Digital Camcorders DVD camcorders come of age If there's a Holy Grail of technology, it has to be transparency: the seamless, idiot-proof ability to do everything you want with the hardware at hand, without having to think about how--it just happens. For camcorders, transparency translates into recordings that you can play, edit, and share without needing to worry about media types, file formats, compression algorithms, hardware compatibility, and other geek esoterica. These days, DVD-based models are the closest you can get.
By Lori Grunin (June 23, 2006; updated July 7, 2006) | 
| Well, it finally happened. More than half of the camcorders on our Top home-movie camcorders list now record directly to DVD. Almost all of the major camcorder manufacturers--Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Hitachi, and Samsung--have entire product lines of them. Only JVC abstains, pursuing its hard-drive-based Everio ambitions.
Two important factors fueled this transition. First, video quality on enough models finally crossed that all-important threshold between not good enough and good enough. Second, prices of said models dropped to the point where they could compete with their MiniDV-based rivals. That made it possible for the inherent attraction of DVD models--immediate gratification--to significantly increase their appeal and tip the scales in their favor.
Present still imperfect
Many issues still remain, however. For instance, the MPEG-2 compression used by these models seems to need the extra pixels provided by higher-resolution sensors and the extra horsepower provided by better chipsets. As a result, the cheap models deliver pretty poor video. All the models have faster bootup time, but you still have to initialize discs before you can record, then finalize them before you can play them in a deck. The 3-inch MiniDVDs these models use can hold only 20 minutes of highest-quality video, or 40 minutes if they support dual-layer discs. Finally, optical recording media has one critical flaw for video recording: If any data becomes damaged, the entire disc becomes unreadable. Little Johnny's soccer triumph is gone for good.
There are more issues on the horizon, as well. One is yet another new encoding format backed by Panasonic and Sony, AVCHD, which is designed to fit HD video onto one of these discs, requiring even more compression than current models use. And that Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD debate currently raging in the entertainment community? It will probably hit camcorders in 2007.
| | Mini DVD-RAM | Mini DVD-R | Mini DVD-RW | Mini DVD+RW | MiniDV tape |
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Canon DC camcorder line |
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| | Sony DVD Handycam line | | | Hitachi camcorders | | | Panasonic VDR series | | | Approximate operating cost | 19 to 28 cents per minute | 2 to 4 cents per minute | 5 to 17 cents per minute | 3 to 8 cents per minute | 11 to 26 cents per minute | | Performance | Fair to good
Moderately fast bootup; fast search for specific segments. | Fair
Fast bootup; slow search for specific locations. | | Media/hardware compatibility | Poor
Fewer stand-alone players and PCs as time goes on | Good
Most stand-alone DVD players and PCs | Fair
Newer stand-alone players and PCs | Fair
Newer stand-alone players and PCs | Poor
Neither players nor PCs; just MiniDV decks | | Video quality | Poor to good
Generally use proprietary MPEG-2 algorithms, which compress between and within frames. High-end models in the line generally have good quality, but the cheaper models don't. | Fair to good
Uses standard DV format, which compresses only within frames | | Software compatibility | Fair
The compressed video doesn't survive the editing process very well. | Good
Format universally supported by video-editing software | | Summary | | Main advantages | Random video access and editing; higher capacity | Cheapest; most compatible media | Good value and efficient use of space | Random video access and editing; good value and efficient use of space | Highest quality; broadest software support | | Main disadvantages | Most expensive; least flexible | Wastes lots of media space, which inflates operating cost | Requires temporary finalizing to play in some devices | Hard to find the media; requires temporary finalizing to play in some devices | Transfer to PC takes a long time |
Read the CNET editor's take |  | |
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