How Camcorders Work: Part I – Camcorder Basics and More
Most of the world knows camcorder technology. Video camera-recorders have been around for well-over two decades. People use them to record; weddings, vacations, sporting events. You name it, and it has likely been recorded with a
camcorder. It’s a solid piece of technology with prices ranging from $200, to more than $100,000 per device.
If you were born before the 1980s you truly understand the impact of the camcorder. Before Jerome Lemelson was issued the camcorder patent back in 1980, video recording was tough. Only TV and production companies owned, or could afford video recording technology. Now, quality video cameras are easily available and easy to use. In this three part series we’ll discuss everything from analog camcorders to digital camcorders, their parts, and how they work.
Analog Camcorder Basics
The standard analog camcorder has three basic parts. They are the camera section, VCR section, and the viewfinder. The camera section contains a CCD, lens, and motors. The motors take care of the zoom, focus, and aperture.
The VCR section receives visual information and interprets it as electronic video signal. It then records the electronic video signal on video tape as magnetic patterns.
The third part of the analog camcorder is the viewfinder. The viewfinder is for seeing what you’re shooting. A viewfinder is basically a small television. Viewfinders come in black-and-white and color. Some modern camcorders have larger full-color LCD screens.
Analog camcorders come in all shapes and sizes with plenty of extra features but their basic design is constant. The primary variable is what kind of storage media they use.
Digital Camcorder Basics
Digital camcorders also have the basic elements of the analog camcorder. However, they also have an added feature. This feature takes analog information the camera gathers and translates it into data bytes. Digital cameras don’t store video signal in a continuous track of magnetic patterns like analog cams. It records the picture and sound as 0s and 1s. Digital recording is great because they copy easy without data loss. Analog copying, on the other hand, degrades each copy. Digital video can be loaded to computers edited, mailed, and copied.
Charge-Coupled Device
The lens in a camera serves to focus light and shines the light on a small semiconductor image sensor. This sensor is called the charge-coupled device [CCD]. It measures light with photosites. Photosites are tiny light-sensitive diodes. A
camcorder contains a half-inch panel of about 300-500K photosites.
Photosites measure photon light that hits a certain point. It translates the information into electrons [electrical charges]. Brighter images are represented by higher electrical charges and darker images represented by lower electrical charge. A CCD creates video picture recording light intensity.
To create color images a camcorder detects total light levels and each color’s light level. The camcorder uses three colors for light detection. They are red, green, and blue. These colors are used because the full spectrum of colors can be created using them.
Three-Chip Camcorders
Some high-end camcorders have a beam splitter. A beam splitter separates an image signal into three different versions. One shows red light level, one shows green light level, and one shows blue light level. The device captures the data
on a single chip for each color. Everything else works the same but the intensity is measured color by color. The images overlay and the primary colors blend to create a full-color image. These camcorders are also called three-chip camcorders.
Three-chip camcorders produce rich and high resolution images. CCD costs are high. Adding two more CCD really ramps up manufacturing costs. So, most manufacturers create CCD, and fit permanent color filters to the photosites.
Do you need a replacement camcorder battery? LaptopsForLess.com stocks a wide range of batteries compatible with all camcorder models by the major manufacturers. Their prices will be a pleasant surprise for you too; they’re typically 30% – 70% cheaper than the manufacturers’ own brand replacements, and work equally as well.
