tapes
are the smallest of the video formats. They take and maintain crystal clear
images because of the nature of a digital format. Copying between two units is
done with no quality loss. That means edited or copied video looks and sounds
every bit as good as the original footage. Mini DV tapes are available in 30,
60, 63 and 80 minute lengths. Digital camcorders have the highest resolution of
all the camcorders, starting at 500 lines.
DIGITAL8 is a format that is far superior to HI-8 or 8MM. It is backwardly compatible, meaning that the new Digital8 camcorders and VCR's will also play your 8MM and HI-8 tapes. You do not have to buy special tapes to record in Digital8. A regular 8MM or HI-8 tape will record up to 60 minutes of digital video and audio. Using regular tapes is not a problem, but it uses twice as much tape. A 2 hour HI-8 or 8MM tape will record 60 minutes when done in the digital mode with up to 500 lines of resolution.
HI-8 camcorders record their signal at about 400 lines of resolution, slightly less than Mini DV, but substantially higher than 8mm or regular VHS formats. Slight quality loss is suffered when copying or editing from HI-8, but a better than average image is maintained. Tapes from HI-8 camcorders generally must be played using the camera as the source, which means the user often must connect cables to their television or VCR.
8MM camcorders often have many of the best features found in higher priced HI-8 units, including image stabilization, strong optical and digital zooms and innovative special effects. Regular 8mm tapes are the exact size and shape as their HI8 counterparts, but record video at a lower resolution level, and therefore, are less expensive than camcorders which product better image quality. 8mm can record for up to 2 hours and has a resolution of 2.