Panasonic HDC-SD9D is £450 but 1080p. Sony SR12 is £900 but is 1080i. Does 1080p mean the cheaper camcorder?

will have better video quality simply because its 1080p or are there other factors?

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1636088463.1222990560@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccehadeffhldlfgcflgceggdhhmdgmh.0&category_oid=-31057&sku=842243&page=Product&fm=10&sm=2&tm=0#productInformationSection

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/sony-handycam-hdr-sr12/4505-6500_7-32775806.html?tag=mncol;txt

The Panasonic HDC-SD9 D is the same as the HDC-SD9 ( the D means its sold by the dixons group Currys, Dixons PC world)

The HDC-SD9 outputs at 1920 x 1080 (1080p)

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/476218/index.html?trackInfo=true

the Sony HDR-SR12E can ALSO output at 1920 x 1080 (1080p)

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/hdd-avchd-hard-disk-drive/hdr-sr12e#pageType=TechnicalSpecs

The reason you’re paying more for the Sony is that it has a 120GB Hard-Disk for storage…… and the Sony has a bigger Cmos Sensor size..

Panasonic 1/6″ x 3 (3 CCD or 3.979 x 3)… = 11.937 mm sq

Sony 1/3″ CMOS x 1 (17.280 ) ………….. = 17.280 mm sq

The Sony will give much better image quality, and less noise than CCD, less power consumption then the Panasonic, and because CCD/CMOS Sensor are very expensive to produce, you pay the premium for a bigger sensor.

Both Camcorders a very good the Panasonic has 3 different sensor for producing RGB colours, is smaller lighter, both use SD cards.

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Canon VIXIA HF S10 HD Digital Camcorder