Reviewing Sony HVR-V1U HDV Camcorder: Part 3

In this edition of HDV@Work, I complete my review of the Sony HVR-V1U camcorder. In the first part, I examined the Sony HVR-V1U's 3ClearVid CMOS imaging system, the way the camcorder achieves 24p, and its optical system. In Part Two, I explored its image settings and shooting controls. In this edition, I look into the V1's audio capabilities, its I/O, and some of its special features. I conclude with an in-depth summary of my findings from the entire review.

To meet the needs of the professional market, the HVR-V1 has dual XLR inputs with phantom power, plus a complete set of mic/line controls. The menu settings enable you to individually “trim” input level from -16dB to 0dB. This feature allows you to match, for example, any mic to the V1. Unfortunately, the V1 has no 1/8in. stereo mic jack to connect wireless mics and mixers that use this type of connection.

The V1 has a feature called TC Link, which enables you to synchronize timecodes between cameras using IEEE 1394. Because all camcorders can be set with identical timecode prior to shooting, multiple-camera shoots produce tapes that carry identical timecode.

For news shooters, Sony''s HyperGain capability adds +36dB gain that can save a breaking story.

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The V1''s slo-mo feature switches to scanning of a reduced area of the CMOS sensors at 240fps. The capture buffer is then recorded to HDV or DV/DVCAM. While the recorded motion was good, the 6 seconds or 12 seconds of 512x320 video was very soft.

The V1 also features Sony''s Shot Transition capability. One obvious use for this function is to define two settings—for example, color and B&W. The camera can transition between these settings, using Linear, a Soft Stop, or a Soft transition.

The V1 can capture photos onto a Sony Memory Stick Duo. There are two quality levels (Fine and Standard) and four resolutions: 1440x810 (HDV and 16:9 DV/DVCAM), 1080x810, 640x480, and 640x360.

You can create, modify, and save up to six Video Profiles. The HVR-V1 also has six User buttons. Image Profiles can be assigned to these buttons, as can certain camera functions, but camera modes such as a specific frame rate cannot be assigned. Image and User Profiles can be saved to the camcorder, or to a Memory Stick.

The V1 has the ability to downconvert HDV to SD, but the options are different for analog output and for FireWire/IEEE 1394/i.LINK. Only anamorphic (squeezed) DV25 is available via IEEE 1394. You can select squeeze, letterbox, or center-cut for analog output via component, composite (bundled cable), or S-Video (optional cable). HDMI is always 16:9 at either 1080i60 or at 480i60 if your monitor isn''t HD.

Camcorder ports include AV out (composite/S-Video plus stereo audio), analog component out, HDMI out, headphone out, plus i.LINK, USB, and LANC ports. When the camera is operating the Electronic Image Processor generates uncompressed 1440x1080i60 with a 4:2:2 color space. Digital 8-bit, 4:2:2 data are output via the HDMI port, while 4:2:2 analog is output via component. You can, therefore, record 4:2:2 live HD video from the camera without MPEG-2 compression. If connected to a 720p-only device via HDMI, the camcorder will playback HD1 (except 720p24) tapes. Two-channel digital audio is output from the HDMI port.

The V1''s IEEE 1394/i.LINK port can be connected to Sony''s HVR-DR60 hard disk recorder (60GB) to record an HDV/DVCAM/DV stream. Sony''s HVR-DR60 records 1080i HDV or a DV stream. The 1.8in. internal HDD's capacity of 60GB translates into 270 minutes (4.5 hours) for both HDV and DV recordings. The 1080i HDV stream is recorded as .M2T files, while DVCAM or DV is recorded as DV-AVI (type1) or RAW DV files.

Having used consumer-oriented Sony camcorders for 15 years, I am very familiar with the camcorders' control placement. Nevertheless, I believe Sony could enhance its camcorder ergonomics. For example, with the V1: (1) change the zoom ring to an exposure ring; (2) move the One-Push Auto Focus and Focus Assist buttons to the bottom-front of the camcorder; (3) move the Exposure button to the Focus Assist button''s location; (4) change the Auto Focus on/off button to a slide switch; (5) move the Shutter Speed and Gain buttons to above and below the current Exposure dial, which would then become their input dial; and (6) place another tiny button above the White Balance button to function as a one-touch manual WB button. Now all controls would be logically grouped and far less subject to confusion. Equally important, shutter and gain settings could be entered by their own conveniently placed dial.

Because AF works superbly at focal lengths up to 45mm—the 35mm equivalent of a whopping 400mm telephoto—I would like the option to limit zoom to a more than adequate 12X.

The V1 ships with an NP-F570 battery (2,200mAh) that provides up to 90 minutes of recording. An optional NP-F970 battery (6600mAh) provides up to five hours of recording. However, at 600g, it weighs 6X more than the bundled battery. I recommend the smaller and lighter (200g) NP-F770 battery (4,400mAh), which provides up to three hours of operation and fits fully within the battery well.

Testing any camera that can switch among three HD scanning modes and three SD scanning modes is obviously complicated. I found that in all modes, light sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio remain the same, which indicates that row-pair summation is not used to generate interlaced video. Row-pair summation acts as a low-pass filter to reduce 30Hz line flicker as well as the line twitter that can appear during vertical movement.

The V1 likely accomplishes this task by applying a low-pass filter, using signal processing in the DXP chip. This filtering results in slightly less aliasing than is found in progressive video. (Progressive HD video is generated by pulling 540 odd lines from odd-frame EIP buffers and placing them into odd fields, while pulling 540 even lines from the same odd-frame EIP buffers and placing them into even fields. Even-frame EIP buffers are discarded.)

The greater aliasing from progressive video is particularly noticeable when shooting 25p with an HVR-V1E. Sony recommends a Sharpness setting of 3 to reduce aliasing along horizontal lines. To avoid the consequent (and needless) loss of horizontal resolution from Sony's setting, I recommend a setting of 5 combined with an application in postproduction of a flicker or a vertical-only Gaussian filter.

Except for the Portrait and Cinema presets, Sony''s Picture Profiles use a Sharpness setting of 7, the midpoint of its range. A BBC document reports that in the past Sony has defined the midpoint to provide an extended frequency response plus a minor, yet necessary, amount of Edge Enhancement.
Viewing 60i on my Sony 50in. LCD HDTV—adjusted for nearly no Edge Enhancement (15 percent)—confirmed the BBC report. At a Sharpness setting of 7 there was excellent detail and minimal, if any, Edge Enhancement. (An HDMI connection was used for all testing.)

The V1''s Sharpness control seems to primarily alter fine detail, which makes it possible to use the control to increase 60i “clarity” without adding Edge Enhancement. I found I could increase 60i Sharpness to 8 without ill effects.

Progressive video shows a bit of “dancing dot” aliasing above horizontal lines/edges and along very fine diagonal lines, which is virtually eliminated by a Sharpness setting of 5. (Sony''s Cinema profile uses a 5 Sharpness setting.) Nevertheless, my tests surprisingly showed that Sharpness could be increased to 6 without progressive video becoming “busy.”

While I did not perform resolution tests, I did use my accurate math model of eight HD cameras to estimate the V1''s resolution. Interpolation generates synthetic pixels that have about 35-percent less resolution along each axis.

Along the horizontal axis, the 960 synthetic pixels provide an effective resolution of about 625 pixels. These 625-pixels, plus the 960 CMOS samples, yield a total of 1585 pixels. With an aspect ratio of 1.78 and a Kell factor of 0.87, the V1''s effective dynamic horizontal resolution should be 775 TV lines per picture height. Static resolution will be higher—800-plus TVL/ph.

Along the vertical axis, the 540 synthetic pixels provide an effective resolution of about 350 pixels. These 350 pixels, plus the 540 CMOS samples, yield a total of 890 pixels. Given a Kell factor of 0.87, the V1''s effective dynamic vertical resolution should be about 775 TVL. Again, static resolution will be higher—800-plus TVL. These numbers place the V1 ahead of all other low-cost HD camcorders when shooting both interlaced and progressive video.

Image Supplied by Sony
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For me, a single word describes the HD video recorded by Sony''s HVR-V1: “refined.” Its colorimetry is completely natural, with neither blue nor red push. The camera''s wide latitude not only allows one to capture video that has an underlying wide grayscale, it makes shooting easier in high-contrast situations. Unlike with previous 1080i HDV camcorders, I saw no MPEG-2 artifacts.

For those who need 24p for either a film look or a transfer to film, the V1''s inherently wide latitude and its ability to capture detail without excessive edge enhancement make it an exceptional 24p camcorder. Likewise, when watching the camera's 60i, I am consistently impressed that even without shooting progressively or enabling Cinema options, video from Sony''s HVR-V1 has an inherent “filmic” look.

Steve Mullen owns Digital Video Consulting that offers e-books on HD production. DVC now offers a new e-book: the Sony HVR-V1 and HDR-FX7 Handbook at http://www.knowledge-download.com/V1-FX7.