Sony Webbie HD MHS-PM1 Camcorder Review

Color & Noise Performance Summary
• Color accuracy and saturation is good for a camcorder of its class • Noise levels were also decent • Auto white balance worked better than most ultra-compact camcorders
	Product Tour	(Page 3 of 17)	Motion & Sharpness Performance

Color (7.83)

The MHS-PM1 measured a color error of 4.47 in our bright light testing, which is roughly the same score that the MHS-CM1 earned. Its colors looked quite strong, with the image saturation coming in at 93.88%, and the camcorder appeared to white balance very well under our 3000 lux light setup. (More on how we test color.)

Color Accuracy Performance
Color Test Chart (above), Color Error Map (right)
The Sony MHS-PM1 produced a color error of 4.47 and a saturation level of 93.88% in our bright 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.)

In the Color Error Map above you can see exactly what colors gave the MHS-PM1 the most trouble. The camcorder did well with reds, yellows, and greens, but with blues and purples it produced some inaccurate results. The camcorder also had trouble with darker skin tones. Of course, there are no color modes or picture options on the MHS-PM1, but below we have a sample image from our color testing to give you a better idea of the camcorder's color performance.

Sony MHS-PM1 Color Sample
Auto	100% Crop

Looking at the MHS-PM1 and MHS-CM1 side-by-side (below), it is difficult to notice a difference between the two camcorders. We did, however, notice the CM1 produced a sharper image, which is probably due to its larger lens and 5x optical zoom capability. The other camcorders in this set, particularly the Kodak Zx1, had trouble white balancing for our bright light tests. The Kodak gave everything a bright, orange hue when we shot our color test, while the Flip UltraHD had a slight green-yellow tint to its image. Both Sony Webbie HD camcorders didn't show any signs of poor white balance.

Sony MHS-PM1 Color Comparisons
Sony MHS-PM1	Sony MHS-CM1
Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD

The close-up color comparisons below offer an even more in-depth look at how each camcorder in this set produces color. Again, the MHS-PM1 and MHS-CM1 don't show much difference here. The CM1 has a slightly lighter green and blue patch, but that's about it. You can really see how orange the Kodak Zx1 rendered color in these patches as well.

	Close-Up Color Comparisons
	Ideal	Sony MHS-PM1	Sony MHS-CM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Red
	Ideal	Sony MHS-PM1	Sony MHS-CM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Green
	Ideal	Sony MHS-PM1	Sony MHS-CM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Blue
	Ideal	Sony MHS-PM1	Sony MHS-CM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Skin Tone 1
	Ideal	Sony MHS-PM1	Sony MHS-CM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Skin Tone 2

The two Sony Webbie HD camcorders are the clear winners in this test. They offered crisp, saturated colors without the white balance issues present on the Flip UltraHD and Kodak Zx1.

Color Performance Scores

Noise (7.77)

The MHS-PM1 had pretty low noise levels in bright light. The camcorder averaged 0.765% noise in this test, which is slightly more than the MHS-CM1 had. The Flip UltraHD measured a lot less noise, however, with only around 0.51% in our bright light testing. Still, these are all good scores for an ultra-compact budget camcorder. (More on how we test noise.)

Noise Comparisons
Sony MHS-PM1 100% Crop	Sony MHS-CM1 100% Crop	Kodak Zx1 100% Crop	Flip UltraHD 100% Crop

In addition to showing you noise presence, the crops above should give you a good idea of each camcorder's sharpness. The two Sony camcorders record at a maximum video resolution of 1440 x 1080, which is a good deal larger than the Kodak Zx1 and Flip UltraHD—both of which top out at 1280 x 720. This higher resolution on the MHS-PM1 and MHS-CM1 is definitely noticeable above. The Sony camcorders appear much crisper and capture finer detail than the other two models. Continue onto the next section of this review for complete results of our video sharpness test.

Noise Score Comparisons