Sanyo VPC-HD1 Camcorder Review

Compression (3.0)
The VPC-HD1 records MPEG-4 formated video in both HD and SD. A number of frame and bit rate options affect video files' sizes and quality. In HD, the highest quality is HD-SHQ, which records at a resolution of 1280 x 720 at 30fps and a bit rate of 9 Mbps. Sanyo’s marketing division may or may not have rounded this number up from 8.5Mbp, which is the current maximum data rate for all DVD, flash media, and hard disk drive camcorders. There is also a lower-quality setting in HD, HD-HQ, which has a frame rate of 30fps and a bit rate of 6 Mbps. The bottom line is that Sanyo is trying to overly comrpess the video and it shows: you just can't get a good HD resolution picture in 9 Mbs.

In standard definition, there are four quality modes. TV-HR shoots at 640 x 480, 60fps at 6Mbps. TV-SHQ (which looks best) shoots 640 x 480, 30fps at a bit rate of 3Mbps. TV-HQ shoots 640 x 480, 30fps at 2Mbps. Finally, Web-HQ shoots at an email-friendly 320 x 240, with a frame rate of only 15Mbps at a bit rate of 684 Kbps.

The frame rate corresponds to the rate at which the picture is refreshed on the screen. 60fps indicates an interlaced frame, in which every odd numbered row of the 480 horizontal lines is refreshed, and then all of the even numbered lines, and so on. The alternative method is progressive scan, or 30fps, which refreshes the entire image at once. In SD, that means all 480 lines; in HD, all 720 lines.

Progressive scan generally handles motion better than interlaced, but there is a significant distinction between the VPC-HD1 and Sony’s HD camcorders. Sony shoots in 1920 x 1080i (the I is for interlaced). The Sanyo shoots 1280 x 720p (progressive scan). This means that the Sony’s image has more lines, more pixels, and therefore more information in the picture.

Media (5.5)

The Sanyo VPC-HD1 records video and stills to an secure digital (SD) card. This is the most ubiquitous of all card media, and one which has rapidly grown in capacity in recent years. Today, 4GB cards are available, with 8GB and 16GB forthcoming. Yet, despite falling prices and the huge capacities required to capture HD-quality video, the HD1 does not ship with a card. This is part of the reason that Sanyo was able to offer it at such a low price. Last year's Fisher FVD-C1 (which is the same company as Sanyo) did ship with a card. Shooting time varies with the capacity of your SD card, and we would not recommend anything under 1GB. Tack an extra $70-$100 on for that, and your total bill for this camcorder is approaching $900.

 The manual includes a full table of estimated shooting times for 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB cards. We’ll summarize by saying that a 1GB card will hold approximately 14 minutes in HD-SHQ and 21 minutes in HD-HQ.

Editing (3.0)
The Sanyo Xacti ships with Sanyo Software Pack 7.3 spread over two CD-ROMs full of programs, including Motion Director SE 1.1, Ulead PhotoExplorer for Mac 2.0, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 4.0 SE, and Ulead PhotoExplorer 8.5 SE Basic.

Motion Director is a program with two basic functions: photo stitching and post-production image stabilization. When working with Sanyo's DVD MovieFactory, it's possible to record media to either DVD or VCD formats, though superior storage levels and functionality really come with the DVD format. The user will be able to choose between creating a video DVD, creating a slideshow DVD, copying or fitting a disc, moving files straight to DVD, or exiting the DVD menu. The video CD options are similar.  The software structure is simple and limited, and all features have a scroll over option that displays information about their function in the lower left hand corner of the display window. 

The Sanyo DVD MovieFactory software will burn DVD-R or DVD+VR format discs. Creating and burning VCD sessions is done through the same editing structure as the DVD editing software. In the DVD timeline, it is possible to select between adding video footage, capturing video footage, creating slideshows, or importing DVD-R or DVD+VR files from disc or hard drive. Once footage is imported into the timeline, editing options include  multi-trim video, join/separate video, and enhance video/edit slideshow. In addition, there are also options for recovering deleted video, cutting video, removing footage, viewing information on media files, and exporting video files. Users can choose to either scan the timeline or engage a time code jump feature that is especially helpful if footage information has been noted already. In general, the software is simple to use, yet still comprehensive enough to satisfy even more competent video users.