JVC GZ-HD7 First Impressions Camcorder Review

by James Murray
Published on Jan 10, 2007 7:00 PM

Intro Performance
Format
 Tour
Auto / Manual Controls Still Features
Handling and Use Audio / Playback / Connectivity
Other Features Comparisons / Conclusion
Specs/Ratings  


Compression
The biggest news about the new JVC HD Everio is that it compresses video using a new “MPEG-2 Transport Stream” developed by JVC. It is unlike any system on the consumer market to date. The HD7 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1529) uniquely employs VBR (variable bit rate) encoding at up to 30Mbps with an average speed of 26.6Mbps. This compression rate leapfrogs AVCHD MPEG-4/H.264 compression, which has a theoretical max data rate of 24Mbps, but is currently implemented at a max of 15Mbps on Sony’s HDR-SR1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99). With so little information about MPEG-2 Transport Stream technology available at the time of this review, we can only speculate on the implications of what this new 30Mbps compression will produce, and how its efficiency compares to AVCHD. The question of whether JVC’s new algorithm will match or exceed HDV video quality (also an MPEG-2 format) in an HDD-based camcorder is certainly on our minds.
 
In addition to its highest quality setting, the HD7 includes a SP mode that captures video at 1440 x 1080i resolution and a variable bit rate 22Mbps maximum and 19Mbps average, as well as a constant bit rate mode of 1440 x 1080i at 27Mbps. The Full HD high quality mode can store five hours worth of video to the 60GB HDD while the SP, Long Time Mode records about seven hours to the HDD. JVC is closely guarding most of the specifications surrounding this technology.
 
Another big selling point of the JVC HD Everio is that MPEG-2 Transport Stream video can be easily archived to Blu-ray discs. JVC will include Blu-ray DVD authoring software with the HD7, as well as playback and editing tools.
 
Audio is compressed using a MPEG-1 Layer 2 audio compression algorithm.
 
Media
The JVC HD Everio GZ-HD7 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1529) is equipped with a 60GB built-in hard drive. Users will find that they are able to record video footage for up to seven hours with a lower variable bit rate and lower recording quality. Although perhaps necessary in a pinch, avoiding a lower-quality recording mode is advisable considering the impressive full HD capabilities. If shooting in the Full HD High quality mode, the user will able to record up to five hours of full HD 1920x1080i while recording at a maximum variable bit rate of 30Mbps(MAX) Mbps.
 
Editing
The JVC HD Everio GZ-HD7 comes with an attractive bundle of editing and archiving software for Windows-based PCs from Cyberlink BD Solution software suite, similar to their Cyberlink bundles in the past. This software suite contains PowerDirector for HD video editing, PowerProducer for the authoring of high definition Blu-ray discs and DVD video discs, and PowerCinema, a program that can be used both for playback and the management of image and video files. 
 
One of the major hurdles for video enthusiasts looking to make the jump to full HD content has been a lack of affordable Blu-ray software. The inclusion of Cyberlinks BD Solution suite provides a surprisingly complete end-to-end BD solution. PowerMac users will need to assemble their own solutions as the CyberLink BD Solution suite is compatible only with Intel-based Macs and even that is complicated. You must own a copy of Windows for Mac and run the program through Bootcamp. 






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