Expert Guide to DVD Camcorders


Thinking about a mini DVD camcorder? You're not alone, it's a rapidly growing sector of the camcorder market, with Hitachi, Sony and Panasonic all making more than one mini dvd camcorder.

These camcorders differ from regular digital video cameras in one important way - they record video onto mini DVD discs, rather than DV tape. This has a number of advantages. DVD discs are more robust than tape and won't get chewed up in the camera. Although this is thankfully a rare occurance, it scares me every time I here a strange noise coming from my camcorder, so it's with bearing in mind.

The second advantage is that DVD discs are random access, compared to tape on which everything is recorded sequentially. This means that there's no need to rewind and fast forward to find the clip you're after, just select it from the menu. Some cameras even allow you to perform basic editing functions on-camera. An additional side-benefit is that a mini DVD camcorder doesn't have tape heads to get worn or dirty as happens in regular mini DVD cameras.

And thirdly, you can easily watch your home movies by removing the DVD from the camera and playing it in practically any DVD player.

However, there are negative factors to. The most siginificant one is that video is encoded as MPEG-2 on a mini DVD camcorder, as opposed to DV format. This means that it needs specialist software to edit - you can't just use your regular video editing program (unless it specifically supports MPEG-2). And if a Mac user you're out of luck, as there are no MPEG-2 editing applications for the Mac.

Also, mini DVD camcorders tend to cost more than similarly specified mini DV cameras. And the media is also more expensive. However, if you don't intend editing your movies and don't mind the extra cost, a mini dvd camcorder does offer extraordinary convenience.

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of www.the-hdtv- tuner.com">The HDTV Tuner, a site which aims to cut through the confusion surrounding HDTV and provide surfers with up to date, accurate and easy to read information on HDTV.


MORE RESOURCES:

Select Technologies ties up with VMware
PCWorld Norge, Norway - 10 hours ago
The x86 computer hardware, which was initially designed to run only a single operating system and single application, now runs multiple operating systems ...


Computer Crosstalk -The vast world of the internet
Malawi's Daily Times, Malawi - May 14, 2008
Scott Muller and his book “Repairing and building PCs” now in its eighth edition, is a respected guru in computer hardware. This book has all the topics one ...


Air Force Aims for Control of 'Any and All' Computers
Slashdot - 16 hours ago
... patch levels, applications and hardware.' This isn't just some computer science study, mind you; 'research efforts under this program are expected to ...
Air Force attorney suggests chaining old PCs in a counter ... BetaNews
all 3 news articles


Air Force Aims for Control of 'Any and All' Computers
Slashdot - 15 hours ago
... patch levels, applications and hardware.' This isn't just some computer science study, mind you; 'research efforts under this program are expected to ...


FM Tech

Dell Faces Services Choice As Computer Industry Transforms
CNNMoney.com - May 14, 2008
The deal underscores the increasing need for computer makers to supplement hardware sales, which can vary based on upgrade cycles and the general economy, ...
HP says it will buy Electronic Data Systems to challenge IBM Los Angeles Times
Hewlett-Packard Eyes EDS Forbes
Takeover would lead to IT giant Stuff.co.nz
domain-B - Times Online
all 1,827 news articles


Scientific American

PlayStation Hardware/Software Sales Numbers Released
Gamers Hell, UK - 9 hours ago
Sony Computer Entertainment America released April sales numbers for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP hardware, as well as software. ...
'GTA IV' needs just 5 days to run over competition in April USA Today
Sony: world PS3 sales pass 12.8m consoles Reg Hardware
Q&A: Sony Australia boss Michael Ephraim on PlayStation 3 GameSpot
Shacknews - IGN
all 448 news articles


Hawke’s Bay Tech seeks hardware and services supplier
IT Brief, New Zealand - 6 hours ago
Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawke's Bay is looking for computer hardware and services vendor capable of supplying 1000 desktops and laptops, ...


dBTechno

Counterfeit Chinese Technology: Gateway for Hackers?
ABC News - May 9, 2008
By PIERRE THOMAS and JASON RYAN The FBI is investigating whether counterfeit routers and computer hardware from China installed in US government computer ...
FBI warns of pirated Cisco hardware VNUNet.com
FBI raids own offices in fake hardware sting NEWS.com.au
FBI Discovers Bogus Computer Gear From China eFluxMedia
InfoWorld - New York Times
all 89 news articles


IBM Touts Supercomputers for the Enterprise
Slashdot - 18 hours ago
... mentioned supercomputer. by DrYak (748999) My brother has a fairly recent computer (AMD Phenom, ATI 3870X2, AMD 790 : All hardware has Vista drivers). ...


Introduction to BIT
ZDNet - 2 hours ago
... the real differentiation comes from management practices and habits of thought; not hardware. At the global level a computer really is just a computer, ...

computer hardware - Google News

site map
Minoltaprinters.com 2000 - Partners

merchant account | Landscaping Gardening | Santander Spain | wine racks |