On Sat, 06 Apr 2002 03:53:57 GMT, Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása wrote:

>i'm trying to learn about MiniDV camcorders in order to purchase one.
>if i were to cheese between the JVC GR-DVL820 with a 1/3.8 CCD with
>1.02 magapixels or the Sony DCR-TRV27 which has a 1/4.7 CCD with 1.0
>megapixels, would the JCV be better?
>from what i understand, the density of the CCD will effect performance
>in liw light situations, hence the 1/3.8 JVC might be better than the
>1/4.7 Sony, on the other hand, the 1/4.7 Sony might have a sharper
>picture. is this correct?
>if they are both 1 megapixel, does it really matter?
>i would like a sharp picture, but i worry about getting a camera that
>has poor low-light performance.
>any suggestions?

Not only the pixel-count and chip sizes are important, but
the CCD type, associated electronics, and the way the
stabilization is implemented. It is difficult to tell much
from specs about what the video image will look loke in
different lighting conditions, since there are so many
variables. BTW, in one-CCD cameras, there appears to be a
trade-off between sharpness (with the megapixel models)
and image smoothness with motion (with the lower pixel-count
models). For more, see:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/camcorder--comparison.htm and:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/vid_pict_characts.htm