High-definition or HD camcorders are getting more and more affordable. But what do you need to know if you’re thinking about buying one?

What are HD camcorders?

As the name clearly explains, a HD camcorder can record high-definition footage. Read more about HD technology in this earlier HDTV buying guide. Bear in mind that you will need a HD TV on which to play your recorded footage if you want to experience the full benefits of your HD camcorder. Obviously, you can still play back standard definition footage on a regular television, but it won’t look any different to the footage you would record from a standard camcorder.

HD camcorder formats

There are two formats for today’s consumer HD camcorders - High-Definition Video (HDV) and Advanced Video Codec High-Definition (AVCHD).

Without getting too technical: HDV records footage to MiniDV at a resolution of 1440×1080, which isn’t strictly “Full HD” (1920×1080) but still produces excellent pictures. Each tape can record one hour of high-def footage, but on the down side, MiniDV tapes wear out with time and you’ll lose your recordings.

On the other hand, AVCHD records in Full HD format and can record to a number of different media, including SDHC memory cards, hard disk drives or 8cm recordable DVDs (which can be replayed from a Blu-ray player).

HD camcorder storage options

A major factor to consider when shopping for a high-definition camcorder is that the amount of storage required for HD footage is far greater than that of a regular video camera.

Internal hard drives are generally preferred by most of the large manufacturers, but another storage option that is growing in popularity is flash, such as the abovementioned SDHC cards and Memory Sticks. Finally you also have HD camcorders that record to tape.

Watching your HD footage

Your HD camcorder can be connected directly to your TV to view your footage. Avoid connecting via S-Video if possible as this degrades the quality of the picture. If you own a flash HD camcorder and your TV has a card slot, you will be able to insert the card and play the footage directly from that.

Any footage you want to keep will need to be transferred to a disc such as Blu-ray or HD DVD. There are many online tutorials which explain how to do this.

Best HD camcorders

The Samsung HD camcorder pictured here is a popular model and very well priced at $699.

Canon and JVC also make excellent HD camcorders.

Buy a cheap HD camcorder on sale

By Caroline Warnes