Revolutionized HDD Camera and Video Recorder

The HDD camcorder, which can also be referred to as a video camera recorder, is a kind of a digital device that combines two technologies--a video camera plus a video recorder--into a single unit. As the name HDD camcorder implies, to get the concept of the name "camcorder," you take the first three letters from the word "camera" and the last six letters from the word "recorder"; when the two are combined, you get the word "camcorder." In the days before HDD camcorders were digitalized, VHS cassettes and micro cassettes were used in place of the hard disk drive. These digitalized versions are packaged as video camera recorders.

In order to differentiate the HDD camcorder from other devices that have a built-in capability to capture images, such as mobile phones and compact digital cameras, camcorders are generally described as portable devices whose prime function is to capture and record videos. As was mentioned earlier, the earliest video camera used analog recording onto a video tape.

Digital recording via a HDD camcorder has been the optimal recording medium since the 1990s, but the prime recording media remained video tapes until recently. The greatest advantage with the camcorder is that it reduces the work load when transferring data from the camcorder to a computer and later burning the content onto a DVD; the process is very easy and can be done in a matter of seconds. The next advantage with the camcorder is that you can quickly transfer the content in the memory card to your computer and create room on the camcorder to record other content.

The uses mentioned above are the reasons why video tapes are gradually being replaced by tape-less solutions, such as hard disk drives, optical disks and flash memory. It should also be noted for the record that a camcorder that does not use any removable media is also referred to as an HDD camcorder or tapeless camcorder. Instead of using a hard disk drive, these versions are designed to use removable optical disks, flash memory or a built-in hard drive.

Another option is the hybrid camcorder that is capable of using more that one type of media device such as memory cards, optical disks and hard disk drives. Its future will include a HDD that gives a longer recording time, better resolution, image stabilizer, and optical zooming with a better picture quality and, most of all, a longer battery life.