Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10 Camcorder Review

Low Light Performance Summary
• Very poor sensitivity: 24 lux was required to reach 50IRE • Color accuracy and saturation are quite good at low light, but the same is true of the competition • Noise levels are impressive—only the Flip cams are clearer
	Motion & Sharpness Performance	(Page 5 of 17)	Compression & Media

Low Light Sensitivity (0.80)

Although the CG10 has a large, 1/2.33-inch sensor that should theoretically capture a lot of light, the CG10 does not hold up well to our low light sensitivity test. The camcorder required 24 lux of light in order to produce 50IRE. That's considerably more light than was required by most of the competition. Even the Sony Webbie—which had atrocious low light sensitivity—managed to eke out 50IRE at 23 lux. (More on how we test low light sensitivity.)

Required Illumination *

* the lower the lux required, the better the performance

Since the CG10 possesses a considerably large sensor, the dim low light footage is likely a result of the camcorder's processing. With relatively low noise, it's possible that the CG10 employs less digital gain to achieve a bright image in low light. That doesn't explain how a budget cam like the the Flip UltraHD can achieve 50IRE with just 7 lux and still have lower noise levels than the CG10. In this regard, the UltraHD is simply a superior camcorder for dim lighting conditions.

Low Light Color (9.20)

As was the case in bright lighting conditions, the Sanyo VPC-CG10 tested very well in color accuracy and saturation in low light. The color accuracy of 3.41 is quite good for 60 lux conditions. Saturation was lowered to 89.16%, but that's still quite good for our low light color test. (More on how we test low light color.)

Auto Low Light Color Performance
Color Test Chart (above), Color Error Map (right)
The Sanyo VPC-CG10 produced a color error of 3.41 and a saturation level of 89.16% in our low light color testing. (The map on the right is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular color.)

With less illumination, the CG10 struggled more with pinks and greens than it did in our bright light testing. Skin tones were actually slightly more accurate, while blues and reds continued to be output with high fidelity.

Low Light Comparison
Sanyo VPC-CG10	Sony MHS-PM1
Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD

Whereas the CG10 blew away the competition in bright light color testing, the same competing models were more up to the task in low light. Since most of these camcorders have no manual white balance, the automatic white balance has a significant impact on color accuracy. In the case of the models we selected for comparison, the white balance was far superior in low light; the camcorders had no trouble compensating for the LED lights, which have a color temperature very similar to natural outdoor lighting. The bright light tests, which use more traditional indoor Tungsten lighting, were a real struggle for the automatic white balance systems on these budget camcorders.

The Sanyo VPC-CG10, which has a superb manual white balance setting, had no trouble with either kind of lighting, thus producing natural, accurate colors in all of our tests.

Low Light Color Score Comparison

Low Light Noise (10.29)

Although the CG10's noise levels in low light are not as impressive as those recorded in bright light, 1.05% is still a good result for our low light noise test. At 60 lux, the VPC-CG10 had faint patches of noise discoloration and a fine sheen of graininess. Among the budget ultracompacts that we've selected for comparison, only the Flip UltraHD had superior noise performance in low light. Given the Flip's brighter image at 60 lux, it comes as no surprise that noise levels were reduced. (More on how we test low light noise.)

Noise at 60 lux Auto
Sanyo VPC-CG10 100% Crop	Sony MHS-PM1 100% Crop	Kodak Zx1 100% Crop	Flip UltraHD 100% Crop

In the crops above, you can see a detail of each camcorder's performance in low light. The Kodak Zx1 seems the most troubled by noise, but it actually fared a bit better than the Sony MHS-PM1. Though it's difficult to see in a small crop, the Webbie has a consistent presence of very fine noise. This is likely a result of the camcorder's high sharpness: at 600-650 lw/ph, more detail is captured, including noise.

Low Light Noise Score Comparisons