HD or not? (1 Viewer)

I have a Sony SR5E HD camcorder. Almost 3 years old.

I use it attached to my scope and also take stills with it (4.0 mpx)
I am considering upgrading my equipment and have been looking at the Sony CX 550 VE. This will give me stills of 12mpx.
Now I have always thought that the SR5E was Full HD, i.e. 1980X 1080but now I am having doubts. I have checked out the specs of both camcorders and the following specs are copied from Sony website..
first is the SR5E
Number of Pixels Gross (K)
2100
Number of Pixels Act Camera mode (K)
16:9 Mode ; 1430 / 4:3 Mode ;1080
Number of Pixels Act Memory mode (K)
16:9 Mode ; 1490 / 4:3 Mode ; 1990

This is the CX550 VE
Number of Pixels Gross (K)
6631
Number of Pixels Act Camera mode (K)
16:9 Mode . 4150 / 4:3 Mode . 3110
Number of Pixels Act Memory mode (K)
16:9 Mode . 4500 / 4:3 Mode . 6000

this again is CX550VE
Recorder/ Player
Movie Format High Definition, AVCHD (1920 x 1080, 1440 x 1080) / Standard Definition, MPEG2
Recording Media 32GB Internal Memory, Memory Stick™
HYBRID (Movie rec on Memory Stick) YES
HYBRID Plus (Movie rec on internal memory and Memory Stick) NO
Movie Quality HD ; FH (1920x1080i, 16Mbps) / HQ (9Mbps) / SP (7Mbps) / LP (5Mbps) , SD ; HQ (9Mbps) / SP (6Mbps) / LP (3Mbps)


and this is the SR5E again
Recorder/ Player
Format 40GB HDD, HD: AVCHD / SD: MPEG2
Movie Quality HD XP (AVC HD 15Mbps) / HD HQ (AVC HD 9Mbps) / HD SP (AVC HD 7Mbps) / HD LP (AVC HD 5Mbps) / SD HQ (SD 9Mbps) / SD SP (SD 6Mbps) / SD LP (SD 3Mbps)

Am I right?

I feel I should add that if the SR5E IS full HD then I will stick with it, but if not, then I will buy a new scope ||

Den

Hi Den,
You've probably resolved this since last month.
Looks like your Sony "upsamples" to get to HD (1,440x1,080 pixels), but not FullHD (1920x1080).

This is from CNet:

"Along with its duo of siblings -- the tape-based HDR-HC5E and the DVD-based HDR-UX7E -- the SR5E uses Sony's 1/3-inch, 2.1-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor, recording video at 1.4-megapixel (HD) or 1.1-megapixel (SD) resolution before upsampling and encoding to 1080i HD (1,440x1,080 pixels) or SD (720x480 pixels), respectively.

To produce decent HD video you need a sensor with an effective video resolution of at least 1.6 megapixels (1,440x1,080 pixels), making the sensor the last place you want to cut back for an HD camcorder. Yet it's the first place most manufacturers chop for consumer models.

There's a visible difference between the video from the SR5E and the slightly more expensive Canon HG10, with its native 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution -- as well as the significantly more expensive SR7E.

Conclusion
The Sony Handycam HDR-SR5E isn't a bad camcorder, but if you're going to spend the money for an HD model -- as well as endure the hassle of dealing with AVCHD video, you might as well go for one with superior video."

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/camcorders/sony-handycam-hdr-sr5e-review-49293914/#ixzz1A4VdrGpg

Hope this helps.
I use a Sony HDR-XR500 with Sony VCLST30 3x teleconverter and am very pleased with the results. Have a look at my pied flycatcher clip here:
http://vimeo.com/17136155
The stills from this camera are impressive, too.

Bruce

Cheers Bruce, I have upgraded to a Sony 305, this is FULL HD.

The SR5 was only 1440, but the new one is 1980 and the stills are higher mpx, 7.1 mpx
I was forced to change as the SR5 was becoming unreliable, a recurring problem with switching itself off, and I managed to drop the eyepiece of my scope and cracked the lens !!!!!!!! So all in all, I simply had no excuse not to upgrade.

Maybe should have said that I have used the SR5 almost every day for the last 3 years, it often got left in with my damp fishing tackle, so I haven't any complaints.

Den