Specifications

Going HDTV
submitted by GrandpaChris
A new world of excellent quality video is
coming your way. Higher quality picture in-
formation from your home made videos and
DV camera stills are being produced at more
reasonable prices. The stores are full of HDTV
systems in plasma and various LCD panel TV
for your movie or slide show enjoyment.
Looking at great HDTV movies sets a stan-
dard that makes buying a high defi nition vid-
eo camera worth the price. I my case the Sony HDV-HC3, a fi rst for home
style HDV movie making. It is the bleeding edge of new hi-def consumer
cameras.
What does it take the be worth $1599 CND? First the standard defi nition (SD
is your current TV screen) picture is extremely clear. HDTV is outstanding.
Our granddaughter took a video that showed every eyebrow hair on my face.
(Horrible thought) Our neighbour Joan has a marvelous garden. Doing a fl y
through showed high detail on moisture drops, little bugs and deep colours on
her beautiful garden.
Sony HDV-HC3: This is the second generation of Sony consumer cameras.
Unfortunately it is the only one on the market although and early model re-
tailed at $2999 CND. The HC3 came out Aug. 2005 at $1999 CND but has
dropped in price. I’ll let you look up the specifi cations at www.Sony.ca. Here
is a blurb about the camera:
“Sony’s HDV-HC3 HDV 1080i Camcorder strives to expand the consumer
HDV market, to make it more accessible and affordable for the tech-savvy
consumer. The high defi nition recorder comes with HDMI output, the current
industry standard which means plug and play without multiple cables. Also the
imaging technology used boosts picture resolution and clarity for vivid, colors
and precise details. A dual-record function shoots videos and stills simultane-
ously, and slow-motion mode plays 3 seconds of video in 12 seconds. “
Before buying I read many reviews found on
the net. And looked for problems that people
might have had with the HC3. Surprisingly
most gave the unit high praise. It is very com-
pact, fi ts in your had easily and has an EASY
mode button for default setting which gets
your up and running very fast taking video.
The EASY mode does a very good job but if
you wish to MANUALLY adjust focus, etc. a
quick button and Dial is found at the front next
to the lens for this purpose.
All in all I’m very pleased with my results. I
record video in 1080i, (high defi nition 16:9 ra-
tio) import into iMovie at 1080i, edit and send to iDVD. In iDVD burning a
SD (standard defi nition - 4:3 ratio) DVD for a normal TV is a cinch as the vid-
eo is down converted with small bars top and bottom. The picture information
blows you away and it will be even better when we have a HDTV to look at!
Cheers
Next month the September 2006 DoubleClick will be a very thin issue
unless I receive some input from a few of you fellow MaUsErs that never
contribute anything. Some of you somewhere sometime must be getting
new software or new hardware, or upgrading something. You can let us
know how your summer is going by sending in a short piece or even just
a couple of pictures.
Send your DoubleClick contribution to:
[e-mail].