MPEG-4 Camcorders: Boom OR Bust?

by Geoff Caplan
Published on Apr 27, 2003 12:00 AM



At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, two companies made what seem to be the first serious attempts at MPEG-4 dedicated, tape-less camcorders. These digital camcorders claim to have advantages of high video compression, they are tightly housed within attractive, small profiles and generally are tapeless. Most of the models being introduced use either Secure Digital cards or write directly onto an internal hard drive.

The industry’s attempts at MPEG-4 tape-less camcorders have always been intriguing but there was at least one prominent market failure. About 4 years ago, Sharp introduced the much-hyped VNEZ series of ''Sharp Internet Viewcams.'' It boasted a very small profile, not much bigger than a beeper, and featured MPEG4 (actually Microsoft’s proprietary Advanced Streaming Format, or ASF codec), written to small smart media cards. The Sharp Internet Viewcam also captured 480x640 jpegs. Unfortunately, there was no flash and the video was jerky and generally of poor quality. Consumers resoundingly said ''no'' and Sharp pulled the product from production.

Meanwhile, consumer MPEG4 video started to improve somewhat with later products. Panasonic’s ''ewear'' line of camcorders produces decent compressed video but is generally not considered a “serious” camcorder product by many consumers. The product also includes no tape recording of video. This is perhaps due to the added functionalities of MP3 and included digital voice recorder that gives the “ewear” line a definite ''gadget'' appeal. There is obviously some market interest, though.

There are MiniDV tape recording camcorders on the market which include SD slots for recording still images too. Manufacturers have added the ability to record MPEG4 video the SD cards of these camcorders, however they too suffer the quality complaints of the other above, dedicated tape-less MPEG4 recording solutions.

There are at least two interesting MPEG-4 digital camcorder products on the horizon, with one set to launch in about two months.

Pretec
The Pretec DV4200 offers streaming, compressed video and a 2.1 megapixel camera all in one. With a MSRP of $399.99, this product is expected to attract some interest. It features 30 frames-per-second real-time video, with MPEG4 encoding/decoding and AAC audio written to SD media storage. There is also an optional AV-in feature.

''We are very excited about it...the product is competitively priced and offers better quality,'' said Brian Grundell, Sales Manager at Pretech in Fremont, CA. ''We are offering a rechargeable battery with [a] separate charger, [a] conversion utility and 2.1 megapixel still imaging capability.''

Camcorderinfo.com asked Grundell about an issue that camcorder owners have found frustrating. It is a challenge for many consumers to convert MPEG-4 to VCD or DVD-compliant formats, partially due to the proprietary restrictions of the MPEG-4 codec. But Grundell emphasized the increasing availability of conversion software that makes this possible. He also noted that the Pretec DV4200 can capture analog video and audio from multimedia sources, including televisions and VCRs.

Grundell added that the Pretec DV4200 is in the final phases of Q&A, with firmware updates taking place in preparation for an anticipated late June product launch.

Samsung
Samsung has been working aggressively to gain market share and to build brand awareness within the digital camcorder market. Two strategic approaches: introduction of an MPEG4 camcorder and the later introduction of a hybrid high quality digital camcorder and 4 megapixel camera combination.

Samsung’s HDD Digital Camcorder ITCAM-7 is being touted as ''the world's first HDD-based digital camcorder with a myriad of entertainment capabilities.'' Video and audio are stored on a built-in 1.5 GB hard disk drive (HDD). Video is compressed in MPEG-4 and transferred to PCs through USB 2.0. “The HDD storage saves users from lengthy and cumbersome rendering and processes; capturing an hour of digital video will take only about 5 minutes instead of one hour using conventional tape-based camcorders,” according to a Samsung announcement. The Samsung ITCAM-7 is also capable of playing MPEG-4 video and MP3 files.

The ITCAM-7 is set to launch in August at a MSRP of $499.

Panasonic
Panasonic is increasing their youth and “technogadget” appeal with an expansion of the “ewear” product lineup. There are two new models with MPEG-4 video capability, the SV-AV20 and SV-AV30. The SV-AV30 is especially intriguing, combining a digital video recorder, still camera, audio player, and voice recorder in a palm-size device. This new e-wear model has a 2-inch LCD screen/viewfinder and a docking station for recording and viewing footage with a television.

In my experience with owning the inaugural product, the SV-AV10, demonstrated a crisp and smooth MPEG-4 playback capability, while 640x480 still imaging was acceptable, especially with flash utilization. Judging from shopper comments in retail stores, however, it seemed that most “serious” camcorder buyers, considered the e-wear products as “gadgets” and not serious camcorder products. This could be an unfair and impulsive consumer image as communicated by some people, but nevertheless it is a product branding image that Panasonic must face with ewear.

Introduced two years ago, Panasonic’s e-wear products are 4-in-1 SD audio/video devices that capture digital images, shoot digital video (MPEG 4), record voice and play digital music files. Panasonic describes the ewear line as products that “…fit in the palm of your hand, in your pocket, or can be worn around your neck. “

The SV-AV20 and SV-AV30 e-wear 4-in-1 A/V SD recorders are available this month. The SV-AV20 will have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $299.95, including a 32MB Panasonic SD Memory Card. The SV-AV30, which includes a 64MB Panasonic SD Memory Card as well as the docking station, will have an MSRP of $399.95.