No Cigar for Panasonic Hard Drive Cam

[Brendan Goetz]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/review3630.html' target='_blank'>http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/review3630.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Let’s get to the ugly. There were several issues. The results when shooting in low light were poor with loads of noise and soft colors. Focusing was not a problem in most instances but the results were sub par even though the camcorder grabbed a bit before zeroing in. Even when using the LED light, video quality was disappointing because it pumps out a minimal amount of illumination. Indoor close-ups were O.K. using the light but wider shots were clear misses. And yes, I adjusted white balance, sharpness and ISO for better results but they were just marginal improvements."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/20060605_1447311.gif" /> <br /><br />Looks like this one is a swing-and-a-miss. There seem to be a lot of these small, disk based camcorders coming out nowadays. I have yet to read about one that doesn’t have disappointing video quality. I thought the point of Hidef was to make the picture look <i>better</i>. Keep trying guys. I’m sure you’ll get it.

[klinux]

I have something like this: the Sanyo Xacti which records 1280x720 onto Secure Digital cards at 9mbits a second in MPEG-4. Is the quality great? No, it is only good enough but it is in high definition.

I could get a high definition camcorder with great video quality like the Sony HDR-HC1/3 which cost twice as much. I could get a 3 CCD camcorder whose quality is better but definitely not in high definition and can also cost twice as much. So I made a compromise that for half the price, I get HD and good enough quality - sounds like a good tradeoff to me but not right for everyone. The xacti actually turned out to be a very good pocketable camera as well.

Speaking of quality, you will find that, in general, CRT and plasma and DLP tend to have video quality that is better than LCD. Yet there is no stopping people proudly spec-whoring their 1080p LCD with grey blacks and stuck pixels, is there? Oh well.

[Dyvim]

As far as I can tell, this camera is neither a Panasonic nor Hi-Def.
It's a Toshiba and it's only DVD-quality video: 720x480. Doesn't HiDef need to be at least something x 720 (like the Sanyo Xacti mentioned in the previous post)?

[klinux]

Duh, you are correct. I should have RTFA!