I have been reading about people changing the in-camera sharpening. I can not find it anywhere. Is this possible to change?

It is possible, it's a menu item. I don't have an HV20 or manual in front of me..

There's a digital version here, but it didn't work for me:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=DownloadDetailAct&fcategoryid=326&modelid=14869

It's in the 'custom' settings; you can set sharpness +/_, saturation, and other settings. But it's in the manual.