New York -- By almost every measure, small-format HD cameras should be worse than their larger counterparts. So why do their pictures seem so good?

They are HDTV and do use technologies available 25 years after the first broadcast solid-state camera. But, can a 1/6-inch-format $200 HD camcorder, or even a 1/3-inch-format $5,000 HD camcorder, perform as well as a $25,000-and-up 2/3-inch-format camera?

No. All else being equal, each pixel’s individual sensor on the smaller-format imager (chip converting images into video signals) is smaller. Less area means less dynamic range (contrast ratio).

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