Digital Video Formats
MiniDV - DVD - Hard Drive - Digital8
Flash Memory - High Definition
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MiniDV
Records to: MiniDV cassette tapes
Advantages:
- More than 500 lines of horizontal resolution
- Easily transfer video to your computer
- Easily edit on your computer with most video editing software packages
- Compact size
MiniDV is the most popular digital camcorder format today. Used for professional and consumer video cameras, MiniDV records digitally onto small MiniDV cassette tapes. The quality of the picture is twice as good as VHS and the audio is CD quality. The cassettes are small and portable at about 1/10 the size of VHS tapes.
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DVD
Records to: MiniDVDs (3-inch discs)
Advantages:
- Can be easily played in your home DVD player, camcorder or on your computer.
- Records both video and stills on the same disc
- Compact size
DVD camcorders are digital video cameras that offer great picture and sound quality with the convenience of recording directly to 3-inch DVDs instead of tapes. The discs play in most home DVD players and use a DVD menu system for easily getting to the scene you want to watch. The types of MiniDVDs that can be used in DVD camcorders are MiniDVD-Rs (write-once), MiniDVD-RAMs (re-writable) and MiniDVD-RWs (re-writable).
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Hard Drive
Records to: built-in hard drive
Advantages:
- No tapes, no discs
- Easily transfer video to your computer
- VERY compact size
Hard drive digital video cameras record onto a built-in hard disk drive instead of removable tapes or discs. The amount of video you can fit on the camcorder depends on the size of the hard drive (they start at about 20 GB). The picture and sound quality are great and the size of these cameras can be tiny. The only possible drawback might also be its biggest strength: no removable storage. You better make sure you have enough space before the birthday party or family vacation because you can't just pop in a new tape or disc.
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Digital8
Records to: 8mm tapes
- More than 500 lines of horizontal resolution
- Easily transfer video to your computer
- Easily edit on your computer with most video editing software packages
- Compact size
Digital8 camcorders are very similar to MiniDV camcorders but they use larger 8mm tapes. The picture and sound quality of these digital video cameras are pretty much identical to MiniDV. A big advantage of this format is that some Digital8 camcorders can play back both 8mm and Hi8 tapes, which makes it possible for owners of those formats to watch their old tapes.
Note: Digital8 video cameras are not always easy to find (and getting harder) and are produced exclusively by Sony.
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Flash Memory
Records to: flash memory card
- More than 500 lines of horizontal resolution
- Extremely compact design
- Easily transfer video to your computer
- Affordable
Many digital video cameras on the market today record on flash memory cards just like digital still cameras. These camcorders are often inexpensive, small and can be used to record music as well as video and stills. The quality of the picture and sound is very good, but best suited for sharing via the web or in email.
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High Definition (HD)
Records to: DVD, MiniDV tapes, hard drive or flash memory cards
- Best available image quality and sound
- Progressive-scan format with a minimum of 720 lines of resolution
High definition isn't so much a format as a "type" of digital camcorder. You can find HD video cameras in nearly all the digital video formats (DVD, MiniDV, hard drive, and flash memory). The picture quality is as good as it gets. If you want the best in picture and sound, high definition is the way to go if you can afford it.
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