Sony Announces Under $2,000 HDV HDR-HC1 High Def 1080i Camcorder

by Robin Liss
Published on May 16, 2005 10:00 PM

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MORE INFO @ SonyHDVInfo.com
- NEW HDR-HC1 Community
- HDR-HC1 compared to HDR-FX1
- SonyHDVInfo.com's Analysis of the HDR-HC1
In an aggressive move, Sony has just announced the under $2,000 High Definition HDR-HC1 HDV camcorder through a simultaneous worldwide release. The new 1 chip CMOS camcorder is Sony's second consumer HD camcorder announcement, and drops the entry price for consumer HD much lower than any previous camcorder. The HDR-HC1 is also unique because it uses a CMOS chip for capturing the image, instead of CCD chips which have been standard in every digital camcorder for the past eight years. The HDR-HC1 includes a 3 Megapixel CMOS chip which records 1080 lines of interlaced HDV video, a 10x optical zoom, a hybrid focus / zoom ring and a widescreen 2.7 in. LCD.

"This is an amazing example of Sony’s leadership in HD technology as well as camcorder leadership. The fact that we have been able to bring this technology to an elegant and compact device at a price point that appeals to such a broad audience is truly a unique accomplishment. More people than ever can take advantage of HD technology and get the very best in their own personal recordings," said Linda Vuolo, product manager for Sony camcorders US.

The HDR-HC1 records to the new HDV format, which compresses a high definition video into a signal which can be recorded to standard MiniDV tapes. The HDR-HC1 records higher resolution 1080 interlaced (1080i) lines of video to tape, which is about four times the resolution of standard definition video. The HDV spec includes both 1080i line interlaced video at 60 fields per second as well as 720 line progressive scan video. It is unclear whether the HDR-HC1 and the HDR-FX1, Sony's first consumer HD camcorder, can be seen as a pattern and Sony is going to stick to 1080i spec camcorders, or whether they will be announcing 720p models in the future.

The HDR-HC1's 1/3 in. CMOS chip features 2.97 gross pixels, with 1.48 effective Megapixels in HD video mode. The camcorder can capture stills at 2.76 Megapixels with a maximum resolution of 1,920 x 1,440 pixels. Stills taken in widescreen mode have a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The camcorder is capable of recording both HD video as well as SD 480 lines interlaced video. A big difference between the HDR-HC1 and the HDR-FX1 is that the chip on the HDR-HC1 is a 4:3 aspect chip while the HDR-FX1's chip is a 16:9 aspect ratio. According to Sony, the low light performance of the HDR-HC1 has been maintained with a 7 LUX ratings, the same as the HCR-PC1000, Sony's first CMOS chip camcorder.

The HDR-HC1 includes a 10x optical zoom and a widescreen 2.7 in LCD screen. The camcorder also includes a color viewfinder. Because HD video produces much sharper images with many more pixels, Sony has included higher resolution LCDs and viewfinders. The HDR-HC1's touchscreen LCD screen includes 123K pixels and it's viewfinder includes 250K pixels.

MORE INFO @ SonyHDVInfo.com
- NEW HDR-HC1 Community
- HDR-HC1 compared to HDR-FX1
- SonyHDVInfo.com's Analysis of the HDR-HC1
Although the HDR-HC1's touch screen will exclude it from many prosumer's wish lists (unlike the HDR-FX1 which included only real button manual control), Sony is working hard to break through to the critical prosumer category by including many manual controls which haven't been found on lower end Sony camcorders recently. In fact, Sony has put the most three important controls on a camcorder outside of the LCD screen, a move which may very well save the HDR-HC1. Like the DCR-HC1000, the HDR-HC1 includes a hybrid focus / zoom ring which can be switched from each function with the switch of a button.

The HDR-HC1 also includes a "real button" control for exposure. The slider button adjusts the exposure in 24 steps. Sony has also placed shutter speed control on the HDR-HC1 although, unlike exposure, focus and zoom it is controlled through the touch screen. Shutter speed can be set from 1/4th of a second to 1/10,00th of a second. White balance is controlled on the HDR-HC1 through the touch screen. The one major manual control which Sony has left out of the HDR-HC1 is manual gain control.

The HDR-HC1 is also uncharacteristic of Sony's recent announcements in it's level of manual control of audio. Every Sony camcorder under $2,000 announced in 2005 by Sony lacked a microphone input. However, Sony it seems believes that at $2,000 a camcorder should have audio options, so they have included a microphone input on the front on the HDR-FX1. In addition, the HDR-HC1 includes manual audio control, however, the camcorder only gives you one overall audio level control and you can't control the left and right channels independently.

The HDR-HC1 also includes Sony's proprietary hot shoe which only Sony accessories can be attached to. Unless Sony introduces a shoe converter, or conversely if 3rd party microphone manufacturers introduce a converter, current microphones which use the standard shoe found on virtually every other imaging device will not be able to attach to the camcorder. While they will be able to plug into the microphone jack, users will be left with nowhere to attach their microphone to the camcorder's body.

Sony has included other manual control features which aren't typically found on most camcorders on the HDR-HC1. The camcorder includes manual color shift, white balance shift and sharpness adjustment. Holding onto some elements of Sony's ease of use legacy, the HDR-HC1 includes Sony's Spot Metering and Spot Focus features which automatically adjust the camcorder exposure and focus respectively to any area of the screen which the user taps on.

The HDR-HC1 uses it's nearly 3 Megapixel CMOS chip to record stills to Memory Stick Duos. At a 4:3 aspect ratio the camcorder can record stills at a resolution of 1,920 x 1,440 pixels. At a 16:9 aspect ratio the camcorder can record stills at a 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution. The HDR-HC1 includes a pop-up flash and is PictBridge compatible for attaching the camcorder to a photo printer.

The HDR-HC1 is bridging the gap between Sony's ease of use centric consumer line and their higher end HDR-FX1 which emphasizes quality and control. While the HDR-FX1 does not even include still features which are demanded by most consumer users but shunned by prosumers, the HDR-HC1 includes such still features but has left out Sony's "Easy Handycam" feature. The touch screen seems to be the biggest mark of Sony's consumer line on the HDR-HC1, however Sony has placed many control functions in buttons, which will presumably allow the user to largely avoid the touch screen for picture control. Below are side by side pictures of the HDR-FX1 and the HDR-HC1:

MORE INFO @ SonyHDVInfo.com
- NEW HDR-HC1 Community
- HDR-HC1 compared to HDR-FX1
- SonyHDVInfo.com's Analysis of the HDR-HC1
The HDR-HC1 has also borrowed many features from the HDR-FX1. The the focus assist feature originally found of the HDR-FX1 zooms the image in by 4x temporarily and only shown on the LCD screen to assist the user in focusing a sharper image. The HDR-HC1 also includes the shot transition feature. The shot transition feature takes two pre-stored shot information including settings for focus, zoom, and exposure, and slowly transitions the camcorder between the two on a user command.

The CMOS chip makes the HDR-HC1 Sony's second CMOS camcorder announced, both this year. The first CMOS camcorder was the HCR-PC1000 which uses three 1/6 in. CCDs. While CMOS chips offer major improvements over CCDs in their still performance, dynamic range as well as being much easier to manufacturer, they are notorious for producing large amounts of noise. Sony concentrated a lot of engineering efforts into solving the noise problem of CMOS chips on the HCR-PC1000 and that expertise has been used on the HDR-HC1.

The HDR-HC1 includes a breakout cable for outputting what is recorded on the camcorder. The cable includes an S-Video jack, a composite RCA jack as well as component video cables for attaching the camcorder to higher end HD devices. The HDR-HC1 also includes a firewire jack and a USB 1.1 jack for attaching the camcorder to a computer.

The HDR-FX1 also includes Sony's Super NightShot for shooting video in extremely low light conditions. To compensate for the fact that the current HDV spec does not include a 24 frames per second progressive shooting mode, a feature demanded by many prosumers and found on some competitors products, the HDR-HC1 includes Sony's "Cinematic Effect" feature. The Cinematic Effect feature gives the camcorder's video a look of film by attempting to reflect the motion effects of 24P video.

The HDR-HC1 is also "the world's smallest and lightest" HD camcorder as Sony's press release states. The HDR-HC1 weighs just one pound 7 ounces without a battery and measures 2 and 7/8 in. by 3 and 3/4 in. by 7 and 1/2 in.

The HDR-HC1 is now the fourth HDV camcorder announced. There are now two Sony HDV camcorders on the market and two JVC camcorders, although there are derivatives of both the Sony and JVC higher end models which makes for a total of six HDV camcorders.

MORE INFO @ SonyHDVInfo.com
- NEW HDR-HC1 Community
- HDR-HC1 compared to HDR-FX1
- SonyHDVInfo.com's Analysis of the HDR-HC1
At this year's 2005 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual convention the number of HDV camcorders as well as prosumer HD camcorder grew. Previously, Sony had the only HDV camcorder on the market. JVC's first consumer GY-HD1 came before the HDR-FX1 using the same compression method which Sony's FX1 and the entire HDV spec would later be based on; however the GY-HD1 was not technically labeled an HDV camcorder. At NAB, JVC announced their first true HDV camcorder, the GY-HD100. Panasonic also announced their first prosumer HD model, the AG-HVX200 however the camcorder records to Panasonic's solid state P2 media, and only records an SD signal to tape. At this point Canon and Samsung are the only major camcorder manufacturers to have not announced an HD model.

The NAB announcements highlight the weaknesses of the HDV specification. While HDV video can record either at 1080 lines of resolution 60 frames interlaced, or 720 lines of resolution progressive scan video, it actually includes the same amount of information as the MiniDV spec. Both DV and HDV video formats use 25 Megabits of data per second, and the 720 lines spec for HDV only uses 19 Megabits of data per second. The HDV spec includes less color information about the picture than did the DV specification. Because of the downgraded amount of information, some prosumers have criticized the HDV specification. Panasonic's professional division has decided to break away from the consortium to announce a prosumer non-HDV camcorder. Their HDV camcorder which was announced at NAB can record 100 Megabits of data to solid state media, and can record 1080 lines of progressive video instead of just the interlaced video included in the HDV spec.

Another major downside to the HDV spec is no 24 frames per second (24P) recording feature. 35 mm film movies are recorded at 24 frames per second progressive scan, and many low budget independent filmmakers try to attain a film look by recording at 24P. However, the HDV specification does not include an option for 24P. One of the biggest complaints about Sony's first HDV camcorder. Of the new models announced by Panasonic and JVC at the National Association of Broadcasters conference, both models include options for recording at 24P.

MORE INFO @ SonyHDVInfo.com
- NEW HDR-HC1 Community
- HDR-HC1 compared to HDR-FX1
- SonyHDVInfo.com's Analysis of the HDR-HC1
At the point, Canon is the only manufacturer with no clear HD strategy. Although they are a member of the HDV consortium, in the summer of 2004 Canon released their XL2 with 24P, and the XL2 as well as it's predecessors the XL1S and XL1 have developed a very strong following in the independent film community. It seems quite unlikely that Canon would release an HD camcorder without 24P.

The Sony high definition HDR-HC1 will be available in July for just under $2,000.