/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Sony

JVC

Name

HVR-A1

GS-TD1BE (2D-Modus)

European name ?

HVR-A1E

GS-TD1BE (2D-Modus)

US name ?

HVR-A1U

GS-TD1BE (2D-Modus)

lowest US price

2149 $

(1799) $

On the market since

October 2005

April 2011

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MiniDV
HDV
DVCAM

AVCHD

Recording Medium

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

SDHC card
built-in flash memory
SDXC card

video resolutions EU ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i
DVCAM 720 x 576/50i

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i

video resolutions US ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

25 Mbit/s

24 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

DV
MPEG2

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Carl Zeiss

JVC HD

Optical Zoom ?

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

41 mm

37,4 mm

Filter diameter ?

37 mm

- mm

Image Stabilization ?

electronical

optically and electronically

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/3 inch

1/4,1 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

1983000 Pixel

2980000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/10.000

1/4000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/3

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual
AE-Shift

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

70%
100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Yes

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Yes

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

In
Out

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

In
Out

USB ?

USB 1.1

USB 2.0 OUT

Microphone / Audio input ?

XLR

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

1020 g

590 g

Weight (with battery)

1120 g

676 g

Battery type

Sony NP-FM50

JVC BNVF815U

Battery capacity

1180 mAh

1460 mAh

Charger ?

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

140 mm

102 mm

Width

100 mm

64 mm

Depth

190 mm

186 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

B/W and color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

252000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

3,5 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

123200 Pixel

920000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Ring

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Ring
Menu

Manual Aperture ?

Wheel
Menu
Rocker

assignable custom key

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Yes

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Yes

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
external XLR

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto
5 steps

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

Memory Stick Duo

built-in flash memory
SDHC card
SDXC card

Medium included ?

16 MB

Effective pixels ?

2764800 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920x1080
1440x1080
640x480

2304 x 1296 - Max

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

autostereoscopic display

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

luminance resolution

chrominance resolution

lens distortion

test small ISO image

noise / internal microphone

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode ?

Test image 12 lux optimized ?

slashCAM rating

Lowlight ?

Satisfactory

Resolution ?

Satisfactory

Color performance ?

Satisfactory

subj.Picture impression ?

Good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Good

Configuration / sound ?

Good

Handling ?

Satisfactory

Portability ?

Very good

Photo function ?

Sufficient

Optics ?

Good

Dynamics ?

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Satisfactory

not yet tested

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

326

Pros

+ good picture impression
+ portable
+ partly professionally equipped

Cons

- color resolution only average
- DV-quality only average

Conclusion

Like its consumer twin HC1 the Sony HVR-A1 has a very good brightness resolution, but tends sometimes to show color moirés on fine details.The color resolution is not on a HDV-level, though the CMOS sensor theoretically should have more reserves.The overall picture impression is good, partly due to the good dynamics behavior with little noise and few smear-effects.Color-wise the A1 is fairly neutral, almost somewhat low-key.The wide angle is very limited for indoors, but on the other hand there are only few lens errors.In low light situations the A1 loses color fast.Compared to the HC1 it is slightly better equipped in terms of sound and image.The handling remains only satisfactory due to the touch screen.

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