Principles and Techniques of Veterinary and AH Extension

TYPES OF VIDEO CAMERAS 

DVD Video Cameras

• Digital video cameras that record directly to DVD are a convenient option for users who want to create images for personal use. The typical user is someone who uses the camcorder to record events for personal use like in a class room situation. One can record directly to a DVD in the camera and can even use the camera as a DVD playback machine by connecting it to a television to view the images. The biggest drawback of using a DVD video camera is that editing the footage is difficult. Footages need to be extracted from the DVD using software so that one can edit it using computer-based editing programs.

DV Tape Video Cameras

• Cameras recording to mini DV tapes can be found at the low consumer end of the market and also at the professional level. DV tape is a popular medium for video camera recording, as the tapes are small, inexpensive and can hold 60 minutes of recorded material at standard recording speed. In "long play" mode, they can hold twice that amount of recorded material, although image quality is not as high as it is in "standard mode" recordings.
• Most editing software will capture video footage directly from the mini DV tape. One can edit the footage easily and don't need to convert it into a different format, as is the case with DVD-based video cameras.

HDV Video Cameras

• High-definition digital video (HDV) ensures sharper images than standard digital video recordings. HDV cameras record sharper images because they use more pixels to create the video images that they process.
• A camera recording standard-definition video images creates the images in a frame of 720horizontal pixels by 480 vertical pixels. The same video image recorded on an HDV camera would create the images in frames of 1440 horizontal pixels by 1080vertical pixels. More pixels mean that more information is recorded, giving a sharper image.
• The disadvantages of HDV cameras are the fact that they cost more to buy than standard DV cameras, and need a more powerful computer to edit HDV footage because it contains so much more data per frame.

Solid-State Video Cameras

• Many cameras record to solid-state media, such as flash cards and memory sticks. A major advantage of using solid-state media is that one can transfer data directly to a computer by utilizing a card reader. This is much quicker than capturing video from tape, which can only be done in real time, meaning one hour of data on a tape takes one hour to capture to a computer.
• Some solid-state cameras record video footage in a proprietary standard, which needs to be converted to a more common standard, such as MPEG-2, for viewing and editing.