JVC Everio GZ-MG77 review

The zoom rocker is very sensitive, but it was easy to perform both fast and fine zooms once we got used to it. Optical image stabilization functioned well enough but didn't completely get rid of camera shake. At low zoom levels, it eliminated typical hand movements. At higher levels, camera shake was present, but the image stabilization made the motions smoother.

The 2.7-inch, 16:9 wide-screen LCD monitor is reasonably sharp, and it displays fairly accurate color. It's a bit small and video shot in 4:3 aspect ratio is shrunk further by the screen. Unfortunately, the GZ-MG77 has no viewfinder so the LCD is the only option for framing and reviewing shots.

Because the GZ-MG77 lacks a microphone jack, users are stuck with the camcorder's middling stereo microphone. It does a decent job of picking up sound, but offers little in the way of separating the channels. There's a wind cut feature, but no audio zoom function.

The GZ-MG77's battery lasts about 1.5 hours, a great improvement over the 40- to 50-minute battery life of its predecessor, the GZ-MG70. Still, you'll want to pack a couple of extended batteries if you plan to fill the entire 37 hours of recording space between charges. Even the 7 hours of high-quality video requires the camera to take a few breaks to recharge. Much to our disappointment, the JVC Everio GZ-MG77's video quality is quite poor, and JVC hasn't addressed the many deficiencies that plagued last year's GZ-MG70. We can't even attribute its image problems to its use of MPEG-2 encoding; DVD camcorders such as the Sony Handycam DCR-DVD505 use MPEG-2 as well but produce much better images.

Even with the camera set to best quality, our test footage suffered from very noticeable problems, such as compression artifacts, color fringing, and noise. The variety of artifacts included shimmering pixels near straight edges and stair-step jaggies on curves. The video also lacked detail compared to MiniDV footage.

The GZ-MG77's video quality is at least better than that of lower-end models such as the GZ-MG37, thanks to its larger CCD (1/3.9 inch vs. 1/6 inch). It's also a better performer in the dark, where graininess doesn't increase much until lighting gets very low. The color balance and intensity are significantly more accurate.

Aspect-ratio distortion is a big problem on the GZ-MG77. If you're using software other than the bundled applications, you'll need to use your video-editing software to adjust the aspect ratio so that wide-screen footage appears correctly; Adobe Premiere Elements, Windows Media Player, and Nero Showtime didn't recognize the wide-screen aspect ratio of footage that we shot in 16:9 mode. Video playback was squashed and inaccurate until we manually adjusted the aspect ratio.

The JVC Everio GZ-MG77's stills are decent, suitable for small snapshot prints if you don't need to crop or zoom. Color came out well, but our indoor shots were blurry, and the flash's red-eye reduction was completely ineffective.