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The meaningful successor of the VM-HMX10A/C
Samsung’s new released VM-HMX20C is a camcorder for HD video. The spread of the internet made digital cameras expanding everywhere. It’s still going on, and about a year ago, it seems digital camcorders have taken the position instead.
Big companies all over the world have made digital camcorders, and the key point has been a small size and light weight. Good portability and easy use to make UCC became a trend. However, now users don’t want just ‘a small camcorder’, but a great quality camcorder, so they are trying to develop it.
The high quality video represented with ‘HD format’ becomes the most important thing of camcorders. With HD broadcasting, spreading high quality displays and LAN, and improvement of computers and codec, HD became familiar. HD is not for professionals any more, but for normal people, I think. Sony, Sanyo, and JVC which are the leaders of camcorders started to release HD products (for consumers not for professionals), and Samsung became one of them with releasing VM-HMX10A (4GB) and VM-HMX10C (8GB) last year. The VM-HMX20C (20C) released this time is the following model of the VM-HMX10C (10C).
The biggest difference between 10C and 20C is a resolution. The HD format 10A and 10C supported was 720p (1,280x720). The important thing of the 20C is that it supports Full HD (1,920x1,080). Following the higher resolution, the pixel number of CMOS has been increased. (10A/10C: 160 Mega pixel, Maximum Still image: 2,048x1,536, 20C: 640 Mega pixel, Maximum Still image: 3,264x2,448)
They chose the better quality rather than reducing the size or weight. That it records Full-HD video on the flash memory shows the speed of technology development. Now, let’s take a look at the interface, function, and the performance of the 20C.
Having a lot of functions
As you see in the picture, the 20C is not a mini camcorder. When looking at the size(W62xH68xD120mm) or the weight(330g), it’s a little hard to carry like a cell phone. It’s a little big unsatisfactory, but not that bad. It looks like concentrating on the video quality with 640 Mega pixel CMOS and Full HD, rather than the portability.
▲ The design is a cylinder type, and one body with grip.
▲ Like the former model, it applies the swivel grip.
The design is very similar to the 10A and 10C. The design part is subjective, so hard to appraise, but the car concept outer part looks so hard and stable. Generally, it’s a cylinder type, and the body type is consistent with the grip. (It’s similar to Panasonic, Sony, and JVC, but the Sanyo’s Xacti is an exception) This design is stable when recording with eye level, but has some problem when recording with high or low angle level. Samsung has solved this problem through the Swivel hand-grip. There’s a joint at the grip, so it can be rotated up to 150°. One more strong point is that it has a built-in lens cap. When not using and in the playing mode, the cover is closed automatically. A separate lens cap is easy to be lost, and sometimes it hides the lens. In this part, the built-in lens cap is so convenient, but it takes a little more time to activate the camcorder, and has some noise problem.
▲ The lens cap is a built-in type, and automatically open and closed according to the power.
The functions for user convenience are noticeable. The 20C uses 2.7 inch 0.23 Mega pixel wide LCD, and the menu setting is possible by touch screen. So it could throw away other buttons, and makes better control possible. Zoom in/out and Recording buttons are attached to the LCD for user convenience. The Q.Menu button attached to the LCD is for saving location, resolution, lighting, focusing, exposure, shutter, and so on, and makes them set easily. iCheck which is for checking the memory and battery is also convenient. For most of the functions, the manual setting is possible, and with the Easy Q buttons for beginners all settings can be done.
▲ Touch screen type 2.7 inch wide LCD
▲ I Check and Easy Q are also for user convenience.
The biggest problem in the interface is the changeover among photo/video/play modes. Most of all, the change speed is slow. To change to the video mode from the photo mode, it has to go through the play mode. At this point, the lens cap is closed automatically, and the files saved in the memory are indexed, so it takes a long time, and you may miss a moment. And the photo button and record button are separate, so when pushing the photo button in the video mode, or pushing the record button in the photo mode, it doesn’t work. It’s very inconvenient compared to the camcorders from Sony or Sanyo, because their product can take videos and photos in the same mode only with the buttons. (If the separation of the photo mode and video mode is because of a technical problem, I think it’s better to make one record button.)
▲ The mode button is at the top back, the change speed among modes is a little bit slow
▲ The remote control has a good grip and great sensitivity.
▲ The cradle with HDMI is provided.
The performance test 1 –Still image
As I mentioned before, the biggest feature of the 20C is that it can record Full-HD videos on the flash memory. When using a flash memory, there are various advantages. Most of all, the size and weight become smaller, and we can save a battery. Because it doesn’t take any time to activate, the recording speed can be reduced, and we can get better captures. 8GB memory is included in the 20C, so the recording is done by only pushing a button.(MMC PLUS/SDHC card can be expanded)
The lens supports optical 10x zoom and the maximum exposure is 1.8.(The less maximum exposure is the better, so 1.8 is so light.) H.264(MPEG-4 AVC) famous for good compression rate is used as a HD codec. The 6.4 Mega pixel CMOS is adopted, but with the ‘Pixel-Rising’ technology 8 Mega pixel size is possible.(The maximum photo resolution is 3,264x2448) We can select the various resolutions, but the screen ration is only 4:3.(because of it, we can’t use the LCD fully, in the photo mode the letter box hides the both sides.)
Let’s take a look at the performance with seeing photos by the 20C.(Resolution 3,264x2,448, tripod, manual exposure, manual focusing, auto white balance, auto shutter speed, and the files resized to 1,280x960)
The picture was taken with wide angel at the sunlight. The details are satisfactory, and the outlines are vivid. The colors are balanced, too.(Red was a little strong in the VPC-HD700 by Sanyo reviewed last time)
The picture was taken with telephoto at the sunlight. Optical 10x zoom was used, and the out focusing was so good. The quality is also good, and the outline is so vivid. If taking with maximum telephoto and the distance is less than 1m, the focus can not be set. So, you have to be cautious when using telephoto.(If you don’t use a tripod, it’s better to use the stabilization function, even though it may cause a little harm to the quality.)
These pictures were taken in the night at the street lamp with wide angle. The overall light is satisfactory.(Maximum lens exposure 1.8) The noise in the dart part is restrained, and the contrast is not bad.
These picture are in the nigh with telephoto.(optical 10x zoom). The same images were taken by changing the focus. As we confirmed in the former pictures, the out focusing function of the 20C is outstanding.(available focusing distance 1m in the maximum telephoto) Generally, the light was insufficient, but the outline was so vividly expressed.
The picture was taken against the light. By this, I could check out the chromatism. The chromatism happens due to the difference of refraction rate by various light length(various spectrums). If the light length is short and close to the purple, the focusing is made at the closer point to the lens, so it looks spread. In the place which has a big difference of light and darkness, if the boundary looks purple, we can check the chromatism. As you can see the pictures, the outline of the face was quite vivid, and we could find out the purple spread. I can say the lens of the 20C is made considering the chromatism.
This picture is for a super macro function test (close up photograph). We took a picture with 1~2 cm distance, and the result is so satisfactory. But the super macro is possible only with maximum wide angel in the place the light is enough.
The performance test 2 –Video
The 20C supports 4 kinds of resolutions, and there was a difference between the resolution in the manual and real. The resolution is below according to the Samsung manual.|
- [HD] 1080/30p : HD(1,920×1,080 30p) - [HD] 1080/60i : HD(1,920×1,080 60i) - [SD] 480/60p : SD(720×480 60p) - [SD] Slow motion : Slow motion(448×336, 300fps) |
But the result of the real resolution test is below. Why? This is because the product tested was a PAL type, not NTSC type. I think there was a little mistake in Samsung. Of course, the domestic product will be NTSC, so the videos below can be for reference, but there’s no type difference in the PC monitor, so it will be not a big problem.
|
|
HD |
SD | ||
|
1080/25p |
1080/50i |
576/50p |
Slow motion | |
|
Playing time (Sec) |
12 |
12 |
13 |
50 |
|
Image size |
1,920×1,080 (1.78:1) |
1,920×1,080 (1.78:1) |
720×576 (1.25:1) |
448×336 (1.33:1) |
|
Average bit rate (MBits/Sec) |
14.40 |
13.88 |
8.82 |
1.59 |
|
Fps |
25.17 |
51.00 |
50.31 |
50.00 |
(cf. Please watch videos by saving as other names with PowerDVD something like that.)
For more accurate comparison, each video has been recorded with a tripod not moving, and the other conditions except the resolution are the same. When it comes to the slow motion, we took it for 10 sec, but the playing time was 50 sec, so it’s as slow as 5 times. The slow motion mode the 20C provided is used to analyze actions happening really quickly, possible for 10 sec, and not stopped with the stop button when running.(but the sound is not recorded) Let’s take a look at the performance with videos by the 20C.(Resolution 1,080/50i, auto white balance, manual focus, manual exposure, and auto shutter speed)
The Video sample 1 is recorded in the day with wide angle. You can feel the Full-HD resolution. I use a 37 inch LCD monitor supporting the Full-HD, and I couldn’t find any pixel noise even in the maximum screen. When panning, I couldn’t find any pixel broken or spread. (But images looked cut a little, and I couldn’t find out any reason. By controlling the shutter speed, I could reduce this thing.)
The video sample 2 is a zoom in/out test. You can see the view angle of optical 10x zoom. The zoom button is in the LCD and the body, and the button in the body is so sensitive that it has to be touch with caution.
The video sample 3 is a test for auto focus speed. It was taken in the room with a fluorescent lamp. Even though it was very close, the focusing was comparably good, and the speed was quite fast. (To fix the focus, use the manual focusing, or point selection. The point selection is to fix a focus when touching a part for a focus.)
The video sample 4 was taken in the night with handheld. Considering that it was dark and moved, the quality is not bad. The noise was reduced in the darkness, and there’s no pixel broken. Because the 20C used the CMOS as a image sensor, there was no smear effect making purple light at the light source.
High completion Full HD camcorder for consumers
There’s no defection for additional functions. All additional functions other companies provide such as HDMI connection (I think it was better to include the HDMI cable, because it supports the Full-HD), Face recognition (Automatically recognizing persons to record them with the best condition), picture bridge, DROF (Print mark), pictures, and editing videos are supported.The slight difference is in Anynet plus and LCD playback function. Anynet plus is a function to control Samsung’s AV products at the same time with one remote controller, and it’s useful when using the 20C combined with docking station. (Other brands like Sony provide the similar function) The LCD playback function is useful to check the recorded video, and checking at the max. 32x speed, 1/8 speed, and each frame are possible. The <DVD suite for HD> by Cyberlink is provided as a bundle software for editing, and it includes PowerDirector, PowerProducer, and PowerDVD.
In the mass, the 20C is a high completion HD camcorder for general users. Especially, the still image function is noticeable, and the maximum exposure 1.8 and 10x zoom lens with less chromatism is great. The color and brightness is also stable. The built in lens cap and the touch screen interface are convenient. But the changeover among the photo/video/playing mode needs to be upgraded.
I think the most important of the 20C will be the price. The 20C was already open to public in CES 2008 in Las Vegas in January, but the releasing day is in May. I think Samsung is adjusting the price. I’m wondering the response of the 20C in May.
Ho Chang Kwon (AV Columnist)
