Panasonic HDC-SD1 First Impressions Camcorder Review

by Guy Bruner
Published on Jan 11, 2007 6:00 PM

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


 
Compression
The HCD-SD1 compresses its video using the H.264 Advanced Video Codec, better known as AVCHD, at 13 Mbps variable bitrate. The image is recorded in anamorphic widescreen, 1440x1080 pixels (1.333:1 pixel aspect ratio), and is interlaced. This frame size and scanning method are essentially the same as HDV, except HDV uses MPEG2 encoding instead of H.264. H.264 is a much more efficient codec than HDV, but its image quality fails to match HDV in our testing. We will know more when we can get an HDC-SD1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) into our laboratory for more comprehensive testing.
 
AVCHD was a co-development of Sony and Panasonic, announced this summer. Since then, Sony has managed to release four camcorders using the codec, for both DVD and HDD camcorders. Panasonic lagged a few months, but this camcorder was released simultaneously with the HDC-DX1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99), a DVD camcorder. AVCHD was a natural outcropping of two elements that consumers want: the quality of HD and the convenience of non-tape media. While the quality is currently not as good as HDV (a tape-based format) our conversations with hardware and software engineers tells us that the codec has enormous potential. The camcorders we have before us are very much a first generation.
 
Media
The HDC-SD1 uses secure digital high capacity (SDHC) flash memory cards. It comes with a 4 GB SDHC card to which it can record approximately 40 minutes in HF mode (13Mbps), 60 minutes in HN mode (9Mbps), and 90 minutes in HE mode (6Mbps). Standard SD cards from 256 MB to 2 GB can also be used, but the recording time is reduced to a fraction of what the 4 GB card can hold.
 
Editing
HD Writer version 1.0j software is included with the camcorder. It permits the transfer of the MPEG2 transport stream files from the SDHC card to a computer. However, any editing features will be rudimentary, at best. Editing AVCHD will also require a robust computer system with dual core processors. I found that it is possible to copy the MPEG Transport Stream (MTS) video files from the SDHC card to the computer through a simple file copy operation. This is much easier than trying to get the video off a DVD recorded on the HDC-DX1. I was never able to transfer video from the DVD. I suspect the software included with the HDC-DX1 is required to transfer it from DVD disk to the computer for editing.
 
While several fronts have been made on AVCHD playback, there is yet to be a release for an NLE that can edit AVCHD natively. This has been a frustration for many consumers eager to adopt a non-tape based HD format, and it’s likely that we will see product releases within the year.



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