XL1S- Can it record in 720p?
 

Having looked through the manual and on-line, cannot find the answer to this: Can the XL1S record in the 720 Progressive mode? Thanks.

Hi Jan,

720p is defined as high definition video. The Canon XL series of camcorders (XL1, XL1S and XL2) are standard definition video camcorders, not high definition. Therefore the answer to your question is no, the XL1S cannot record 720p. Like all other standard definition DV camcorders, it records only 480i. Hope this helps,

Canon and 720
 

Thanks Chris. The easiest answer is always the best. Jan

Yup, nicely put Chris!

One thing that everyone should look out for if they don't already know about it, is the false advertising and/or dumb people at the video or electronics stores that label an SD television as "high definition". They do so to describe the $299.99 television as a higher quality TV versus the regular $99.99 32" TV across the way. Unfortunately for the consumer in these times of HD versus SD, they label things "high definition" when in fact they are just high quality SD. I've been talking about televisions but the same tactic is used on video cameras as well.

For example, I went into Best Buy yesterday to look at the new Sony HC-1 HDV camcorder that came in. Nice camera by the way. After I fiddled around with the camera for a bit, a Best Buy girl came up and asked me if she could help me with anything. I told her I was browsing and asked her when the HC-1 had come in, she said it had come in the previous week and that they had another HD camera around the corner from JVC. She showed me the other "HD" camera around the corner and it was one of the little sucky last generation Microdrive camcorders JVC made last year or so. I don't know whether she was confused about the "HDD" on the side of the camera or whether it was the "high definition" description on the label underneath it. Needless to say, the quality was terrible and I tried hard not to hurt her feelings by telling her it wasn't HD at all. So, I left the store as quietly as I could and laughed about it later.

Little things like that both entertain and anger me because that is what it is, false advertising. So don't believe that something is "high definition" or "HD Ready" without looking into it on the manufacturer's website.

Chris,a bit of a technicality question.You say the xl1s will only record 480i so what do you call the progressive mode on the xl1s?

Hi Jack, the Frame Movie Mode is a pseudo-progressive option (it's not really progressive scan, but the results are the same as progressive scan). However it is recorded to tape as interlaced video. Visually it looks progressive because those two separate fields of each interlaced frame were created at the same point in time, instead of 1/60th of a second apart, as happens in normal interlace video. But no matter how you look at it, it's still going to tape as 480i.

Perhaps we should call it 480f, for frame mode, but I doubt it'll catch on.