Camcorder News

Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas - Sanyo has just announced an update, adding high definition to their small line of camcorders on the market. The Sanyo VPC-HD1 is the first camcorder in the world to record high definition video to an SD (Secure Digital) flash media card. According to Sanyo, the new camcorder records 720 lines progressive scan video (720p) at 30 frames per second.

The tiny camcorder measures just 3.1 in. x 4.7 in. x 1.4 in. and weighs just 8.3 ounces with the battery inside. The VPC-HD1 includes a 5.36 Gross Megapixel CCD which can record stills up to 5.1 megapixels. The VPC-HD1 features a 2.2-in. LCD screen with a relatively high resolution of 210,000 pixels. High-resolution LCDs are important on HD camcorders to see the detail of HD while shooting.

The VPC-HD1 includes a 10x optical zoom as well as Sanyo's own image stabilization system. Like Sony camcorders of late, the VPC-HD1 includes a docking station and USB 2.0 port to hook the camcorder up with a computer, and Sanyo advertises that the video can be copied to a DVD once connected. However, Sanyo does not indicate if any software is included with the camcorder and does not indicate how users can expect to get high definition video onto a DVD disk.

The major distinction that separates the VPC-HD1 from other flash media camcorders such as the Panasonic SDR-S100 or the JVC Everio Series is that it records video in MPEG-4 while the Panasonic and JVC camcorders record video in MPEG-2. MPEG-4 typically produces much lower quality video than MPEG-2 when implemented in camcorders. Sanyo explains their high definition compression on the company website:

'The HD1 features SANYO’s proprietary high-definition engine to execute a vast number of calculations in a short period of time. This high-definition engine enables the Xacti HD1’s advanced image processing functions such as real-time MPEG-4 compression, noise reduction and high-definition processing.'

While the VPC-HD1 seems like a small and therefor trifling camcorder, yet Sanyo has enabled users with many manual control options. These options include focus, aperture, exposure compensation, shutter speed, an ND filter toggle, and manual white balance control. All of the camcorder's functions including the manual controls are accessed through a four-way toggle directional pad on the back of the camcorder.

While the $800 price tag for high-definition camcorders may startle and attract many users at first glance, Sanyo had to cut corners to get the price that low. The next most affordable HD camcorder on the market retails for twice that price. The first obvious area that suffers from the plunging price is the use of MPEG-4 recording format. The VPC-HD1 records video at a bit rate of 9.3 Megabits per second; that's almost a third less than the HDV high-definition format of Sony, Canon, JVC and Sharp which record at bit rates of 25 Megabits per second. While it doesn't mean that the video quality will be exactly 66 percent more inferior than video from camcorders by other manufacturers, a lower bit rate means that there is less information in the video signal which will still result in a signal of poorer quality. In addition, Sanyo camcorders have tested very poorly in the past in the CamcorderInfo.com standardized reviews, although Sanyo is claiming an update to many of the components of the camcorder, so the VPC-HD1 could perform well.

The VPC-HD1 will be available in the United States in March for $800.