Digital Video Cameras & Camcorders

It's incredible to think just how far camcorder technology has come and evolved from its humble beginnings. Video cameras, like all forms of technology and gizmos and gadgets, have improved and become more user-friendly and more innovative over the years.

That's nothing new, and there's no reason to trump the advancement of the video camera onto a higher pedestal than anything else. But, when one looks at the history, timeline and growth of the video camera, it is remarkable to see where it has come from, where it has gone, and where it will venture to in the future.

Video cameras emerged as large, bulky and cumbersome devices that required tapes or reels to record and store the moving pictures. The either rested uncomfortably upon the shoulder, or stood on tripods or legs.

Their movement and portability was severely hindered and limited by wires, cords or cables. Only specialized technicians and trained individuals could operate them. And, perhaps most stunning of all, video cameras could only record, broadcast and play back in black and white.

Fast forward (another innovation on the video camcorder) to the digital age, and we are now inundated with brand upon brand of digital camcorder. Some dwell in the higher price range, with all the requisite bells & whistles and features. While others are more simple and affordable. Most do not require tapes - which, upon further reflection, were probably larger than today's digital camcorders - to record and playback the movie.

Nowadays, today's video cameras are built with a hard drive included in the unit, so that it can store the movie right on the device itself. Which, in and of itself, also shows how far computer technology has evolved over the years.

Digital video cameras have improved and advanced so much that they are now not just limited to the traditional video camera venue. Camcorders are now found in a variety of devices, including cellular phones, portable digital assistants, hand-held video game consoles and a whole host of other portable devices.

Whereas before, perhaps only an important event warranted to use of the video camera, today's generation uses the video camera in the same regard as they would a pair of scissors - they are a tool of convenience.

Digital video camcorders appear to be everywhere these days, even if we are oblivious to their locations and whereabouts. Certainly, the hand-held video camera will always be in favor and in style. But, more and more people are choosing to own a digital video camera that is part of another item altogether, rather than just a stand-alone item.

And, just as interesting as the technology itself, is how it is being used. Video cameras are being used regularly to document, record, create and share. Perhaps they have always been employed for that purpose, but they are now playing an even greater role in society, media and culture.

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Digital video cameras contain 3 major components, the lens (optics), imager, and recorder. The lens gathers and focuses light on the imager, which is normally a charge coupled device (CCD) or CMOS sensor IC. The recorder will then encode the video signal into a form that can be stored.

Commonly in camcorders, the optics and imager are known as the camera section, and the optic lens is the first component in the video camera section's light path. The optics normally have one or more the following adjustments:

• Aperture - controls the amount of light
• Zoom - controls the field of view
• Shutter Speed - captures continuous motion

In most consumer units, these adjustments are automatically controlled by the digital video camera's electronics, normally to maintain constant exposure onto the imager. The imager is the 'eye' of the camcorder, housing a photo sensitive device or devices, that work to convert light into an electronic signal through an elaborate electronic process.

It works as follows. The video camera lens projects an image to the imager surface, exposing the photo sensitive array to the light. The light exposure is then converted into an electrical charge. Towards the end of the timed exposure, the imager will convert the accumulated charge into a continuous analog voltage at the imager's output terminals.

The third piece of the system, the recorder, is responsible for writing the video signal to a recording medium, such as DV tape, mini DVD, flash memory or built in hard drive. The recording function involves many steps of signal processing, and historically, the recording process can introduce some distortion and noise to the stored video. For this reason, flash memory is fast becoming a popular medium.

As you can probably tell by now, a digital video camera is most complex indeed, but technology has made simple use of these camcorders. Point and shoot smart functions are standard now days, creating a new breed of instant filmmaker.

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Standard definition and high definition digital video cameras are the two options available to the home consumer. Standard definition (SD), in the past has been the norm, delivers PAL/NTSC resolution up to 720x576 in the 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio. High definition (HD) displays resolutions of 1280x720 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080i/1080p) in the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio natively.

The central part of a digital video camera and camcorder is the CCD, or Charge Coupled Device. This sensor creates a video picture by recording the light intensity to recognize an image or shape, along with the color levels to reproduce a full color picture. Audio is usually recorded in stereo using a built in microphone, some models record in Dolby 5.1 and offer an external mic input.

Several removable media camcorders, and hybrid digital video cameras have both color eyepiece viewfinders and a flip out LCD screen to view the action as well as the previously recorded footage. Most tape-less models however, only offer the LCD screen to preview your captured digital video and to view while you are recording. This is generally due to the miniaturization of parts and discarding of features in the design of smaller models.

When you need to get closer to the action, a zoom lens is a great feature. But don't get swayed by the digital zoom size, as no matter how large it may be, you should always base your final decision on the actual optical zoom. The optical zoom will give you a true indication of the video image, where digital zooms interpolate the available pixels to zoom in on an image. Optical zooms will normally range from the 10X to 35X, with digital zooms ranging from 100X and above.

The auto focusing systems are great as well, although manual focus options can be ideal for low light or when focusing on a subject against a landscape. Being available on most digital video cameras, the manual focus control can be found as either a ring on the lens or as a dual button system on the body.

Most digital camcorders these days will provide a titling feature built in the video camera itself, although this feature should be avoided unless you don't intend to edit the footage on a computer. The title effects on many cameras are quite limited and cannot be removed afterwards.

A common video camera feature allows you to capture digital still images onto a removable flash memory card or stick. The most popular media is SD, SDHC or MMC, with Sony choosing it's own memory stick format. Numerous later model camcorders are even using flash memory for storing recorded footage to.

You can bet that almost all new digital video cameras will use a rechargeable Li-ion battery, being unique to each camcorder maker and normally each model. Spare batteries are a must for anyone wishing to get the most out of their camcorder experience.

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