Working with high definition video requires powerful GPU (Graphic Processor Unit). A Computer without a dedicated GPU is ruled out. Though HD Videos can be viewed on a computer that doesnt have a dedicated GPU. The advantage of HD Video is its quality obviously but with a compromise of disk space. Editing an HDR video requires powerful software as well. Most of the home used software currently in the market offers only 8 bits per channel or at the max 16 bits per channel. Real HD editing software would allow you to work on 32 bits per channel as well. Advantage of having more bits per channels is the crispier clarity of the video. Moreover, contrast processing is very unique. The picture turns out to be more natural than vivid. The most preferred HDR format is DV-AVI. DV-AVI takes around 25GB for 60 mins of video.
HDR can be useless if not viewed on HDTV or HD Monitors. Other formats like Xvid, DivX or MPEG-2 is fair enough for DVD quality of videos.
Once the video is compressed for viewing on a DVD player, some of the pixel units are converted to blocks. This degrades the picture quality. This is usually due to the compression ratio. This is one of the reasons why I hate VOB formats.
Why go for a HDR Video Camcorder if at all the video is not going to be viewed on a theater or a HDTV? Think before you buy a Camcorder. Think if its worth all that money to be spent. Unless you are going to work on special effects or cinematic effects, dont go for a high resolution camcorder.
