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Maintenance & additional information
GLOSSARY
AF (Auto Focus)
A system that automatically focuses the camcorder lens on the subject. Your
camcorder uses contrast to focus automatically.
Aperture
The aperture controls the amount of light that reaches the camcorder’s sensor.
Camcorder shake (Blur)
If the camcorder is moved while the shutter is open, the entire image may appear
blurred. This occurs more often when the shutter speed is slow. Prevent camcorder
shake by raising the sensitivity or using a faster shutter speed. Alternately, use a
tripod or the DIS or OIS function to stabilize the camcorder.
Composition
Composition in photography means arranging objects in a photo. Usually, abiding by
the rule of thirds leads to a good composition.
Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS)
A CMOS is an image sensor that produces images approaching the quality of CCD
(charge coupled device) sensors. It consumes less power, meaning the battery on
your camcorder lasts longer before it needs recharging.
Digital zoom
A feature that artificially increases the amount of zoom available with the zoom lens
(Optical zoom). When using the Digital zoom, the image quality will deteriorate as the
magnification increases.
Effective Pixel Count
Unlike the total pixel count, this is the actual number of pixels used to capture an
image.
EV (Exposure Value)
All the combinations of the camcorder’s shutter speed and lens aperture that result
in the same exposure.
Exposure
The amount of light allowed to reach the camcorder’s sensor. Exposure is controlled
by a combination of the shutter speed, the aperture value, and ISO sensitivity.
Focal length (f)
The distance from the middle of the lens to its focal point (in millimeters). Longer focal
lengths result in narrower angles of view and the subject is magnified. Shorter focal
lengths result in wider angles of view.
F. No (F-Number)
The F-number defines the ratio of the focal length to the size of the lens aperture
(focal length/diameter of lens aperture). The smaller the F-number, the larger the lens
aperture and the greater the amount of light that reaches the camcorder’s sensor.
Generally, smaller F-numbers provide brighter images.
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 defines the latest video coding format standardized by the
ISOIEC and the ITU-T, in 2003. Compared with the conventional MPEG-2 format,
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 has more than twice the efficiency. Your camcorder employs
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 to encode high definition videos.
Optical zoom
This is a general zoom which can enlarge images with the lens alone and does not
degrade the quality of images.
Quality
An expression of the rate of compression used in a digital image. Higher quality
images have a lower rate of compression, which usually results in a larger file size.
Resolution
The number of pixels present in a digital image. High resolution images contain more
pixels and typically show more detail than low resolution images.
Shutter speed
Shutter speed refers to the amount of time it takes to open and close the shutter,
and it is an important factor in the brightness of a photo, as it controls the amount
of light which pass through the aperture before it reaches the image sensor. A fast
shutter speed provides less time for light to enter. The photo becomes darker, but
more easily
freezes subjects in motion.
White balance (color balance)
An adjustment of the intensities of colors (typically the primary colors red, green, and
blue) in an image. The goal of adjusting the white balance, or color balance, is to
correctly render the colors in an image.