Camcorder Technical Details

Supreme Video + Electronics

Camcorder Technical Information

[ Parts Explanation | Features Explanation ]

What happens when you are recording?

The lens is the first step. Light and images come in through the Lens and go into the pickup device. The pickup device converts light and images into electrical signals. While the lens is taking in images, the microphone is taking in audio. The audio is sent, along with signals created by the pickup device, and passes the signals towards the Video Recorder.The Video Recorder is now able to take the video signals and audio that were created and place them onto video tape. With all this done you are now able to use the video playback that comes with the camcorder to review whatever you have just shot.

What are the different parts of the camcorder used for?

Zoom lenses - This is a feature that most (if not every) camcorder provides. There are many types of zoom lenses that come with a variety of different camcorders. What zoom lenses actually means is that there a few different lenses working together to make things that are farther away seem closer. The zoom ratio is how zoom lenses are classified. This ratio measures the difference between the minimum wide angle and the maximum telephoto (for example an 8:1 zoom lens means that objects will appear to be 8X closer than they really are).

Optical Zoom - different lenses are moved farther and closer apart in order to make objects seem closer. By moving the distance between lenses the focal length is changed which produces the closer effect. Current optical zooms on the market range between 6:1 to 20:1.

Digital Zoom - This type of zoom works in conjunction with the optical zoom. Through digital enhancements, it increases the zoom beyond the optical zoom. Increasing the digital zoom too much may result in a slightly block like picture because of the techniques used.

Iris - This is the aperture in the lens. The amount of light that passes through the iris depends on the size of the opening. Without the proper adjustments to this opening the picture may come out under exposed, over exposed, or washed out. This opening is automatically adjusted on most camcorders so that you don't have to worry about adjusting it yourself.

Number of Pickup Devices - One chip is the standard for regular camcorders. This one chip handles all the colors coming into the camcorder. Some of the more expensive personal camcorders may come with 2 and even 3 chips while professional camcorders, on the other hand, will usually have 3 in order to get the strongest color picture possible.

Microphone - This is the device that captures sound for your videos. Microphones come standard on all camcorders. Many are covered by a foam rubber protection to minimize wind noise.

Microphone input - This is an external jack that lets you add a microphone, or another audio input device, into your camcorder. The benefits of an external microphone may be that it can be more powerful than the internal one, allowing you to hear things at a greater distance. It also can help eliminate noise by gathering sound from a more concentrated source instead of from all around.

Battery - This is the reason that camcorders are portable. Without them you would always have to look for an outlet to plug your camcorder into, and one is often not available. Camcorders also do come with an AC adapter.

Nickel Cadmium battery - These are the rechargeable batteries that most camcorders come with. They can be recharged about 1000 times before they expire. These batteries are classified according to how much recording time they can provide. Typically the range that they come in is between 1 to 4 hours. Other factors can cause an increase in power consumption (including electronic stabilization, motorized zoom, and a built in light). There is one problem with these batteries called battery memory. If you discharge the battery and then recharge it when the battery is half full for a number of times, the battery begins to think that this half charge is a full charge. This leads to you get less performance out of your battery.
Nickel Metal Hydride - This is a newer type of rechargeable battery. They are the same as NiCad batteries, but do not have this battery memory problem.
AA Standard Battery - This is an option that a few camcorders have and that can come in handy at times. If your rechargeable battery runs out of power, and you don't have a place or the time to recharge it, you can buy some AA batteries which are more readily available than any other type of battery. This is only a temporary solution until you can charge your rechargeable battery because using AA batteries exclusively can be much more expensive.

What do some of the camcorder features mean?

Focal Length - This is the term used to describe the size of a photographic lens, or the size of the picture created. A bigger picture is captured with a wide angle lens, and a telephoto lens makes a farther away objects seem closer.

Image Stabilization - This features tries to determine unnecessary shaking of the camcorder, and eliminate it. This is a very highly recommended feature for all camcorder users.

Optical Image Stabilizer - This is a two lens system used with a type of liquid between them. When you shake the camcorder, both lens shake proportionately to each other producing a more stable image at playback because the light is shifted and picture is adjusted accordingly.
Electronic Image Stabilizer - There are two types of this digital technology. Both produce a lower picture quality (increased graininess) then the optical image stabilization. These features contribute to the extended consumption of power, lessening the amount of time the battery is suppose to last before it's next charge.

Focus - An auto focus system comes with any camcorder that you might purchase. The camcorder tries to determine the subject of your video and focuses in on that subject. The accuracy of the auto focus can be affected by extreme or low light.

Macro focus - Regular lenses have a minimum focusing distance that don't let you focus in on a small object at close distance. If you would try they would come out blurry and fuzzy. This is what macro focus is used for. It lets you take a small close up object and focus in on it. It also lets you fill the screen frame with the image if necessary.

Lux - This is the term used to describe the rating used for pickup devices (It is the minimum amount of light needed to be put through a pickup device and still create a recognizable picture). It is a standard measure of light used by an individual manufacturer. Different manufacturers use different Lux ratings, making it difficult to compare the lux of different camcorders of different brands.

White Balance - This feature, which in most camcorders is automatic, takes into account the different light produced by different sources. (for example light from the sun is different from light from a light bulb) Automatic light balance adjusts itself accordingly.

Backlight Control - This feature helps protect against extreme light conditions (like a very sunny day) that even the aperture can't protect against. Backlighting is when a very bright light is coming from behind the subject. This effect leads to a silhouette of a very dark subject. Backlight control opens the iris a little more so that you get a better picture of your subject.

Variable Shutter Speed - There is no shutter in a camcorder, so this function is taken up by the pickup device. The normal shutter speed is 1/60 (light comes into the camera 60 times per second). This might cause fast moving objects to come out a little blurry. By increasing the shutter speed you can catch faster moving objects. The drawbacks to this are that less light is let in (harder to get better picture quality)so it would be a good idea to use this feature only in well lit conditions.

Fader - This is used as a more appealing alternative to having the picture start and stop abruptly from turning on and of. The fader slowly takes the picture and fades it in to a fully black, white, or color screen (screen color depends on the options provided by the specific camcorder). A more interesting type of fade provided on some camcorder is a wipe. This is a creative way of fading from one scene to another. Wipes have different patterns that you can wipe with from one scene to the next with.

Wind buffer - Microphones that are not visibly sticking out of the camcorder can't be encased in foam rubber to minimize wind noise. this feature was developed in order to minimize the wind noise on these types of camcorders. The solution that this feature uses is that it adds equalization to frequencies where wind noise would most likely show up. This feature should only be used when there is wind because on non windy days this feature may affect and degrade the sound quality of the video.

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