JVC Everio GZ-HM1

Low Light Sensitivity (2.77)

The GZ-HM1 required just 17 lux of light to reach 50 IRE on our waveform monitor—a light level that is nearly half that of what the JVC GZ-HM400 required on the same test last year. While this does represent a very strong improvement for JVC, the GZ-HM1 still comes out slightly behind the rest of the high-end camcorders in this test. (More on how we test low light sensitivity.)

Required Illumination *

* the lower the lux required, the better the performance

The GZ-HM1's alternate frame rate options have very limited functionality and they don't capture HD video, so we couldn't use them in our low light sensitivity test. We do list the sensitivity results for other camcorders and their alternate frame rates in the table below, but we always use the results from 50i (or 50p) shooting to calculate our low light sensitivity score. If you're looking for a reason why the GZ-HM1 showed an improvement over the GZ-HM400 in this test, it probably has to do with processing updates and JVC's new back-illuminated sensor that is featured on the HM1.

Low Light Colour (5.7)

The GZ-HM1 earned a colour error of 6.24 in our low light testing with a matching saturation level of 70.23%. These numbers aren't excellent—and they are a far cry from the great numbers the camcorder managed in our bright light testing—but they aren't much lower than average for a camcorder of its class. As we've seen in many of our tests, the GZ-HM1 again performed very similarly to last year's JVC GZ-HM400 in our low light colour test. (More on how we test low light colour.)

Auto Low Light Colour Performance
Colour Test Chart (above), Colour Error Map (right)
The JVC GZ-HM1 produced a colour error of 6.24 and a saturation level of 70.23% in our low light colour testing. (The map on the right is a diagram of the colour error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular colour.)

The Colour Error Map above does a good job showing where the GZ-HM1 had the most trouble rendering accurate colours. Just like we saw in bright light, the camcorder had difficulty with greens and yellows, but in low light the problems were more pronounced (notice the longer line lengths in the Error Map). Looking at the comparison images below you can see that the GZ-HM1 doesn't have the green hue that coats the image captured by the JVC GZ-HM400.

Low Light Comparison
JVC GZ-HM1	Panasonic HDC-TM700
Canon HF S21	JVC GZ-HM400

Low Light Colour Score Comparison		Compare the JVC GZ-HM1 to the Panasonic HDC-TM700
		Compare the JVC GZ-HM1 to the Canon HF S21
		Compare the JVC GZ-HM1 to the JVC GZ-HM400

Low Light Noise (9.75)

We measured the noise levels on the GZ-HM1 to be 1.1675% in our low light test, which is a strong performance. The GZ-HM1 didn't have the lowest noise scores in this testing set (the Panasonic HDC-TM700 did), but its noise levels were quite a bit better than average for a camcorder of its class—and its overall low light image looked a whole lot better than last year's GZ-HM400. (More on how we test low light noise.)

Noise at 60 lux Auto
JVC GZ-HM1 100% Crop	Panasonic HDC-TM700 100% Crop	Canon HF S21 100% Crop	JVC GZ-HM400 100% Crop

With the crops above you can really see the problems that came up with last year's JVC GZ-HM400 when we tested it in low light. The green tone is very prominent in the image and there is a ton of noticeable noise. The JVC GZ-HM1 has a far cleaner image, although it too has some noticeable noise. The Panasonic HDC-TM700 managed the best overall low light performance in this set, with the JVC GZ-HM1 and Canon HF S21 each putting up a strong fight for second place.

Low Light Noise Score Comparison		Compare the JVC GZ-HM1 to the Panasonic HDC-TM700
		Compare the JVC GZ-HM1 to the Canon HF S21
		Compare the JVC GZ-HM1 to the JVC GZ-HM400