How digital camcorders work

The first camcorder was invented by Jerome Lemelson in

1980. And since that time the first bulky analog video camcorders have evolved

into the modern digital camcorder, so small they can fit in the palm of

your hand, and so clear they rival even professional broadcast video cameras.

Consumers have been using camcorders

since early 1980s. Since then they have gotten better and cheaper, with prices

starting at only a few hundred dollars, making DV camcorders affordable

for anyone. Shooting home videos is fun, everyone loves filming their families

during special events. From your kids birthday, your son's soccer game, to

the family trip to Mexico, but how exactly do video cameras work?

Digital video cameras convert analog video into a digital format. Digital

video camcorders take the analog

information in the video camera and then translate it into bytes of

data. Digital video

is converted from moving images to a stream of zeroes and ones. The digital

video camcorder records the bytes of digital information onto one of three

The digital

video process begins at the lens in the camcorder. The lens stores and

then focuses light from the video that you are capturing onto the image

sensor located behind it. Because the Charge- Coupled Devices (CCDs) used by

camcorders are capable only of measuring the amplitude of the light hitting

the photodiodes on their surfaces, a system of filters is required to establish

just what color that light is.

Another part of the camcorder, that plays an important role is the viewfinder.

Originally view finders where black and white, as time progressed viewfinders

have evolved into color LCD screens. This is a necessary part of the camcorder,

it lets you see what you are filming. Newer models of viewfinders even let

you add effects to your video via an LCD touch screen while you are filming.

Newer DV camcorders can not only shoot high definition video (up to 720 lines)

but models such as the Sony

hdr-fx1 hdv camcorder, Canon

xl2 and the Canon

zr200 mini dv camcorder even offer digital

still image capabilities. You can snap crystal clear images with resolutions

up to 1024 x 768, perfect for family photos. Need to email your videos to friends

and family across the globe, no problem. With the MPEG feature you can even

email short video clips to any one with an email address! Grandparents in Europe

can see your daughters birthday 4 minutes after you have filmed it in the U.S.A!

Even though current

digital

video camcorders come in a range of sizes and shapes, the techniques

used to convert moving pictures hasn't evolved much. But

the styles of digital camcorders have evolved. You can find digital video camcorders

come in all types, from dvd

camcorders to mini

dv camcorders. As technology changes video is not restrained to digital

video cameras. cell phones now have the capability to shoot video and

email the clips instantly anywhere in the world. It's hard to predict how

far video technology can go, the sky seems to be the limit.

About the author:


R Gazzo offers info on digital

camcorders. Read digital

camcorder reviews on Sony

camcorders & Panasonic

camcorders. Reprint permission will all hyper links intact. http://www.digital-camcorders-reviews.net/