JVC GZ-MG77 Camcorder Review

Audio (4.0)
For a camcorder with an MSRP of $800, the JVC GZ-MG77 offers little in terms of audio beyond the onboard stereo microphone. Many other camcorders in this price range include a jack for an external mic and headphones, but this JVC has neither. There is a wind cut feature, which is a standard offering on most consumer camcorders and can help to increase the quality of recorded audio in breezy conditions. Wind cut is a digital high pass filter that helps to ameliorate the buffeting sound of wind by eliminating some audio information in that range. Wind cut is an effective means of improving signal to noise, but it does decrease the overall audio signal quality, so it’s best to leave it off most of the time. It is also worth noting that wind cut is not nearly as effective at reducing wind noise as an external mic fitted with a good windscreen – an option that’s only available on camcorders that do include an external mic jack.

VCR Mode (5.0)
Calling the GZ-MG77’s playback function VCR mode doesn’t do it justice. VCRs play cassettes linearly, and moving from one section of the tape to the next can only proceed as fast as the tape heads can spin. This camcorder records footage to HDD, allowing the kind of random access to footage that is impossible with a linear tape device.

Playback mode is engaged by selecting the playback mode icon using the switch on top of the camcorder body. Within playback mode, users can switch between video and still image playback using the switch located in the LCD cavity; moving between video and still review only takes a few seconds. Clips and images on the HDD can be browsed one at a time or in a nine-to-a-page thumbnail format. The GZ-MG77 also allows users to view images in a three-to-a-page date index format in order to browse clips by the date and time they were shot. Numerous options are available for managing files, including rating clips in order of preference and protecting clips from deletion. The still image review mode limits users to the nine-image thumbnail view or the date index screen.

When playing back a single video clip, the all-purpose joystick serves as the VCR function controller. Although using the joystick for playback is not difficult, there are no labels to indicate Play or Rewind, so using this control entails some practice (though a guide does appear for a few seconds when playback mode is entered). Depressing the center of the joystick plays or pauses a clip, while pressing left or right scans back or forward. Pressing up and down skips to the beginning and end of a clip respectively. When a clip is paused, pressing left or right repeatedly engages frame-by-frame playback, and pressing and holding left or right plays back footage in slow motion. Moving from one VCR action to another is not instantaneous, but it was still faster than the delays encountered during DVD playback.

In addition to random access to clips and images and a plethora of file management options, the GZ-MG77 includes a playback zoom function. This feature magnifies a paused clip or still image on the LCD screen up to 5x, using the zoom toggle. When a paused clip or image is magnified, moving the joystick pans the magnified view over different parts of the image. In still playback mode, it is also possible to rotate images via the up and down arrows on the joystick. The up arrow will rotate images counter clockwise while the down arrow will rotate images clockwise.

Ports (4.0)
Given its small size, JVC has done an admirable job of cramming a decent number of ports onto the GZ-MG77. On the right side of the camcorder’s base is the SD memory card slot, protected by a stiff plastic port cover that opens on a hinge. The underside is not an ideal location for ports or card slots, because access to any underside feature is hampered when the camcorder is affixed to a tripod. The USB 2.0 and A/V out ports are located on the back of the camcorder above the battery, and are protected by a plastic port cover. This cover is serviceable, but the plastic strips connecting it to the camcorder body could be more robust. An S-Video port is located in the LCD cavity, and does not include a port cover. The DC-in port is located on the camcorder’s top right side near the back end of the camcorder. It is protected by a port cover of the same dangling hatch design as the one protecting the USB and AV ports.

Most of the ports on the GZ-MG77 are located near each other.