Whats is an LP mode when using camcorders?

Question

I'm looking at different camcorders and there is a one that says it take up to 20 hours of video under LP mode. Is that good?

Answer 1

LP means long play, like on on old VHS cassett.

This means that you reduce the space that each minute of recording takes up on the camera by reducing its quality. You might get a fuzzier picture with less color depth, but you can film for much longer.

For example, a camcorder might record 4 hours of HD, but 8 hours of Standard Definition.

Answer 2

LP standard for "Long Play"... it's some mode that offers recording longer than the camera's "Standard" mode... that's about all you know without knowing the kind of camera.

On a mini-DV camcorder, the LP mode lowers the speed of the tape, to 1.5 hours on a standard length tape, rather than the usual 1 hour. The quality is the same, but the LP mode can be less reliable.

Based on your time... 20 hours, you are probably talking about a hard disc drive (HDD) camcorder. Standard definition HDD camcorders typically record in MPEG-2, high def HDD camcorders typically record in AVCHD. Both formats can trade off time for size, so yeah, you might get 20 hours in LP mode, but it's pretty guaranteed to be much lower quality than the "SP" mode, or whatever they call the top quality option.