Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10

Colour (11.59)

The Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10 demonstrated an incredibly impressive performance in colour accuracy and saturation. Video recorded in bright lighting conditions had vivid, naturalistic colour tones, with some slight inaccuracies in the skin tones and yellow hues. As with all of our testing, the CG10 bright light colour testing was done with a manual white balance. The camcorder's auto white balance would not produce colours this accurate. (More on how we test colour.)

Colour Accuracy Performance
Colour Test Chart (above), Colour Error Map (right)
The Sanyo VPC-CG10 produced a colour error of 3.02 and a saturation level of 92.08% in our bright 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 CG10 does not have an abundance of colour modes or controls that impact colour balance, but there are a couple of settings available. If you'd like to achieve the more saturated look that is sometimes popular in consumer camcorders, a vivid colour mode will do the job nicely.

Sanyo VPC-CG10 Colour Modes
Auto	100% Crop
Soft	100% Crop
Vivid	100% Crop
Soft and Vivid	100% Crop

Though the CG10's colour performance is impressive by any standards, it's particularly good compared to other camcorders in this price range. Other budget models often lack a manual white balance, which means you have to rely on the automatic white balance system for colour accuracy. Sometimes—as with the MHS-PM1—the automatic settings aren't bad. But sometimes—as with the Kodak Zx1—the automatic white balance just isn't up to the task. In outdoor lighting, this isn't usually a problem; indoor lighting is what usually gives these ultra compact camcorders the most trouble. With the CG10, you can just perform a simple manual white balance with the push of a button and get vivid, accurate colours both inside and out.

Sanyo VPC-CG10 Colour Comparisons
Sanyo VPC-CG10	Sony MHS-PM1
Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD

	Close-Up Colour Comparisons
	Ideal	Sanyo VPC-CG10	Sony MHS-PM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Red
	Ideal	Sanyo VPC-CG10	Sony MHS-PM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Green
	Ideal	Sanyo VPC-CG10	Sony MHS-PM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Blue
	Ideal	Sanyo VPC-CG10	Sony MHS-PM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Skin Tone 1
	Ideal	Sanyo VPC-CG10	Sony MHS-PM1	Kodak Zx1	Flip UltraHD
Skin Tone 2

It may not be fair to compare the Sanyo VPC-CG10—a £230 camcorder—to models at the top of their respective lines, but in this regard, the CG10 is actually competitive. The only manufacturer that consistently outperforms the CG10 in bright light colour is JVC. Its high definition camcorder GZ-HD320 has more accurate colours. Every other manufacturer (including Canon, Panasonic, and Sanyo) has excellent colour performance in their top models, but less so in their mid-range and introductory camcorders. Even these flagship camcorders, which cost about £1,000 each, come shy of matching the impressive colour performance of the VPC-CG10.

Colour Performance Scores

Noise (10.4)

In terms of producing a clear, noise-free image, the Sanyo VPC-CG10 once again outclasses most of the competition. The CG10's noise percentage (just 0.55%) is better than what you'll see on most consumer camcorders, no matter what the price range. Of course, noise percentage doesn't tell the whole story. Often, you will see very little noise in an image because the camcorder has a relatively low sharpness; smaller noise may not be visible because the sensor does not resolve the smallest details. That could very well be the case for the CG10: much of the noise may be obfuscated by the slight blurriness of the footage. (More on how we test noise.)

Noise Comparisons
Sanyo VPC-CG10 100% Crop	Sony MHS-PM1 100% Crop	Kodak Zx1 100% Crop	Flip UltraHD 100% Crop

With other ultra compact budget camcorders, the story is much the same: low sharpness makes for relatively low noise. Of the camcorders under £300, the CG10 does have the lowest noise percentage, beating out the Sanyo Webbie and the Flip series from Pure Digital. Among the ultra compact camcorders we've chosen for comparison, the worst noise percentage came from the Kodak Zx1, which had both poor sharpness and poor noise—an unusual combination.

Noise Score Comparisons