Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000 Samples

[Jerry Jones]

Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000:

http://stevenunez.com/xactihd1000/xacti.html

Samples don't look too bad, actually.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Hulk]

The samples do look pretty decent. I'll have a closer look at them later.

It's nice to see a solid state affordable camcorder that uses good optics, 1/2.5" sensor, and the ability to so 1080i and 720/60p.

Seems like the reviews on Amazon are pretty good too. It's funny how every person that reviewed the camera notes how great that it does 1080i at 60 fps. Ahh! That's fields per second not frames at 1080 resolution! The sensor most likely pixel shifts to do 1080i so I have a feeling the 720/60p mode might be better for many applications. Or better yet 720/30p for low light situations. I'd love to get my hands on this one for some testing.

This is a huge step in the right direction for camcorders that use AVCHD and solid state memory. Alright!

[Hulk]

Okay I got a good look and I'm impressed. The clarity is very good especially considering the images don't have too much contrast, which is how most sub $1000 HD cams seem to look to me. Overly "contrasty" and over saturated. This one looks good! Nice and smooth with detail in the shadow areas and good resolution with no halos or bleeding. Good lens, good sensor, and good software make for good video on this camcorder.

Now there is a good amount of macroblocking on the motion scenes. I can detect it a bit on the antlers of the reindeer and all over the bird in the water. The thing is I don't know how much of it is actually on the original video, which was 12Mbps, or from the compression to the final video, which is compressed to about 6 or 7 Mbps.

I really am liking this one.

Nice find Jerry. Thanks for posting.


Strange how this review gives it a 6/10 for image quality.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/camcorders/review/2007/11/17/Sanyo-Xacti-VPC-HD1000/p1

The author also says the video is over saturated. The sample clips from the first post don't look that way to me at all. The sample picture from the review above also looks to be blurred from camera movement, not showing the camera's true potential. I think that shot needed a faster shutter. Perhaps the wind was blowing the plant?

I remember reading this review a while back and writing this camera off. I guess I need to reconsider my trust in "Trusted Reviews."

[Jerry Jones]

This new Sanyo model apparently has a great deal of menu options that can impact the saturation and other characteristics.

Perhaps the 'Trusted Reviewer' had the camcorder set to "Vivid?"

I have worked with the less-expensive standard definition model... the Sanyo CG6.

I know the CG6's menu features about five or six color saturation choices, including "Vivid," which is the typical consumer-driven "I want way over-saturated colors" option.

I want this new VPC-HD1000 model.

I like that 720/60p option.

I also had a lot of fun working with the SD Sanyo VPC-CG6, which is a tiny little guy -- perfect for YouTube stuff.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Hulk]

That could be it Jerry. I was just about ready to go with the HG10. Now this HD1000 has me seriously considering it.

I wish there were some 720/60p samples posted. And a few in the native recording format.

[Hulk]

I found some native samples.

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=109372

I can edit them at 1/2 resolution with good performance on my rig in Vegas. A crossfade goes just about at real time. To monitor at full resolution I'd need an external monitor.


Upon close examination of the native files it seems that when recording in 1080i mode the max bitrate is just over 12Mbps. In the 720p mode it's just over 9Mbps, and just over 6Mbps for the 480p mode. For low motion these bitrate are enough but with high motion the image falls apart. I have a feeling to adequately capture some high motion scenes the bitrate would need to nearly double, so more like 18Mbps for 720p to capture running water.

I would bet the "lowish" bit rates we're seeing on these AVCHD camcorders is the result of the high processing overhead during the encode and the in-camera processors just can't handle it at this point in development of the format.

[wkulecz]

Ned to mention that if you double the data rate, the recording time per memory card is halved. There may also be some limitations from the write speed of the flash memory.

[Hulk]

That is definitely possible but I have a feeling it's processor issue.

Right now bit rate at 1080i is peaking at 12Mbps. That about 1.5MB/sec. On an 8GB card that gives an hour and a half. If you doubled that rate for the entire shooting event you'd still have 45 minutes on an 8GB card. And 16GB cards are hitting the streets with good pricing. Plus the bit rate is variable so it would only need spike high on difficult scenes.

24Mbps is only 3Mb/sec. I think just about any SD card can do that.