Sony HDR-SR1 Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on Oct 25, 2006 12:00 PM 
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Compression (5.0)
Since the AVCHD format was announced earlier this year, its implementation in consumer camcorders has been eagerly anticipated. The HDR-SR1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) and HDR-UX1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $729.95) are the first AVCHD models to hit store shelves, and they broke new ground by offering an HD alternative on the consumer market to HDV. Until a few months ago, HDV with its MPEG-2 compression was the only consumer high definition format available – and it was only available in camcorders that recorded to digital video tape. Higher quality HD formats existed prior to HDV, and continue to be used widely in professional productions, but HDV was the first format that compressed HD sufficiently to allow recording to media that consumers were familiar with. HDV can produce resolutions up to 1080i, more than 4x the resolution of SD (standard definition) 480p, but squeezed 60 minutes of HD footage onto standard DV tapes by maintaining the 25Mbps same data rate as DV.
With the joint announcement of AVCHD earlier this year by Sony and Panasonic, the developers of the format, a new HD standard became available to consumers. Based on MPEG-4/H.264 compression, AVCHD is more than twice as efficient as the conventional MPEG-2 used in HDV camcorders. This increased efficiency meant that AVCHD could be recorded to DVD, HDD, and flash memory – media that the public had shown a preference for over tape given their non-linear character. H.264 had already shown its promise as the compression method chosen by Apple for iPod video, and AVCHD represented an expansion for the well-regarded format.
As it exists today, AVCHD is not without its flaws. AVCHD has a maximum bit rate of 24Mbps, which places a future performance cap on the format. 24Mbps is very close to the HDV max bit rate of 25 Mbps, but with its greater compression efficiency, we’re hopeful that the quality of AVCHD footage will surpass HDV, but we are not at that point yet. In addition, this first crop of AVCHD camcorders record at a max bit rate of 15Mbps in the case of the HDR-SR1 and 12Mbps in the case of the HDR-UX1. In addition, we anticipate manufacturers will improve AVCHD processing as the format matures, so to be fair we can only evaluate the new format in this first-generation camcorder.
The HDR-SR1 has four quality settings in AVCHD. XP records at 15Mbps, HQ at 9Mbps, SP at 7Mbps, and LP at 5Mbps. The lower the bit rate and quality of the video, the more footage you can record to the HDD. As with other HD camcorders, the SR1 also provides the option of recording SD video, in this case, MPEG-2 with a ceiling of 8.5 to 9Mbps. There are three SD quality settings: HQ records at 9Mbps, SP at 6Mbps, and LP at 3Mbps
Judging by the video performance differences between the HDR-SR1 and the HDR-HC3 (Review, Specs, $969.99), we suspect that AVCHD compression is responsible for the increase in noise and greater difficulty handling color gradients. To reiterate, this is a noisy camcorder compared to the HDR-HC3 and Canon HV 10, which both use HDV compression and record to tape. In SR1 footage, there is some noise in bright light, and much more in low light. The ClearVID CMOS sensor does produce a terrific picture, and Sony’s decision to deploy this chip in many of their high-end camcorders seems justified. But the sensor’s excellence doesn’t compensate for the fact that AVCHD video is highly compressed, and we think it shows. In addition to increased noise, we saw blocky compression artefacts along edges, and even in areas of flat color.
AVCHD has a difficult job to do, and despite our caveats, it’s a revolutionary development for the consumer camcorder market. Even though it doesn’t look as good as the HDV video we’ve seen this year, it is still HD video, and much superior to the best SD video. High definition video contains more than four times the amount of information as standard definition, and its remarkable that AVCHD compresses that information into a 15Mbps stream. Noise and artefacts seem to be the price you pay for now, so the question is, can you live with video that doesn’t yet match HDV, or should you wait the format to mature? If video quality is paramount for you, the latter is a compelling argument.
At this point, it would be premature to conclude AVCHD is inferior to HDV. AVCHD is more efficient at compression than HDV, and with advances in processing, its performance will likely surpass that of today’s HDV. The first MPEG2 DVD camcorders by Panasonic and Hitachi were introduced six years ago, and the video produced by those camcorders suffered from serious noise and compressions issues. Since then, DVD camcorders have improved to the point that standard definition DVD video now rivals MiniDV video. We believe AVCHD will see similar improvements over time.
Media (4.0)
The Sony HDR-SR1 is an 30GB HDD camcorder, so the video recording media is housed within the camcorder itself. It is a self-contained unit that allows data transfer via USB to a computer for editing. Although support for AVCHD is thin as of this writing (October, 2006) we expect this situation to improve in coming months. In addition to the HDD, which can be used for video and still recording, this camcorder supports MemoryStick Duo cards for still recording only.
Editing (1.0)
Working with AVCHD footage is the area we encountered our one big difficulty with this otherwise excellent camcorder. As of the time of writing, late October 2006, there is only one way to view and edit AVCHD footage on a PC: Sony’s provided editing software. As you are probably aware, bundled software is usually rudimentary at best, falling far short of NLE (non-linear editing) solutions like Adobe’s Premiere and Apple’s iMovie that can be purchased cheaply from third party software manufacturers. Included with the Sony HDR-SR1 is an ACVHD player, an import program, and the latest version of Picture Motion Browser.
We found the process of working with AVCHD footage to be extremely frustrating. Macs are simply incompatible with AVCHD, as Sony only provides Windows software. While we were able to import SR1 footage using our office PCs, the bundled software just doesn’t provide anything like the functionality of more robust editing programs.
We hope this problem will be addressed soon because, although many software manufacturers have pledged support for AVCHD, including Adobe, Avid, InterVideo, Nero, and Ulead, none have yet updated their products for AVCHD compatibility. They have also not yet provided a timeline for when that software will be released. Even Sony’s professional NLE, Vegas, can’t play AVCHD yet, though Vegas 7, due out soon should address the gap. Without a credible workflow solution in place, your AVCHD footage will be stuck in limbo unless you resort to the SR1’s mediocre bundled software.
We know solutions to this sorry state of affairs are in the works, but unless you’re in a real hurry to jump on board the AVCHD bandwagon, our best advice is wait for someone – anyone – to release a better editing solution.
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