Is HD really so important?
Asked by
danieljl (
40
)
January 17th, 2011
I want to buy a camcorder. I was told only to go for HD. But if I won’t be viewing the video on an HD TV, does it really matter? Perhaps it would be better to buy a good non HD camcorder?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
5 Answers
Buy HD, I say this because, by the time you go to buy a new TV you will only be able to buy HD. Everything is going to be HD in 6 months to a year. You will save money in the long run if you buy HD.
Yes it matters. There isn’t a good reason to buy obsolete hardware especially when the price is just going to come down even more. You may not have an HDTV now, but you will at some point since they all will be HDTV in a few years and then you will definitely see how poor quality the footage is, and if it’s family footage you’ll kick yourself since you can’t exactly re-record family memories in HD.
So it may not matter right now as much, but it will in the if your intent is to archive things for the future.
Best to ignore the “HD” buzzword and find out the actual resolution of the camera. If it’s a digital camcorder (and if it isn’t you shouldn’t buy it) you will almost certainly be viewing the videos on a computer at some point. Non-HD resolution is on the close order of 640×480, which will be tiny and/or look like crap on your computer screen or on an HDTV (1280×720 or 1920×1080).
If you get a camcorder capable of higher resolutions, you can always use it at a reduced resolution or reduce the resolution of images later. You can’t increase it.
Don’t trust anyone who is trying to sell you a “good non-HD camcorder”. Such a thing might still exist, but I doubt it.
Buy HD!!! At least that way you’ll be future proof. Preferably ‘Full HD’. To break it down :
Full HD = 1920×1080 pixels
HD = 1280×720 pixels
DVD quality = 720×480 pixels
As you can see, Full HD will give you the best “resolution”. Keep the word ‘resolution’ in mind. It not really related to the camera/lens/lighting quality. It’ll just give you a crisper image/video. Very clear. However, factors like lens quality/type, Sensor, Lighting, ISO also matter a lot.
So yeah, if you have the money, go for “at least” HD…
Hope this helped…
HD can be a disadvantage. For example when your kids got acne.
Most of the time good motifs matter more than good resolution.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
