MiniDV and the other digital video formats use basically the same image and sound capture systems, so they all grab about 525 lines of resolution. And if you think digital video is only for distribution on television, check out the newest breakthroughs in projecting digital video onto big screens. It works, and it looks great. Technicolor intends to utilize Real Image's compression, encryption, and digital storage processes to present theatrical films via digital projection. Camcorders About a dozen digital camcorders are on the market today, mostly miniDV, from four or five manufacturers.
People post to numerous web sites and newsgroups, hailing one over the other.
A selling point of the XL-1 is that it is the only camcorder with the capability of changing lenses, as can be done with film cameras. Its three-pattern settings brought in nice, controllable sound. Sennheiser makes an equivalent model that works with all camcorders. Now, cheap mics can sound like, well, cheap mics. And most professional sound persons would chortle me right off the lot if I said that a Radio Shack mic was as good as a Sennheiser, Neumann, or Beyerdynamic.