The Sony HD camcorder, the Handycam HDR-FX1 is being marketed by the company as ‘world's first HDV 1080i consumer camcorder’. But at $3,700, it’s price tag is stretching the consumer label somewhat.

However, there’s no doubt the the industry sees HD video as a consumer format and prices will come down over the next couple of years. This Sony HD camcorder is just the start of what is sure to be an avalanche of HD camcorders from electronics companies over the next few months.

So, does this mean we can all look forward to shooting Hollywood-quality home movies in the future? Not quite. Although its true that some Hollywood fetaures, such as George Lucas’ ‘Star Wars: Attack of the Clones’ are being shot in high definition video, its not the same high definition as is shot and recorded by these camcorders.

If you look again at that Sony quote, you’ll see the important label, 1080i. If you’re familiar with HDTV, you’ll know that 1080 refers to 1080 lines of vertical resolution and the ‘i’ means the video is interlaced. 1080i is one of the two most common HDTV formats, the other being 720p (720 lines, progressive scan).

Hollywood HD movies are shot on another format, 1080p. This is higher quality than the other two, as it mixes the higher resolution with the better-quality progressive scan picture.

Another fly in th HD ointment is that, currently, very few applications are able to edit the footage from this Sony HD camcorder. However, that looks set to change,as Apple has already announced that the next version of its Final Cut Express and iMovie applications, due at the end of January, will be able to edit HD.

HD video will eventually become a common consumer format, when prices come down and editing software is able to work with it. However, until a compression format is found that can squeeze the data contained in HD without noticeably reducing the quality, there will be little benefit over current DV format camcorders.

About The Author

Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher ofThe HDTV Tuner (http://www.the-hdtv-tuner.com) - a guide to th kit, the technology and the programming on HDTV.