Got hi-def? Sony does!

By now, most people have heard about or seen high-definition TV: they know about the awesome clarity of 1,080 vertical scanning lines. And most people by now are familiar with handling a basic camcorder.

The Sony Handycam HDR-HC1 (set to be launched here October 5) is this company’s first direct-to-high-definition-TV camcorder on the market. Of course, it assumes that you, the consumer, have already purchased a high-definition TV. The market’s still a little behind on this innovation, though Sony’s been making and selling them with great success for years. Its latest entry to the market is the Sony Bravia, which stands for Best Resolution Audio Visual Architecture. Always thinking ahead, the people at Sony predict that people will be ditching their old TV sets in a few years and either switching to LCD (liquid crystal display) or HDTV units. The Bravia comes in screen sizes ranging from 15-inch to 40-inch, and though the Philippines is not yet equipped to receive high-definition signals (as Japan already is), the HDR-HC1 Handycam will at least allow you to record something and play it on the Bravia.

The standard line is once you go high-definition, there’s no going back. It offers a 4:3 viewing ratio that allows a more cinematic viewing experience, and image clarity that’s about 4.5 times clearer than standard TV. But I wonder if there’s enough quality television programming out there worthy of being blown up to hyper-real clarity? And will movies shot in conventional 35-millimeter really look any better in a DVD shown on a HDTV? And what about those home videos shot at candid moments when people don’t always look their most high-definition best? Who wants to see that in mind-blowing detail?

Questions, questions. I can’t answer all these questions because I don’t own an HDTV. That means I could only test the standard functions of the Sony HDR-HC1, which is fine because it’s perfectly okay as a fully-loaded standard camcorder.

The nice thing about most Sony products is they’re pretty user-friendly. A few seconds glancing at the numbers and drawings in the operating guide, and you’re ready to shoot. Well, first you need to load either the standard mini DV cassette (included) or the 16 MB Memory Stick Duo (also included, mostly for still photos).

After that, it’s all about testing the functions and features. Pull out the LCD panel, turn the "on" switch to "tape" and start shooting. A zoom lever is accessible to your thumb, as on most camcorders. I enjoyed the touch-screen access pad, which superimposes over the LCD panel, allowing you to adjust settings and add effects while you’re shooting. There are about 40 different tiny icons for you to master when working the touch screen, but if you’re familiar with digital camera iconography, you’ll catch on quick enough.

The "Cinema Effects" (under "Picture Applications" in the main menu) are a gas, adding things like "Flash Motion" for strobe-like effects, "Trail" which leaves incidental images "trailing" behind your shots, and "Old Movie" which adds a sepia hue to your footage. You can superimpose video footage over a previous image, to get a nice double-exposure effect, or use the "Mosaic Fader" to fade your image from pixilated to crystal-clear within seconds.

Many of these effects are now standard on DV camcorders, so there were no major new bells and whistles. It’s nice to make your home videos look like old-fashioned sepia-toned movies, but there’s not much use for things like "Trail" unless you want to recreate some bad acid trip or serial killer/stalking scene. (Which I did.) Similarly, "Solarizing" turns everything black to white and vice versa, but it’s a very ‘70s kind of effect (circa 2001 or Beneath the Planet of the Apes).

Lighting with the Sony Handycam HDR-HC1 takes some practice. You can adjust the exposure level manually with a little toggle switch beneath the LCD panel, or set it to "Auto." The feature called "NightShot" uses infrared to add light to the exposure in darker settings, though it changes the quality of the recorded color. The manual says to use the "Color Slow Shutter" function if you want to retain the true quality of the colors.

The sound on the HDR-HC1 is also high-quality. Four microphones provide a front and back, left and right mix that adds depth to the sound. Helps to have a great home entertainment system to max this out, of course.

For novice cameramen, the SteadyShot function is also handy. Set it before recording to minimize jiggle and unwanted movements while shooting. For extreme closeup subjects, the Tele Macro function is also helpful. You can get as close as a single hair on the head your two-year-old daughter. Again, most functions are conveniently located on the body of the camcorder. Many other options involve scrolling through the touch-screen menu, though.

One thing the Sony Handycam HDR-HC1 offers that regular camcorders (or digital cameras, for that matter) don’t is high-definition still photography. Just set the camera switch to "Still Images" and click away. I was able to shoot a number of shots using the Memory Stick Duo option, but again, without an HDTV, I have no basis for judging just how "hi-def" these shots really are.

The special effects for the still photography include Slide Show, Negative Exposure, Solarize, Pastel, Mosaic and Skintone to make most images look clearer and smoother.

I should mention at this point the Carl Zeiss lens. Developed jointly in Germany by Zeiss and Sony Corp., the included lens promises to produce "superior" images. It is reportedly "T-coated" to suppress unwanted glare and reproduce colors as faithfully as possible.

The HDR-HC1 is very lightweight, by the way. At an easy-to-grip 24 ounces, it is the world’s smallest high-definition camcorder. This comes in handy for tight shooting situations, or those involving athletic prowess.

Now, some less positive points to consider. The touch-screen isn’t as user-friendly as it could be, and getting a simple, clear image takes practice, especially in a darker setting (such as a restaurant). Battery life is a little short, unless you give the HDR-HC1 a nice full charge. Much to my dismay, it threatened to conk out on me after 10 minutes of shooting a birthday party at a restaurant. A full charge promises 85 minutes of battery life.

Here’s another problem. Viewing your completed masterpiece on a regular standard TV is not difficult. But figuring out how to record it – either to VHS, DVD or onto a computer – requires a great deal of patience and technical know-how. The novice "camera dad" is going to have some difficulty and frustration figuring out which iLink converter plug or setting will result in an actual, successful transfer of your recorded tape image. Perhaps some software with an animated tutorial is not too much to ask from Sony for a camera costing around $2,000. Speaking of software, getting your video or still images to run on, say, a Mac might require some additional operating programs, which are not included.

And finally: damn, it sure would have been nice to see what our daughter looks like in high definition. But without an HD monitor, I’ll guess I’ll have to settle for looking at her in what we in the brave new high-definition world used to refer to as "in the flesh."

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For inquiries, call Sony Philippines, Inc. at 884-8188.