| Article Index |
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| Sony HDR-SR1 AVCHD HDD Handycam Review |
| Page 2: Using the Camera |
| Page 3: Recording and Image Quality |
| All Pages |
Hard Disk Drive camcorders are nothing new to the DV market, but the HDR-SR1 from Sony has something special – the
ability to record in High Definition 1080i resolution and 5.1 Channel Dolby Digital Audio. Retailing for around AU$2000, this has to be one of the best cameras on the market today, we take a closer look.
The HDRSR1 records to a 30GB internal Hard Drive that can hold 4 hours of High Definition video at the highest quality or up to 21 hours of Standard Definition video. The need for external optical or tape media is well and truly gone. Sony has the same camera with DVD storage also available (HDRUX1), and at full quality can only store 15 minutes of footage on an 8cm single layer DVD, or 27 minutes on dual layer. Why anyone would go for the UX1 with DVD option when the SR1 with its HDD storage is the same price is beyond me.
AVCHD Recording:
The SR1 uses the newly developed AVCHD format (Advanced Video Codec High Definition), which is essentially an MPEG-4 format using H.264 codec, allowing for efficient compression while sacrificing very little in the way of quality. AVCHD was introduced for use on media such as 8cm DVDs, Hard Disks and flash memory, and utilising these types of media gives the ability for true random access as opposed to tape media such as MiniDV which is linear access and must be fast forwarded and rewound to the point you want.
Audio recording with AVCHD is either in uncompressed 7.1 channel digital, or AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 Channel compression, the SR1 uses the later for its sound recording.
DVDs that are burnt with the AVCHD format instead of the normal MPEG format are playable on any Blu-Ray device, as well as your home PC so long as you have the required software installed.
The software included with the SR1 is typical of Sony, install a myriad of software to make things ‘easier’ when you (well most people) only want to grab the video and burn it to a DVD or leave it on their PC. One such annoyance is Sony’s HDD Hanycam Utility, which intercepts any image device connected to your computer, whether it’s a Sony camera or not, this becomes a little tiresome.
The software included with the SR1 does however make things easy, plug the camera in, the program pops up and asks if you want to transfer everything or selected clips to your PC, then launches the ‘Picture Motion Browser’ where you can either convert your videos to MPEG’s to save them, or burn straight to DVD and many other options. All rather hassle free overall for the basic functions at least. You don’t have to use any software for getting the still images off though, as the camera acts as a mass storage device when connected to windows, so it appears as another hard drive in my computer, simply open it up and copy off the images you want. You can copy the movie files this way as well, but you won’t be able to use them without the Sony software.
