Analog vs. Digital

Here is a breakdown of the differences between analog and digital recording. Keep in mind that you would always rather go Digital due to the quality of the picture and the sound. With digital video recording you also get digital sound, but it all depends on what you can get a hold of. Precision Camera and Video in Austin carries about . Take a look at the section titled "Shooting Your Video" for advice on the sound aspect of recording. You can also take a look at a good article written about all the differences between analog and digital camcorders by clicking here.

Analog
Analog camcorders record video and audio signals as an analog track on video tape. This means that every time you make a copy of a tape, it loses some image and audio quality. Analog formats lack a number of the impressive features you'll find in digital camcorders, as described in the digital cameras section below. The main difference between the available analog formats is what kind of video tape the camcorder uses and the resolution. Analog formats include:

 

Digital
Digital camcorders differ from analog camcorders in a few very important ways. They record information digitally, as bytes, which means that image can be reproduced without losing any image or audio quality. Digital video can also be downloaded to a computer, where you can edit it or post it on the Web. Another distinction is that digital video has a much better resolution than analog video, typically 500 lines. There are two consumer digital formats in widespread use:

 

This brief comparison was brought to you by HowStuffWorks.com