Dan Robinson
Just an FYI for any chaser considering a digital camcorder using a single CMOS imaging sensor rather than a CCD. The new HDR-HC1 HDV camera from Sony is one. The CMOS sensors record using a 'rolling scan' of the chip per frame, grabbing single horizontal lines in a 'sweep' of the chip - rather than grabbing the entire frame image from the chip simultaneously as a CCD does. This results in some anomalies in that fast-moving subjects will appear slanted. Sudden bursts of light, such as from a lightning strike or a camera flash, will only be recorded on a portion of the frame.
This should be of concern to a chaser considering this type of video camera, since it does not do well with lightning.
From a post on DVInfo.net:
Here are some links:
http://www.gyhduser.com/showthread.php?p=876#post876
http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/showthread.php?...light=lightning
http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/showthread.php?...light=lightning
http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/showthread.php?t=2688
http://maisonbisson.com/blog/post/10531
This should be of concern to a chaser considering this type of video camera, since it does not do well with lightning.
From a post on DVInfo.net:
From page 87 of the HC1 manual (PDF out on sonyhdvinfo.com), it says "subjects passing by the frame might appear crooked". This suggests that the CMOS sensor is using a rolling shutter rathar than a global shutter. If true, it would mean that Sony is getting more light sensitivity out of the available die space on the sensor by not having an extra shielded sensor area dedicated for a virtual shutter. The drawback is that objects in rapid horizontal motion show up tilted. The faster their CMOS readout speed can be, the less tilted it will be overall, but still it would be present. This same effect, much more pronounced, can be seen with cheap webcams when there is horizontal motion in the scene. In that scenario you can clearly see the scanning effect being used by the sensor.
Here are some links:
http://www.gyhduser.com/showthread.php?p=876#post876
http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/showthread.php?...light=lightning
http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/showthread.php?...light=lightning
http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/showthread.php?t=2688
http://maisonbisson.com/blog/post/10531