If this 720P mode is true, then it seems that I am in. Perfect companion to my HD100 in 30P mode. Of course, it would be nice of JVC came out with one that does 24P as well...

Hi

Yes, it has a mic jack I read that not sure about head phones, It will have a small speaker on it . I saw a pic of the side door open and it had the speaker holes just like my 505 did. If you look at the pics from the JVC website you will see - Vol + on the zoom control that is for the volume on the speaker and maybe head phones

You had better check that article again. If it did detail 720p at one stage it has been edited to remove this now making it suspect if it has it at all.

It is also pretty poor for the reviewer to compare 30Mbps MPEG-2 to 24Mbps MPEG-4 and imply that 30/MPG2 will be better. 30Mbps will indeed provide good MPEG2 quality but I think 24Mbps MPEG4 has as much if not more quality capabilities. Most HD encoding to MPEG4 codecs use more like 10-15Mbps so 24Mbps is extremely high.

PS: That software for Mac users appears to require a dual boot Mac with bootcamp & XP. ie it is not mac software at all.

I see no mention of 720p or any other progressive shooting mode. If camcorderinfo was not notorious for technical errors, even on shipping product reviews, I might give their specs more credibility. But as it is I will take everything with a huge grain of salt. They were not even aloud to touch the cam. I believe it is still apparent that the cam will have an HDV compatible mode. It has been changed on the JVC press release page from "HDV compatible mode" to "1440x1080i CBR", but I think that has more to do with proper licensing terminology that a sudden lack of compatibility.
With 1/5" CCD's and not a mention of progressive modes, this is definitely not a HD10 successor.

Ken, I agree they've made some pretty big tech mistakes in the past (just detail errors) but they stated they pestered JVC for two days and posted the info they noted- I, like you, thought it would not have a 720P mode but they're stating it does- so let's just hope it does.
I don't personally perceive it as a replacement to the HD10 series- but I guess if it does have a 720P mode- we can accept it as such.
The more I find out about the camera- the more impressed I become.

As for the variable bit rate modes- that's a big plus- it means their compression algorithyms will effectively manage image quality with scenes that don't have as many moving parts and studio users will benefit from a VBR mode.

It's shaping up to be an impressive camera worthy of the attention it's getting- let's hope the final production cams don't lose any features.

I agree that the CCDs are small and if they were a little bit bigger, they could have added more pixels without sacrificing the low light sensitivity but we need to realize that the CCDs is a completely redesign and JVC have claimed that they developed a way to have a 3db increase. Just like Panasonic I guessed for several months now that the reason both companies are delaying their 3 CCD consumer HD cameras is because they are trying to make sure the light sensitivity of the cameras are perfect and that's very difficult to do with imagers this small. I think with the extra electronics, maybe bigger CCDs couldn’t fit in that body size.

It wouldn’t be viewed as an HD10 replacement but I do see it as an HD1 replacement and I believe that JVC may want to make a professional version with XLR inputs so it can be considered an HD10 replacement even if theirs no progressive mode.

For anyone that has either the DV953, GS400, TRV900, TRV950, HC1000 or the HC1 then this is indeed a good replacement and for anyone who is trying to get the FX7 but can’t afford it, then I see this as a very good alternative.

Well I saw no mention of a 720p mode?

Hello Gents
This Everio offering is so interesting.
I have resarched the net for more infos and it seems so far that the few people who did get close enough to the HD7 either could not handle it or as one did could handle it but no battery was connected or even offered by JVC reps.
So the big secrecy bring my question which might be a bit naive, and you will I hope excuse me, but with this cam do you think that JVC has put together a prototype to feel the customers response, and might add features to fit the general public likes or dislikes. I do not know if it was JVC attitude in the past, but if I was them it would be a smart way to go about it.
Also is there any previous issues with Fujinon lenses. They are marketed for the pro cameras, so it seems they should be fine for a consumer cam isnt it?
Cheers from Maryland
Patrick

Patrick, I doubt they're feeling out the market as it's "availability" date has been set at April....that wouldn't allow enough time for radical changes. I'm guessing they're working on the manuals, box printing, software bundles, language versions etc.

At most they can probably change some things in the firmware but I'm pretty sure the hardware setup is final....but these are my guesses.

The biggest mystery is wether a 720P mode will be present- as it certainly seems possible with a progressive CCD as they've stated. I like the fact it has both a variable bit rate and constant bit rate meaning it should have some relatively powerful onboard processing capabilities.....the camera just seems to be a flat out winner.

I'm already tired of waiting~~

It wouldn’t be viewed as an HD10 replacement but I do see it as an HD1 replacement and I believe that JVC may want to make a professional version with XLR inputs so it can be considered an HD10 replacement even if theirs no progressive mode.

If it isn't progressive, it is in no way an HD10 replacement.
I have a feeling JVC may do with this cam what Sony has done with the FX7. Offer a consumer model without progressive, and a prosumer model with the progressive modes and XLR's.

And I am hoping that this prosumer model might be announced at NAB in a few months.

You had better check that article again. If it did detail 720p at one stage it has been edited to remove this now making it suspect if it has it at all.

Yeap!

The 720p paragraph is gone! Is the 720p gone together with the paragraph? I hope not but it looks like...

Thanasis

Well if they do plan on making 2 models one of which has a progressive mode(s)- it would be nice if JVC would announce it and a price. At $1799 for the interlaced model- the progressive model shouldn't cost too much more and would be worthy of consideration.
I sorta doubt this is where they're going- but I'm open to it and would certainly welcome it.

I would expect $2499.99 for the prosumer model, if indeed this is where it is going. Those are still damn small chips though.

I don't think JVC knows what they are going to do on some features. In the video at the show from another website the Rep states "More features as they are released. I think it all comes down to the program they install in the camera. I wonder who makes that call at JVC? yes we want that or maybe that . !!!! I hope they read some of these post in the past . If they do we might have a winner !

Len

Leonard- might you have a url for that video?

Hi

Yes I do.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/CES-2007-Video-Walkthrough:-GZ-HD7-High-Definition-Everio-Camcorder.htm

He makes the statement right at the Mid part of the video . the video is 04:05 long and he makes the statement at appox 02:17 into the video and he is the Nat. Product Mgr. for JVC


Len

It is sad JVC had to play the number game. 720p60 would be so much nicer then overly pixel shifted 1080i on this little cam, sadly I can see why they needed to go that way because consumers simply buy the bigger number. Progressive compresses better then interlaced and who the hell owns an interlaced HD display? Sad. JVC has been the back bone on 720p thus far. At least all of their pro equipment has gone 720p60, but then pro people are not so easily tricked by inflated numbers. I don't care if it also shoots interlaced, but they better pull some progressive modes out their butt quick. Otherwise it looks sweet. But no way in hell am I buying an interlaced cam in 2007. 30mbps VBR mpeg2 or not.
I think it is funny how the sales rep states it shoots mpeg2 so it can be burnt on Blue-ray. Like somehow HD-DVD won't work equally well. I guess JVC backs Blue-ray.

1:30 seconds, describing the features "on it".

"And it's nice and small- on it"

Priceless.

Well he does say that certain feature details will be released closer to the release date.....so perhaps it does have a 720p mode as discussed earlier and perhaps JVC didn't want that info leaked and had it pulled from the previous write-up.....well no use just speculating what's to come from this camera (we've done that allot in this thread)- so let's see what further infomation we can learn about this camera and post it here.
(JVC does seem to be pulling out the stops on this camera and even sourced the lens to Fujinon, hopefully meaning they consider image quality to be paramount- so more to come soon hopefully.)

Here's yet another magazine brief....

http://www.videomaker.com/news/2007/01/1741-jvc-announces-worlds-first-full-hd-1920x1080i-consumer-camcorder

Back from holidays (semi-back actually). Saw this before was tempted to reply.

Information on the JVC Everio has been out since the year before last, and some earlier information indicated dual 720p and 1080i. Having both through a pixel shift scheme, will it be able to deliver the quality on both in one scheme. But the question is that does this have HDMI and do 1080p though it?

I am surprised that they only went to 30Mbs Mpg2, Sony format, I thought they would go at least to 36mb/s format. It should be better than HDV, and 720p descent if 30mb/s was available to it. I read that Mpeg2 Bluray movie disks have had a bad rap for quality and artifacting (these are the ones professionally compressed to) mpeg4 like codecs are being preferred).

The question we should be asking, is can this camera produce quality/latitude/noise as good as the Canon pocket camera, or at least the HC1.

IF JVC can answer all these things in a prosumer model (including 720 60p) for closer to $2000 (not the ridiculous $3.5K that the HD10 went for) then we will have our selves something nice indeed.

Clearly the issues with BR movie quality has nothing to do with the media format itself but it is the Studio that determines it by the encoding process or the physical player doing the decoding. Apparently it is only the Sony disks with issues, the Columbia ones are fine.

BluRay and HD-DVD both share the same codec options so the quality difference can only be determined by the encoding or decoding process. The only exception is with BR having 66% more space per layer than HD-DVD (10GB more than HD-DVDs 15GB) for lengthy productions in MPG2 BR could use a higher bitrate than HD-DVD and so provide higher quality.

Wayne, if this camera ends up with quality as "good" as the Canon pocket cam (HV10) I'd be thrilled.....have you seen the footage an HV10 produces?

5 pages and going- if this camera delievers, it should end up being a hit!

Guy,

That is the point, the camera only has the mpeg2 option that Sony was using. Apparently they are now switching over to other codec options. On my holidays I spent much time examining the different Blu-ray demo movie footage, I see what they mean. The grain in movies seems to play havoc with the Mpeg2, but much of the non-Sony demos seem better.


Steve,

I agree with you, that is what I meant, I hope the small chips don't get in the way. From what I have been told by an JVC reseller, there is a professional camera coming mid year (I think from memory) probably announced NAB. I forget wherever this is to be an new design, and I think it was, and I hope it is. I think this camera is probably going to be consumer like other Everios.

I wonder if this price is a typo, or merely a sign of things to come.

http://www.zoommania.com/gzhd7.html

I wonder if this price is a typo, or merely a sign of things to come.

http://www.zoommania.com/gzhd7.html

WOW !


If it is a mistake they have made it several times through the page, but that is dirt cheap !!???

Its not so much as a "misprint" as it is "bull----" For one reason, this looks like a grey-market outfit. Secondly, it doesnt list anything along the lines of real specs. Wait till JVC makes a concrete announcement, and stick with reputable online shops.

-burk

http://www.zoommania.com/gzhd7.html
Excuse my English but 32X, my behind. Also the camcorder has 60 gigs not 30.

32X would be killer............but we all know this ad is false.

According to Reseller Ratings, this is a well-known bait and switch outfit. You'll never get this camera from them (or anyone else) at this price.

I'm glad I brought this up. Everything you guys mentioned is good to know. I didn't pay much attention to the details, especially not the zoom figures they advertise.

Adam- these forum guys are sharp and never miss a beat!

Hi

Jvc has put a presentation online

http://www.jvc.com/presentations/everiohd/?urlid=MPEverioHD



Len

Excellent find!
Hmmm, it says "The 1920x1080i picture you get at the camera is maintained for recording, with no conversion to degrade the full native resolution."
Leads one to believe it's a full 1920X1080i chip! I sense some misleading advertising here- or were the incorrect specs released- further in the site it says, "That's native 1920x1080i resolution that is maintained all the way from the lens and CCD, to MPEG2 Transport Stream video with MPEG 1 Layer 2 audio, to output via HDMI, i.LINK or USB2.0. So the Full HD quality you get at the camera is exactly what you get in your recordings, with no conversion or loss of resolution."

Not sure what the final specs are- but that text is mighty impressive!!
One thing is for sure, it outputs interlaced video- I see no mention of a progressive mode or output.
Also interesting how it outputs via HDMI or Firewire or USB 2.0.

That website just made a mistake because they have the JVC GZ-MG37 listed for 452 dollars as well. The specs are accurate for that camcorder. It would have been amazing if JVC put a 32X zoom in the HD model but with a FUJINON lens, the price would have been a steal for 1800 dollars and JVC would have had no problem selling this camcorder at 2500 dollars with that zoom range.

the sensor is what i dont like about it

Well !?!
The wait and the silence are killing me. Now canon arrives with the HV20 and 24p, boy the lights might stay on late at JVC HQ.

It's all to late to change the sensors now. Although it has three they are tiny and quite low resolution.

The alternative is where Canon have gone. Large (for camera size) single high resolution 1/2.7" CMOS sensor (a sensor size larger than any other HD camera under XDCAM HD). Canon have the advantage of quite a lot of experience in CMOS sensor design stemming from their Digital SLR range where they make their own sensors too.

A 1/5" 16:9 sensor has only 36% the surface area of a 1/3" sensor, and only 64% of a 1/4".

3CCD badges might trick the consumer but not the semi-pro who will consider all sensor technicalities. Fortunately this camera is probably aimed squarely at consumers. I really pray JVC have something between this and the HD100 for NAB. Sony have 4-5 consumer HD cameras and 3 pro camcorders and 2 pro ENG cameras (HD XDCAM) now. JVC has 1 consumer, NO pro camcorders and 3 variants of one design in the Pro ENG format.

The attractive thing with this JVC is not the sensors (which are more of a worry) it is the HDD recording JVC started with Everio. I wonder when they will migrate this to SSD instead.

The wait is definitely killng me as well.
Too bad Canon didn't employ a hard drive in the HV20- would have been absolutely killer!!!!

It’s true that the CCDs should have been bigger but we cannot judge this camcorder based on that alone and we haven’t seen any footage so maybe the low light capabilities is very good. As far as manual controls go, this camcorder is more professional than both the HV20 and the HC7 and it’s been mentioned numerous times that it have a professional quality Fujinon lens.

Guy Barwood,
This camcorder is in the same category as the HC1 and the GS400 and they can easily be considered Prosumer camcorders.

But its a bizzare mix. The manual features won't appeal to a consumer and the sensor size will scare many pro users away (including me).

Just like the Z1 is soft in 1080i mode due to pixel shift (the HD100 is sharper in 720p), this camera, using pixel shifting will be quite soft as well. The lens can't fix this.

Fujinon lens will help but lets face it, Fujinon make cheap lens as well and this is definetly going to be one of them (just think about how much they can afford to spend on a lens in a camera of this level). Few are really impressed with the Fujinon stock lens on the HD100.

No one is going to even think about using this camera to shoot a wedding but it might score some POV/second camera use.

The wait is definitely killng me as well.
Too bad Canon didn't employ a hard drive in the HV20- would have been absolutely killer!!!!


Plumb the HDMI output of the HV20 into a HDMI breakout box which itself is plugging into a (pretty fast/good) laptop and you have your wish !

Of course this solution is not as neat as the JVC but it will give you true 1920*1080 progressive which bypasses HDV compression.

On this site you will see a link to a video that shows the camcorder.
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/en/news-13258-HDTV%3A+the+JVC+GZ-HD7+HDD+and+SD+hybrid+video+camera.html

Mic input confirmed.

http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/11950/jvc_gzhd7_camcorder/

Picture of a Microphone specifically made for it
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20070207/victor23.jpg


From:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20070207/victor.htm

Hi

Looks great, Man I cant wait !!


LHR

Here is a tiny bit more information about this camcorder.
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20070208/127547/

It’s kind of shocking to find out that the camcorder could have used xvYCC which is the same thing as x.v.color that is in the Sony HC7. Meaning unless the Panasonic HSC1u uses the xvYCC standard, the Sony HC7 will have the most colors out of any other camcorder but you would still need an HDMI 1.3 complaint TV to view the extra colors.

This is the most impressive information in that article:
“In the development in a bid to realize 1920 x 1080i recording, JVC started from entire revision of major parts, namely the camera block including the lens and prism as well as circuits capable of 1920 x 1080i video processing, among others.”

It will be a very well built camcorder and I look forward to the first reviews.

What do you think, should we add a dedicated forum for this thing in our Consumer HD Camcorders section?

Did anybody notice:
"minimum brightness 18 Lux (shutter:1/60, sensitivity up: AGC)"

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/JVC-Releases-More-High-def-Everio-GZ-HD7-Details-in-Japan-.htm

The HD1 all over again.

What do you think, should we add a dedicated forum for this thing in our Consumer HD Camcorders section?
I don’t like people reading my mind. I was just thinking about that a couple of hours ago.