workflow, so you could mix and match footage with your Canon HV20 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $903) or other tape-based HD camcorder.
The fact that JVC included AVCHD seems to be a concession that AVCHD has clearly become the dominant compression for consumer HD camcorders. Co-developed by Sony and Panasonic as an alternative to HDC, AVCHD has since been adopted by every major manufacturer except Samsung and Sanyo. While the quality of the first generation models left us wanting, the envelope has been pushed a little bit farther with each generation. The latest generation is just about on par with the best consumer-grade HDV camcorders, and we expect to see AVCHD surpass that in a year or two.
When in AVCHD mode, there are three quality settings, all of which correspond to an average bitrate. XP records at 17Mbps, SP at 12Mbps, and EP at 5Mbps.
Practically speaking, the choice of two compressions is both freeing and bewildering. Avid videographers will likely enjoy the freedom to use whichever compression is best suited to the task. Even users who are inexperienced with camcorders but tech-savvy will likely take this as an opportunity to research the difference between MPEG-2 TS and AVCHD, set the camcorder one way or the other, and never change it again.
Our fear is for the absolute beginners who simply can't fathom this techno-jumble nonsense that we take for write about all the time. The GZ-HD40 is definitely not the easiest camcorder we've ever seen, and this particular set of options is not for the faint of heart.
Choosing a compression and quality setting has a big impact on record times. See the chart in the next section for details.
Media (9.0)
The JVC GZ-HD30 and GZ-HD40 use an internal hard dish drive (HDD) as their primary recording medium. The only difference is the capacity. The GZ-HD30 has a 80GB HDD and the GZ-HD40 has a 120GB HDD. Both the camcorders also allow you to expand that memory (which hardly seems necessary) or simply make it more portable by also recording onto a microSD card. This is not the typical card format for a camcorder. SD/SDHC cards the norm. But almost every microSD card purchase comes with an adapter to fit it into an SD card slot. Note, however, that microSD cards can only record in the AVCHD compression, not MPEG-2 TS.
The following chart shows how much video you can fit on the various media.
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AVCHD XP (17Mbps) |
AVCHD SP (12Mbps) |
AVCHD EP (5Mbps) |
MPEG-2 TS FHD |
MPEG-2 TS 1440 CBR |
| 120GB HDD |
900 min |
1260 min | 3000 min | 600 min | 600 min |
| 80GB HDD |
600 min |
840 min | 1980 min | 360 min | 360 min |
| 4GB microSD |
30 min |
44 min | 100 min | - | - |
| 8GB microSD | 60 min | 88 min | 200 min | - | - |
Editing (5.0)
Because the JVC GZ-HD30 and GZ-HD40 record in both the AVCHD and MPEG-2 TS compressions, the editing options are opened. Chances are, if you have some software that has been updated in the last year, it will work with either or both. The safest bet is to put the camcorder in 1440 CBR, which is setting in MPEG-2 TS. These files will be completely compatible with HDV, a format that has been on the market so long even several year old software should accommodate it.
The GZ-HD40 ships with software to get you started right out of the box. There is a disc inside that contains PowerProducer v.2.0.2 for Everio HD. Unfortunately, this is PC-only software. Mac owners can only take advantage of the QuickTime plugin that allows you to play back the clips.
The editing software is sluggish and frustrating for new users, but sadly necessary for some. The problem is that the MPEG-2 files are not widely compatible with other editing systems, so you may need PowerProducer to convert them to more commonly used file types.
AVCHD files enjoy wider compatibility, although Ulead VideoStudio 11 - the popular bastion of sanity in an otherwise hostile world - couldn't make heads or tails of the files. Unfortunately, Adobe Premiere Elements still doesn't support any AVCHD. Mac owners have it a little easier. iMovie works fine, as does Final Cut.
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