Sony DCR-HC46 Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on Jun 18, 2006 1:00 PM
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Widescreen/16:9 Mode (5.5)
The HC46 offers a strange hybrid sort of widescreen. While the wide angle does increase from 4:3 to 16:9, the camcorder also trims some information from the top and bottom of the picture. It’s certainly not as good as most Canons and the upper-end Panasonics, which offer true widescreen (with no loss of info from the top and bottom). The HC46 does, however, have a widescreen mode, which is conveniently activated by a button on the LCD panel, directly under the screen.
Scan Rates/24p (0.0)
The HC46 has no additional scan rates beyond its 60i capability.
Other Features (4.0)
Fader
Sony has included a few in-camera fades on the DCR-HC46, which are applied on the fly while recording video. These effects enable the user to begin or end a shot with a fade-in or fade-out, and would be useful only for those who do not intend to add effects via a non-linear editing program.
Fade effects are accessed via the menu and fade-in is set before recording begins. When the Rec button is pressed, the selected fade effect begins the shot. Fade-out effects must be set while the camcorder is recording – this means navigating through the touch screen menu to the desired fade effect, which inevitably jostles the camcorder, so the usefulness of on-camera fade-out is debatable. Fade-in/fade-out options include white, black, mosaic and monotone; overlap, wipe and dot fader are transitions between shots, and are only available as fade-in options.
Electronic Image Stabilization
As in all of today’s consumer camcorders, the Sony DCR-HC46 has a stabilization system to help reduce the effects of camera shake on the video image. There are two common image stabilization methods, and the HC46 uses the inferior system – electronic image stabilization or EIS. EIS stabilizes the video image by creating a digital “buffer zone.” The buffer zone literally subtracts pixels from the recorded image and thus reduces its sharpness. Optical image stabilization (OIS) systems are better than EIS because they stabilize the image without impacting resolution.
Digital Effects/Picture Effects
In addition to fades, the HC46 has a handful of digital effects that can be applied in-camera. These options include Cinema effect, which shifts to a 16:9 aspect ratio and progressive video mode; Delay motion, which repeats the recorded image; Still, which records a movie over a saved still image; Flash, which records an image in a strobe-like manner; Luminance Key, a rudimentary keying function; Trail, which creates image trails; Slow Shutter, which slows the shutter’s speed; and Old Movie, which adds a sepia hue. All of these options except Old Movie and Cinema can be adjusted with a sliding bar in the menu.
The HC46 includes six still picture effects that can be applied in both capture and playback modes: negative art, sepia, black and white, solarize, pastel, and mosaic. It goes without saying that computer-based video and photo editing software offers far more control over effects than is possible in-camera, so, for most users, these digital and picture effects are no more than gimmicks.
Super NightShot Plus Infrared System
NightShot Plus and Super NightShot Plus utilize the infrared port (located below the lens) to gather image information in very dark environments. The quality of NightShot images is very poor – grainy and de-saturated – but this feature does enable recording in zero-lux environments. While it may be a gimmick, NightShot is definitely one of the cooler gimmicks out there.
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