Infobase: Which Camcorder Format?

Confused about which camcorder recording format you should opt for? Here's our quick guide to the most common types of format.

You may already have read our newbies introductory page - Where Do I Start? - which is designed to help you when considering your first camcorder and you'd like to know more about what the differences between each of the principal camcorder recording formats are. Having some idea of what you want to use it for is the first step; now you have to decide what recording format you'll use.

Remember the VHS versus Betamax issue back in the 80s and 90s? Well, this is a whole ot more complicated. However, you'll be pleased to learn that although there are lots of recording formats to consider, the choice won't necessarily be that difficult.

Here's our rough guide to the formats you'll come into contact with as you research the multitude of makes, models and formats available. You'll notice right away that two of them rely on tape for recording, whilst the third uses internal hard disc drives and memory cards.

MiniDV tape camcorders enable the recording, playback and editing of standard-definition digital video from a small video-cassette based format. DV is the easiest video format to edit in a PC or Mac.

PROS: Cheap to buy, chep to record. Doesn’t require high powered PC or Mac computer.

CONS: Format is fast becoming obsolete. True widescreen not properly supported - traditional 4:3 aspect ratio quickly being phased out.

HDV tape camcorders use the same recording video-cassettes as DV, but they record a true 1920x1080i High Definition signal. HDV currently provides the best future-proof video format.

PROS: Fairly cheap to buy, cheap to record. Natural widescreen and good quality.

CONS: HDV still requires clip sequences to be played into computer in real-time; PC power needs are higher than for MiniDV.

AVCHD is a new HD format that relies on tapeless digital media - memory cards, hard disc drives and (to a lesser extent) DVD. Video clips can be imported and managed just like digital images or audio files.

PROS: Excellent quality, potential for clip meta data input, fast file transfer to PCs.

CONS: Though easy to use, clips require higher power PC or Mac to process, Mic inputs and Headphone outputs not very common.

Trends to be aware of

If you've had a look around some of the stores that sell camcorders or you've browsed endless numbers of catalogues and websites, you'll probably have noticed that the trend is for camcorders that are small, light, easy to use and - above all - not dependent upon the use of tapes. Digital video is going tapeless in a big way - and fast!

DVD Camcorders

Since the early 2000s manufacturers have been encouraging us to rely upon DVD as the primary medium for recording and playing back our home movie clips. It's understandable that they should recommend this, since the majority of households use DVD as the means to playback movies, etc., in addition to using it to record and save TV shows and movies that have been transmitted.

However, despite our reliance upon DVD as a home playback medium, DVD has never really grabbed the camcorder market like it was hoped and manufacturers are now starting to phase out this recording medium altogether.

Even the increased interest in the use of Blu-ray high-capacity DVD discs for recording and playing back high definition video hasn't really led to manufacturers coming out with new camcorder products that use the format - the only company that has taken up the gauntlet in this respect being Hitachi, with mixed results. The fact is that DVD isn't what people want their camcorders to record onto - and the future is definitely in HDD (Hard Disc Drive) and solid-state memory cards, such as SD(HC) and Memory Stick.

DVD camcorders seemed like a good idea - simply remove the finalised disc from the camcorder and pop it into a home DVD player or computer for playback and export. Unfortunately, the market didn't see it in quite the same way.