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A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an
articulating screen An articulating screen is a built-in small electronic visual display which is not fixed, but rather can be repositioned using a hinge or pivot. The articulating screen is known under different other names such as flip-out screen, flip screen, adjus ...
mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swappable battery facing towards the user, hot-swappable recording media, and an internally contained quiet optical zoom lens. The earliest camcorders were tape-based, recording
analog signal An analog signal or analogue signal (see spelling differences) is any continuous signal representing some other quantity, i.e., ''analogous'' to another quantity. For example, in an analog audio signal, the instantaneous signal voltage varies c ...
s onto videotape cassettes. In 2006, digital recording became the norm, with tape replaced by storage media such as mini-HD, microDVD, internal
flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
and SD cards. More recent devices capable of recording video are
camera phone A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with color cam ...
s and digital cameras primarily intended for still pictures, whereas dedicated camcorders are often equipped with more functions and
interfaces Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * Interface (journal), ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * ''Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Lin ...
than more common cameras, such as an internal optical zoom lens that is able to operate silently with no throttled speed, whereas cameras with protracting zoom lenses commonly throttle operation speed during video recording to minimize acoustic disturbance. Additionally, dedicated units are able to operate solely on external power with no battery inserted.


History

Video cameras originally designed for television
broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...
were large and heavy, mounted on special pedestals and wired to remote recorders in separate rooms. As technology improved, out-of-studio video recording was possible with compact video cameras and portable video recorders; a detachable recording unit could be carried to a shooting location. Although the camera itself was compact, the need for a separate recorder made on-location shooting a two-person job. Specialized videocassette recorders were introduced by
JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...
( VHS) and Sony ( U-matic, with
Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
) releasing a model for mobile work. Portable recorders meant that recorded video footage could be aired on the early-evening news, since it was no longer necessary to develop film. In 1983, Sony released the first camcorder, the Betacam system, for professional use.David Buckingham, Rebekah Willett, Maria Pini (2011)
''Home Truths? Video Production and Domestic Life'', page 9
, University of Michigan Press
A key component was a single camera-recorder unit, eliminating a cable between the camera and recorder and increasing the camera operator's freedom. The Betacam used the same cassette format ( tape) as the Betamax, but with a different, incompatible recording format. It became standard equipment for broadcast news. Sony released the first consumer camcorder in 1983, the Betamovie BMC-100P. It used a Betamax cassette and rested on the operator's shoulder, due to a design not permitting a single-handed grip. That year, JVC released the first VHS-C camcorder. Kodak announced a new camcorder format in 1984, the
8 mm video format The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as ...
. Sony introduced its compact 8 mm
Video8 The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as ...
format in 1985. That year, Panasonic, RCA and
Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
began producing camcorders using a full-size VHS cassette with a three-hour capacity. These shoulder-mount camcorders were used by videophiles, industrial videographers and college TV studios. Full-size Super-VHS (S-VHS) camcorders were released in 1987, providing an inexpensive way to collect news segments or other videographies. Sony upgraded Video8, releasing the Hi8 in competition with S-VHS. Digital technology emerged with the Sony D1, a device which recorded uncompressed data and required a large amount of bandwidth for its time. In 1992 Ampex introduced DCT, the first digital video format with data compression using the discrete cosine transform algorithm present in most commercial digital video formats. In 1995 Sony, JVC, Panasonic and other video-camera manufacturers launched DV, which became a '' de facto'' standard for home video production, independent filmmaking and citizen journalism. That year, Ikegami introduced Editcam (the first tapeless video recording system). Camcorders using DVD media were popular at the turn of the 21st century due to the convenience of being able to drop a disc into the family DVD player; however, DVD capability, due to the limitations of the format, is largely limited to consumer-level equipment targeted at people who are not likely to spend any great amount of effort video editing their video footage.


High definition (HD)

The Sony HDVS system, launched in 1984, allowed
1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. ...
recording in the early 1990s. Panasonic launched DVCPRO HD in 2000, expanding the DV codec to support high definition (HD). The format was intended for professional camcorders, and used full-size DVCPRO cassettes. In 2003 Sony, JVC, Canon and Sharp introduced HDV as the first affordable HD video format, due to its use of inexpensive MiniDV cassettes.


Tapeless

Sony introduced the
XDCAM XDCAM is a series of products for digital recording using random access solid-state memory media, introduced by Sony in 2003. Four different product lines the XDCAM SD, XDCAM HD, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD422 differ in types of en ...
tapeless video format in 2003, introducing the Professional Disc (PFD). Panasonic followed in 2004 with its P2
solid state Solid state, or solid matter, is one of the four fundamental states of matter. Solid state may also refer to: Electronics * Solid-state electronics, circuits built of solid materials * Solid state ionics, study of ionic conductors and their u ...
memory cards as a recording medium for DVCPRO-HD video. In 2006 Panasonic and Sony introduced AVCHD as an inexpensive, tapeless, high-definition video format. AVCHD camcorders are produced by Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC and Hitachi. About this time, some consumer grade camcorders with
hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...
and/or memory card recording used MOD and TOD file formats, accessible by USB from a PC.


3D

In 2010, after the success of
James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
's 2009
3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...
'' Avatar'', full 1080p HD
3D camcorder A 3D camcorder can record 3D video. The first consumer 3D camcorder was the Toshiba SK-3D7K, exhibited at CES 1988 in Las Vegas, and available for purchase in 1989; 500 were produced.http://pubpages.unh.edu/~wfc/Toshiba/index.html It had a dual ...
s entered the market. With the proliferation of file-based digital formats, the relationship between recording media and recording format has declined; video can be recorded onto different media. With tapeless formats, recording media are storage for digital files. In 2011 Panasonic, Sony, and JVC released consumer-grade camcorders capable of filming in 3D. Panasonic released the HDC-SDT750. It is a 2D camcorder which can shoot in HD; 3D is achieved by a detachable conversion lens. Sony released a 3D camcorder, the HDR-TD10, with two lenses built in for 3D filming, and can optionally shoot 2D video. Panasonic has also released 2D camcorders with an optional 3D conversion lens. The HDC-SD90, HDC-SD900, HDC-TM900 and HDC-HS900 are sold as "3D-ready": 2D camcorders, with optional 3D capability at a later date. JVC also released a twin-lens camcorder in 2011, JVC Everio GS-TD1.


4K Ultra HD

In CES (January) 2014, Sony announced the first consumer/low-end professional ("
prosumer A prosumer is an individual who both consumes and produces. The term is a portmanteau of the words '' producer'' and ''consumer''. Research has identified six types of prosumers: DIY prosumers, self-service prosumers, customizing prosumers, coll ...
") camcorder Sony FDR-AX100 with a 1" 20.9MP sensor able to shoot 4K video in 3840x2160 pixels 30fps or 24fps in the XAVC-S format; in standard HD the camcorder can also deliver 60fps. When using the traditional format AVCHD, the camcorder supports 5.1 surround sound from its built-in microphone, this is however not supported in the XAVC-S format. The camera also has a 3-step ND filter switch allowing greater control of how much light can enter the camera for maintaining a shallow depth of field or giving a softer appearance to motion. For one hour video shooting in 4K the camera needs about 32 GB to accommodate a data transfer rate of 50 Mbit/s. The camera's MSRP in the US is USD $2,000. In 2015, consumer UHD (3840x2160) camcorders below USD $1000 became available. Sony released the FDRAX33, and Panasonic released the HC-WX970K and the HC-VX870. In September 2014 Panasonic announced and claimed 4K Ultra HD Camcorder HC-X1000E as the first conventional camcorder design that can capture up to 60fps at 150 Mbit/s or alternatively standard HD recording at up to 200 Mbit/s in ALL-I mode with MP4, MOV and AVCHD formats all offered depending on the resolution and frame rate. With use 1/2.3" small sensor as commonly is used by bridge cameras, the camcorder has 20x optical zoom in a compact body with dual XLR audio inputs, Internal ND filters and separate control rings for focus, iris and zoom. In HD capture, the camcorder enables in-camera downscaling of the 4K image to HD to reduce noise inherent in the smaller sensor. As of January 2017, the only major manufacturer to announce new consumer camcorders at CES ( Consumer Electronic Show) in Las Vegas was Canon with its entry-level HD models. Panasonic only announced details regarding their Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera called the LUMIX GH5, capable of shooting 4K in 60p. This is the first time in decades that Panasonic and Sony haven't announced new traditional camcorders at CES, and instead carried over 2016's models, such as Sony's FDR-AX53. This is due to there being far less demand in the market for traditional camcorders as more and more consumers prefer to record video with their 4K-capable
smartphones A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...
, DSLRs, and action cameras from
GoPro GoPro, Inc. (marketed as GoPro and sometimes stylized as GoPRO) is an American technology company founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman. It manufactures action cameras and develops its own mobile apps and video-editing software. Founded as Woodman La ...
, Xiaomi, Sony, Nikon, and many others.


Components

Camcorders have three major components: lens, imager and recorder. The lens gathers light, focusing it on the imager. The imager (usually a CCD or CMOS sensor; earlier models used
vidicon Video camera tubes were devices based on the cathode ray tube that were used in television cameras to capture television images, prior to the introduction of charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors in the 1980s. Several different types of tubes ...
tubes) converts incident light into an electrical signal. The recorder converts the electrical signal to video, encoding it in a storable form. The lens and imager comprise the "camera" section.


Lens

The lens is the first component of the light path. Camcorder optics generally have one or more of the following controls: * Aperture (or iris): Regulates exposure and controls
depth of field The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera. Factors affecting depth of field For cameras that can only focus on one object dist ...
* Zoom: Controls
focal length The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative foca ...
and
angle of view The angle of view is the decisive variable for the visual perception of the size or projection of the size of an object. Angle of view and perception of size The perceived size of an object depends on the size of the image projected onto the ...
*
Shutter speed In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time that the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light (that is, when the camera's shutter (photography), shutter is open) when taking a photograph. The am ...
: Regulates exposure to maintain desired motion portrayal *
Gain Gain or GAIN may refer to: Science and technology * Gain (electronics), an electronics and signal processing term * Antenna gain * Gain (laser), the amplification involved in laser emission * Gain (projection screens) * Information gain in de ...
: Amplifies signal strength in low-light conditions * Neutral density filter: Regulates exposure intensity In consumer units these adjustments are often automatically controlled by the camcorder, but can be adjusted manually if desired. Professional-grade units offer user control of all major optical functions.


Imager

The imager, often a CCD, or a photodiode array which may be an
Active Pixel Sensor An active-pixel sensor (APS) is an image sensor where each pixel sensor unit cell has a photodetector (typically a pinned photodiode) and one or more active transistors. In a metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) active-pixel sensor, MOS field-effec ...
, converts light into an electrical signal. The camera lens projects an image onto the imager surface, exposing the photosensitive array to light. This light exposure is converted into an electrical charge. At the end of the timed exposure, the imager converts the accumulated charge into a continuous analog voltage at the imager's output terminals. After the conversion is complete, the photosites reset to start the exposure of the next video frame. In many cases the photosites (per pixel) are actually reset globally by charging to a fixed voltage, and discharged towards zero individually proportionally to the accumulated light, because it is simpler to manufacture the sensor that way. Most camcorders use a single imaging sensor with integrated colour filters, per pixel, to enable red, green and blue to be sensed, each on their own set of pixels. The individual pixel filters present a significant manufacturing challenge. However some camcorders, even consumer grade devices such as th
JVC GZ-HD3
introduced around 2007, are triple sensor cameras, usually CCD but could be CMOS. In this case the exact alignment of the three sensors so that the red, green and blue components of the video output are correctly aligned, is the manufacturing challenge.


Recorder

The recorder writes the video signal onto a recording medium, such as magnetic videobatteries. Since the record function involves many signal-processing steps, some distortion and noise historically appeared on the stored video; playback of the stored signal did not have the exact characteristics and detail as a live video feed. All camcorders have a recorder-controlling section, allowing the user to switch the recorder into playback mode for reviewing recorded footage, and an image-control section controlling exposure, focus and color balance. The image recorded need not be limited to what appeared in the viewfinder. For documenting events (as in law enforcement), the field of view overlays the time and date of the recording along the top and bottom of the image. The police car or constable badge number to which the recorder was given, the car's speed at the time of recording, compass direction and geographical coordinates may also be seen.


Functionality

Dedicated camcorders are usually equipped with optical image stabilization, optical zoom,
stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
microphone, and touch screen. Additional possible features include a viewfinder (usually digital), a pressure-sensitive knob for zooming at a controllable speed, LED lamp for illuminating in darkness – possibly with an option to adjust automatically,
night vision Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night vi ...
which may be assisted by an
infrared lamp Infrared lamps are electrical devices which emit infrared radiation. Infrared lamps are commonly used in radiant heating for industrial processes and building heating. Infrared LEDs are used for communication over optical fibers and in remote c ...
, still photography, the ability to capture still photos while filming – usually at a higher resolution than the video, the ability to lock the OIS on far subjects while zoomed in (named "OIS Lock" by Panasonic), the ability to buffer footage before pressing the "record" button to avoid missing moments without having to be constantly recording (named "PRE-REC" by Panasonic), the ability to keep the lens cover open for few minutes into stand-by mode for rapid restarting, internal storage for recording when the inserted memory card's space is exhausted, autofocus able to track objects, and optional visual effects during video recording and playback.Sony DCR-PC3 user manual
/ref>:p37
/ref>Panasonic HC-V500 and HC-V500M user manualmirror
Metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
such as date/time and technical parameters may be stored in a separate subtitle track. The former allows measuring the exact and undistorted recording time of scenes even if intermittently paused, and the latter may encompass aperture, frames' exposure duration, exposure value, and photosensitivity. On digital camcorders, the video resolution, frame rate, and/or bit rate may be adjustable between higher quality but larger file sizes and lower quality but extended recording time on remaining storage. The image sensor may have a higher resolution than the recorded video, allowing for lossless digital zoom by cropping the area read out from the image sensor. The video player may allow for navigation between individual frames and extraction of still frames from footage to standalone pictures.


Types


Analog and digital

Camcorders are often classified by their storage device; VHS, VHS-C,
Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
,
Video8 The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as ...
are examples of late 20th century videotape-based camcorders which record video in analog form.
Digital video Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...
camcorder formats include
Digital8 Digital8 (or Di8) is a consumer digital recording videocassette for camcorders based on the 8 mm video format developed by Sony, and introduced in 1999. The Digital8 format is a combination of the earlier analog Hi8 tape transport with the dig ...
, MiniDV, DVD, hard disk drive, direct to disk recording and solid-state, semiconductor
flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
. While all these formats record video in
digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
form, Digital8, MiniDV, DVD and hard-disk drives have no longer been manufactured in consumer camcorders since 2006. In the earliest analog camcorders the imaging device is vacuum-tube technology, in which the charge of a light-sensitive target was directly proportional to the amount of light striking it; the
Vidicon Video camera tubes were devices based on the cathode ray tube that were used in television cameras to capture television images, prior to the introduction of charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors in the 1980s. Several different types of tubes ...
is an example of such an imaging tube. Newer analog, and digital camcorders use a solid-state charge-coupled imaging device (CCD) or a
CMOS imager An active-pixel sensor (APS) is an image sensor where each pixel sensor unit cell has a photodetector (typically a pinned photodiode) and one or more active transistors. In a metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) active-pixel sensor, MOS field-effec ...
. Both are analog detectors, using photodiodes to pass a current proportional to the light striking them. The current is then digitised before being electronically scanned and fed to the imager's output. The main difference between the two devices is how the scanning is done. In the CCD the diodes are sampled simultaneously, and the scan passes the digitised data from one register to the next. In CMOS devices, the diodes are sampled directly by the scanning logic. Digital video storage retains higher-quality video than analog storage, especially on the prosumer and strictly consumer levels. MiniDV storage allows full-resolution video (720x576 for PAL, 720x480 for NTSC), unlike analog consumer-video standards. Digital video does not experience colour bleeding, jitter, or fade. Unlike analog formats, digital formats do not experience generation loss during dubbing; however, they are more prone to complete loss. Although digital information can theoretically be stored indefinitely without deterioration, some digital formats (like MiniDV) place tracks only about 10 micrometers apart (compared with 19–58 μm for VHS). A digital recording is more vulnerable to wrinkles or stretches in the tape which could erase data, but
tracking Tracking may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Tracking, in computer graphics, in match moving (insertion of graphics into footage) * Tracking, composing music with music tracker software * Eye tracking, measuring the position of t ...
and error-correction code on the tape compensates for most defects. On analog media, similar damage registers as "noise" in the video, leaving a deteriorated (but watchable) video. DVDs may develop DVD rot, losing large chunks of data. An analog recording may be "usable" after its storage media deteriorates severely, but slight media degradation in digital recordings may trigger an "all or nothing" failure; the digital recording will be unplayable without extensive restoration.


Recording media

Older digital camcorders record video onto tape digitally,
microdrive The Microdrive is a registered trademark for miniature, 1-inch hard disks produced by IBM and Hitachi. These rotational media storage devices were designed to fit in CompactFlash (CF) Type II slots. The release of similar drives by other ...
s, hard drives, and small DVD-RAM or
DVD-R DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('burne ...
s. Newer machines since 2006 record video onto
flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
devices and internal solid-state drives in MPEG-1,
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic video coding format, coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of Lossy compression, lossy video compression and ...
or
MPEG-4 MPEG-4 is a group of international standards for the compression of digital audio and visual data, multimedia systems, and file storage formats. It was originally introduced in late 1998 as a group of audio and video coding formats and related tec ...
format. Because these codecs use
inter-frame An inter frame is a frame in a video compression stream which is expressed in terms of one or more neighboring frames. The "inter" part of the term refers to the use of ''Inter frame prediction''. This kind of prediction tries to take advantage fro ...
compression, frame-specific editing requires frame regeneration, additional processing and may lose picture information. Codecs storing each frame individually, easing frame-specific scene editing, are common in professional use. Other digital consumer camcorders record in DV or HDV format on tape, transferring content over
FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...
or
USB 2.0 Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...
to a computer where large files (for DV, 1GB for 4 to 4.6 minutes in PAL/ NTSC resolutions) can be
edited Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
, converted and recorded back to tape. The transfer is done in
real time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...
, so the transfer of a 60-minute tape requires one hour to transfer and about 13GB of disk space for the raw footage (plus space for rendered files and other media).


Tapeless

A tapeless camcorder is a camcorder that does not use video tape for the digital recording of video productions as 20th century ones did. Tapeless camcorders record video as digital computer files onto
data storage device Data storage is the recording (storing) of information (data) in a storage medium. Handwriting, phonographic recording, magnetic tape, and optical discs are all examples of storage media. Biological molecules such as RNA and DNA are conside ...
s such as optical discs, hard disk drives and solid-state
flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
cards. Inexpensive
pocket video camera A pocket video camera is a tapeless camcorder that is small enough to be carried in one's pocket. A typical pocket video camera has an LCD screen of at least 1.5", the ability to capture either only standard video or both standard video and high ...
s use flash memory cards, while some more expensive camcorders use solid-state drives or SSD; similar flash technology is used on semi-pro and high-end professional video cameras for ultrafast transfer of high-definition television (HDTV) content. Most consumer-level tapeless camcorders use
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic video coding format, coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of Lossy compression, lossy video compression and ...
,
MPEG-4 MPEG-4 is a group of international standards for the compression of digital audio and visual data, multimedia systems, and file storage formats. It was originally introduced in late 1998 as a group of audio and video coding formats and related tec ...
or its derivatives as video coding formats. They are normally capable of still-image capture to
JPEG JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
format additionally. Consumer-grade tapeless camcorders include a USB port to transfer video onto a computer. Professional models include other options like Serial digital interface (SDI) or HDMI. Some tapeless camcorders are equipped with a
FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...
(IEEE-1394) port to ensure compatibility with
magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magne ...
-based DV and HDV formats.


Consumer market

Since the consumer market favors ease of use, portability and price, most consumer-grade camcorders emphasize handling and automation over audio and video performance. Most devices with camcorder capability are
camera phone A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with color cam ...
s or
compact digital camera A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...
s, in which video is a secondary capability. Some pocket cameras, mobile phones and camcorders are shock-, dust- and waterproof. The consumer camcorder was generally still very expensive throughout the early to mid 1990s but prices compared to the 1980s had halved for an entry level model and fell even further at the turn of the millennium placing them in easier reach of basic income consumers with the addition of available and more easy to obtain credit to spread payments. This market has followed an evolutionary path driven by miniaturization and cost reduction enabled by progress in design and manufacture. Miniaturization reduces the imager's ability to gather light; designers have balanced improvements in sensor sensitivity with size reduction, shrinking the camera imager and optics while maintaining relatively noise-free video in daylight. Indoor or dim-light shooting is generally noisy, and in such conditions artificial lighting is recommended. Mechanical controls cannot shrink below a certain size, and manual camera operation has given way to camera-controlled automation for every shooting parameter (including focus, aperture, shutter speed and color balance). The few models with manual override are menu-driven. Outputs include USB 2.0, Composite and S-Video and IEEE 1394/FireWire (for MiniDV models). The high end of the consumer market emphasizes user control and advanced shooting modes. More-expensive consumer camcorders offer manual exposure control, HDMI output and external audio input, progressive-scan
frame rate Frame rate (expressed in or FPS) is the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. The term applies equally to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate may also be ca ...
s (24fps, 25fps, 30fps) and higher-quality lenses than basic models. To maximize low-light capability, color reproduction and frame resolution, multi-CCD/CMOS camcorders mimic the 3-element imager design of professional equipment. Field tests have shown that most consumer camcorders (regardless of price) produce noisy video in low light. Before the 21st century, video editing required two recorders and a desktop video workstation to control them. A typical home personal computer can hold several hours of standard-definition video, and is fast enough to edit footage without additional upgrades. Most consumer camcorders are sold with basic video editing software, so users can create their own DVDs or share edited footage online. Since 2006, nearly all camcorders sold are digital. Tape-based (MiniDV/HDV) camcorders are no longer popular, since tapeless models (with an SD card or internal SSD) cost almost the same but offer greater convenience; video captured on an SD card can be transferred to a computer faster than digital tape. None of the consumer-class camcorders announced at the 2006 International
Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...
recorded on tape.


Other devices

Video-capture capability is not confined to camcorders. Cellphones,
digital single-lens reflex A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...
and compact digicams, laptops and personal media players offer video-capture capability, but most multipurpose devices offer less video-capture functionality than an equivalent camcorder. Most lack manual adjustments, audio input, autofocus and zoom. Few capture in standard TV-video formats (480p60, 720p60, 1080i30), recording in either non-TV resolutions (320x240, 640x480) or slower frame rates (15 or 30 fps). A multipurpose device used as a camcorder offers inferior handling, audio and video performance, which limits its utility for extended or adverse shooting situations. The
camera phone A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with color cam ...
developed video capability during the early 21st century, reducing sales of low-end camcorders. DSLR cameras with
high-definition video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines (No ...
were also introduced early in the 21st century. Although they still have the handling and usability deficiencies of other multipurpose devices, HDSLR video offers the shallow
depth-of-field The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera. Factors affecting depth of field For cameras that can only focus on one object dist ...
and
interchangeable lens A lens mount is an interface – mechanical and often also electrical – between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is a feature of camera systems where the body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the rangefinder camera, singl ...
es lacking in consumer camcorders. Professional video cameras with these capabilities are more expensive than the most expensive video-capable DSLR. In video applications where the DSLR's operational deficiencies can be mitigated, DSLRs such as the Canon 5D Mark II provide depth-of-field and optical-perspective control. Combo-cameras combine full-feature still cameras and camcorders in a single unit. The Sanyo
Xacti Xacti is a brand of Sanyo hybrid digital camera and camcorder. They use a distinct pistol-shaped format with most controls operated by the thumb and able to shoot both video and picture simultaneously. The range of models includes high definitio ...
HD1 was the first such unit, combining the features of a 5.1 megapixel still camera with a 720p video recorder with improved handling and utility. Canon and Sony have introduced camcorders with still-photo performance approaching that of a digicam, and Panasonic has introduced a DSLR body with video features approaching that of a camcorder.
Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
has introduced the DZHV 584E/EW, with 1080p resolution and a touch screen.


Flip Video

The Flip Video was a series of tapeless camcorders introduced by Pure Digital Technologies in 2006. Slightly larger than a smartphone, the Flip Video was a basic camcorder with record, zoom, playback and browse buttons and a USB jack for uploading video. The original models recorded at a 640x480-pixel resolution; later models featured HD recording at 1280x720 pixels. The Mino was a smaller Flip Video, with the same features as the standard model. The Mino was the smallest of all camcorders, slightly wider than a MiniDV cassette and smaller than most smartphones on the market. In fact the Mino was small enough to fit inside the shell of a VHS cassette. Later HD models featured larger screens. In 2011, the Flip Video (more recently manufactured by Cisco) was discontinued.


Interchangeable lenses

Interchangeable-lens camcorders can capture HD video with DSLR lenses and an adapter.


Built-in projector

In 2011, Sony launched its HDR-PJ range of HD camcorders: the HDR-PJ10, 30 and 50. Known as
Handycam Handycam is a Sony brand used to market its camcorder range. It was launched in 1985 as the name of the first Video8 camcorder, replacing Sony's previous line of Betamax-based models, and the name was intended to emphasize the "handy" palm size ...
s, they were the first camcorders to incorporate a small image projector on the side of the unit. This feature allows a group of viewers to watch video without a television, a full-size projector or a computer. These camcorders were a huge success and Sony subsequently released further models in this range. Sony's 2014 line up comprises the HDR-PJ240, HDR-PJ330 (entry level models), HDR-PJ530 (mid-range model) and the HDR-PJ810 (top of the range). Specifications vary by model.


Uses


Media

Camcorders are used by nearly all electronic media, from electronic-news organizations to current-affairs TV productions. In remote locations, camcorders are useful for initial video acquisition; the video is subsequently transmitted electronically to a studio or production center for broadcast. Scheduled events (such as press conferences), where a video infrastructure is readily available or can be deployed in advance, are still covered by studio-type video cameras "tethered" to production trucks.


Home movies

Camcorders often cover weddings, birthdays, graduations, children's growth and other personal events. The rise of the consumer camcorder during the mid- to late 1980s led to the creation of TV shows such as '' America's Funniest Home Videos'', which showcases homemade video footage.


Entertainment

Camcorders are used in the production of low-budget TV shows if the production crew does not have access to more expensive equipment. Movies have been shot entirely on consumer camcorder equipment (such as '' The Blair Witch Project'', ''
28 Days Later ''28 Days Later'' is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. It stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagi ...
'' and '' Paranormal Activity''). Academic filmmaking programs have also switched from
16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
film to digital video in early 2010s, due to the reduced expense and ease of editing of digital media and the increasing scarcity of film stock and equipment. Some camcorder manufacturers cater to this market; Canon and Panasonic support
24p In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second (typically, 23.976 frame/s when using equipment based on NTSC frame rates, but now 24.000 in many cases) frame rate with progressive scanning (not interlaced). O ...
(24 fps, progressive scan—the same frame rate as cinema film) video in some high-end models for easy film conversion.


Education

Schools in the developed world increasingly use
digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...
and digital education. Students use camcorders to record video diaries, make short films and develop multi-media projects across subject boundaries. Teacher evaluation involves a teacher's classroom lessons being recorded for review by officials, especially for questions of teacher tenure. Student camcorder-created material and other digital technology are used in new-teacher preparation courses. The University of Oxford Department of Education PGCE programme and
NYU New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...
's
Steinhardt School The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as Steinhardt) is the secondary liberal arts and education school of New York University. It is one of the only schools in the world of i ...
's Department of Teaching and Learning MAT programme are examples. The
USC Rossier School of Education The USC Rossier School of Education is one of the graduate schools of the University of Southern California. Rossier offers six master's degree programs, a Doctor of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership (Ed.D.) degree, a Global Execut ...
goes further, insisting that all students purchase their own camcorder (or similar) as a prerequisite to their MAT education programs (many of which are delivered online). These programs employ a modified version of
Adobe Connect Adobe Connect (formerly '' Presedia Publishing System'', ''Macromedia Breeze'', and ''Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro'') is a suite of software for remote training, web conferencing, presentation, and desktop sharing. All meeting rooms are organized in ...
to deliver the courses. Recordings of MAT student work are posted on USC's web portal for evaluation by
faculty Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States) * Faculty (instrument) A faculty is a legal in ...
as if they were present in class. Camcorders have allowed USC to decentralize its teacher preparation from Southern California to most American states and abroad; this has increased the number of teachers it can train.


Formats

The following list covers consumer equipment only (for other formats, see videotape):


Analog

Lo-Band: Approximately 3 MHz bandwidth (250 lines EIA resolution, or ~333x480 edge-to-edge) *BCE (1954): First tape storage for video, manufactured by Bing Crosby Entertainment from Ampex equipment *BCE Color (1955): First color tape storage for video, manufactured by Bing Crosby Entertainment from Ampex equipment *Simplex (1955): Developed commercially by RCA and used to record live broadcasts by NBC * Quadruplex videotape (1955): Developed formally by Ampex, this was the recording standard for 20 years. *
Vision electronic recording apparatus Vision Electronic Recording Apparatus (VERA) was an early analog recording videotape format developed from 1952 by the BBC under project manager Dr Peter Axon. History In order to record high frequencies, a tape must move rapidly with respect to ...
(Vera) (1955): An experimental recording standard developed by the BBC, it was never used or sold commercially. * U-matic (1971): Tape originally used by Sony to record video * U-matic S (1974): A smaller version of U-matic, used for portable recorders *
Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
(1975): Used on old Sony and Sanyo camcorders and portables; obsolete by the late 1980s in the consumer market * VHS (1976): Compatible with VHS VCRs; no longer manufactured * VHS-C (1982): Originally designed for portable VCRs, this standard was later adapted for compact consumer camcorders; identical in quality to VHS; cassettes play in VHS VCRs with an adapter. Still available in the low-end consumer market. Relatively short running time compared to other formats. *
Video8 The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as ...
(1985): Small-format tape developed by Sony to compete with VHS-C's palm-sized design; equivalent to VHS or Betamax in picture quality Hi-Band: Approximately 5 MHz bandwidth (420 lines EIA resolution, or ~ 550x480 edge-to-edge) * U-matic BVU (1982): Largely used in high-end consumer and professional equipment * U-matic BVU-SP (1985): Largely used in high-end consumer and professional equipment * S-VHS (1987): Largely used in mid-range consumer and prosumer equipment *
S-VHS-C VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format, introduced by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) in 1982, and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and ca ...
(1987): Limited to low-end consumer market *
Hi8 The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as ...
(1988): Used in low to mid-range consumer equipment but also was available as prosumer/industrial equipment


Digital

* DV (1995): Initially developed by Sony, the DV standard became the most widespread standard-definition digital camcorder technology for the next decade. The DV format was the first to make capturing footage for video editing possible without special hardware, using the 4- or 6-pin
FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...
sockets common on computers at the time. *
DVCPRO DV refers to a family of codecs and tape formats used for storing digital video, launched in 1995 by a consortium of video camera manufacturers led by Sony and Panasonic. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DV was strongly associated with the t ...
(1995): Panasonic released its own variant of the DV format for broadcast news-gathering. *
DVCAM DV refers to a family of codecs and tape formats used for storing digital video, launched in 1995 by a consortium of video camera manufacturers led by Sony and Panasonic. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DV was strongly associated with the ...
(1996): Sony's answer to the DVCPRO * DVD recordable (1996): A variety of recordable optical disc standards were released by multiple manufacturers during the 1990s and 2000s, of which DVD-RAM was the first. The most common in camcorders was MiniDVD-R, which used recordable 8 cm discs holding 30 minutes of MPEG video. * D-VHS (1998): JVC's VHS tape supporting 720p/1080i HD; many units also supported IEEE 1394 recording. *
Digital8 Digital8 (or Di8) is a consumer digital recording videocassette for camcorders based on the 8 mm video format developed by Sony, and introduced in 1999. The Digital8 format is a combination of the earlier analog Hi8 tape transport with the dig ...
(1999): Uses
Hi8 The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as ...
tapes; most can read older Video8 and Hi8 analog tapes. *
MICROMV MicroMV is a proprietary videotape format introduced in October 2001 by Sony. It is the smallest videotape format — 70% smaller than MiniDV or about the size of two US quarter coins; it is also smaller than a Digital8 or DV cassette and slig ...
(2001): Matchbox-sized cassette. Sony was the only electronics manufacturer for this format, and editing software was proprietary to Sony and only available on
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
; however,
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
programmers did manage to create capture software for Linux. *
Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...
(2003): Manufactured by Hitachi * HDV (2004): Records up to an hour of HDTV MPEG-2 signal on a MiniDV cassette *
MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic video coding format, coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of Lossy compression, lossy video compression and ...
codec-based format: Records MPEG-2 program stream or MPEG-2 transport stream to various kinds of tapeless standard and HD media (hard disks, solid-state memory, etc.). * H.264: Compressed video using the H.264 codec in an MPEG-4 file; usually stored in tapeless media * AVCHD: Puts H.264 video into a transport-stream file format; compressed in H.264 format (not MPEG-4) * Multiview Video Coding: Amendment to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression for sequences captured from multiple cameras using a single video stream; backwards-compatible with H.264


Operating systems

Since most manufacturers focus their support on Windows and Mac users, users of other operating systems have difficulty finding support for their devices. However, open-source products such as Kdenlive, Cinelerra and
Kino Kino may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters * KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S. * Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station * KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel Fictional entities ...
(written for the Linux operating system) allow editing of most popular digital formats on alternative operating systems and can be used in conjunction with OBS for online broadcast solutions; software to edit DV streams is available on most platforms.


Digital forensics

The issue of digital-camcorder forensics to recover data (e.g. video files with timestamps) has been addressed.


Recalls

In 1998, Sony recalled an estimated 700,000 1998
Sony Handycam Handycam is a Sony brand used to market its camcorder range. It was launched in 1985 as the name of the first Video8 camcorder, replacing Sony's previous line of Betamax-based models, and the name was intended to emphasize the "handy" palm siz ...
s after the ''NightShot'' feature was found to be able to see under peoples clothes, creating a risk for accidental pornographic recording.


See also

*
3CCD A three-CCD (3CCD) camera is a camera whose imaging system uses three separate charge-coupled devices (CCDs), each one receiving filtered red, green, or blue color ranges. Light coming in from the lens is split by a beam-splitter prism into thr ...
* AVCHD * Charge-coupled device *
CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss", ) is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFE ...
*
Dew warning A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape Videocassette#Cassette formats, videocassette, ...
*
FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...
* Flip Video *
PictBridge PictBridge is a historical computing industry standard introduced in 2003 from the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) for direct printing. It allows images to be printed directly from digital cameras to a printer, without having to conn ...
*
Pocket video camera A pocket video camera is a tapeless camcorder that is small enough to be carried in one's pocket. A typical pocket video camera has an LCD screen of at least 1.5", the ability to capture either only standard video or both standard video and high ...
* Professional video camera * PXL-2000—A toy camcorder that used
compact audio cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...
to store video * SteadyShot *
USB streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
and USB port. *
VTR A video tape recorder (VTR) is a tape recorder designed to record and playback video and audio material from magnetic tape. The early VTRs were open-reel devices that record on individual reels of 2-inch-wide (5.08 cm) tape. They were us ...
*
List of Sony camcorders Sony Corporation (commonly known as Sony) produces professional, consumer, and prosumer camcorders such as studio and broadcast, digital cinema cameras, camcorders, pan-tilt-zoom and remote cameras. Standard definition models Sony DCR-VX100 ...
*
List of Panasonic camcorders This is a list of Panasonic camcorders. Professional standard definition models (MiniDV) Panasonic AG-DVX100 (2002) Introduced in 2002, AG-DVX100 was Panasonic's first affordable 3CCD digital progressive scan camcorder. Equipped with a 10x L ...


References


External links

{{Wiktionary, camcorder
History of Camcorders
by Mark Shapiro

from HowStuffWorks Audiovisual introductions in 1983 Consumer electronics Japanese inventions