Is True Widescreen the future of new camcorders?

[bnbhoha]

I own a Sony TRV120 and would like to upgrade my camera in a few months. I've researched several forums and have found the word "true widescreen" used many times. I believe the new Canons are going to be true widesceen; however the one I'm mostly interested in is the Sony HC40 which is also true widescreen.

My understanding w/ true widescreen is that all the pixels get used and none are wasted unlike many cameras that tout that feature but lose pixels and are not true widescreen. I will eventually have a widescreen tv (its the future).

1. I was was wondering when you record in 16:9, how much more picture do you get (if any)?

2. Also, are there any new cameras under $600 that offer this besides the Sony at this time?

3.How about upcoming cameras?

Any comments are always welcome. Thanks

[gshelley61]

(edit... I meant 720x480 pixels. Duh!)

Some consumer digital camcorders already record 16:9 anamorphically using all 720x480 pixels... I have a 4 year old Canon Optura Pi that does. You can also simply attach an anamorphic lens adaptor to any camcorder. That's how all anamorphic widescreen films are shot... with anamorphic lenses. There isn't special widescreen movie film... it is standard 35mm. The image is shot vertically squeezed and then stretched during projection with another special lens.

here's one of those camcorder 16:9 lens adaptors:
http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/dv/16x9/16x9.htm

[JimJohnD]

Here is a link to a thread with some pictures that should answer your question.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=f6edbb986f32ab6ede11e31b2c88a83c&threadid=28365

Hope this helps.

[bnbhoha]

Thanks for the links. JimJohnD I followed your link to that forum and they use to much tech jargon that's way beyone me

gshelley61 I followed your link to the widescreen lens. They have a pic on the right side which you can click to see normal then widescreen mode. When I clicked it, I noticed that the widescreen was actually smaller than the 4:3; it basically had the top and bottom part cut out. I always thought if you went widescreen, the picture would get wider but when I click on it, it stays the same w/ the top and bottom part cut out. Am I missing something here?

Does widescreen just eliminate the top and bottom part of the movies and at the same time keep the resolution the same.

[junkmalle]

gshelley61 I followed your link to the widescreen lens. They have a pic on the right side which you can click to see normal then widescreen mode. When I clicked it, I noticed that the widescreen was actually smaller than the 4:3; it basically had the top and bottom part cut out. I always thought if you went widescreen, the picture would get wider but when I click on it, it stays the same w/ the top and bottom part cut out. Am I missing something here?

The wide screen image was shrunken down to fit within the same space on the web page.

That type of lens works by "squishing" the light coming into the camera only on the horizontal axis. It doesn't effect the vertical axis at all. Think of it like a funhouse mirror that makes you look really skinny. The camera still captures 720x480 DV video but since the lens squished the image down, it covers a wider view. When you play the video on a wide screen TV you tell it to stretch the image horizontally to restore the wide screen aspect ratio.