Can a 1 Megapixel Digital Camcorder be classed as HD?

[Neil F Holland]

Am curious to know if camcorders described as 1 or 2 megapixel could be thought of as HD given that a 42 HD plasma display would be typically composed of 1024 x 768 = 786,432 pixels...?

Just a thought...

It depends, by definition any HD camcorder shall have very close to 1mp ccd's, but many SD camcorders have three or four meg ccd's.

The difference is in the video format and the processing.
HD camcorders compress the raw image from the CCD as highly compressed MPEG2, SD use the less compressed (but lower res) AVI.

The SD cams use this resolution for rubbish little stills. HD cameras use their resolution for splendid looking video. Horses for courses.
A still camera will still out perform a camcorder for stills, a video camera will still out perform a stills camera for video.

Whats faster a land rover or a porsche 911?
Try crossing a muddy field in a proche 911.

[Neil F Holland]

Thanks, Roy - seems you have become my personal HD / SD Camcorder consultant!!