'You press and hold the center button to select the dial's operation: manual focus, exposure compensation, aperture or shutter, mic level and automatic gain control limit--which caps the signal boosting in low light to minimize visual noise. '
'The new touchscreen system is intuitive and good for beginners, but we did find it a bit frustrating for navigating the camcorder's long menu system.'
'the display is clear and viewable even in quite bright conditions.'
'Ultimately it's slow to scroll through menus and all-too easy to 'select' items when you mean to sweep them.
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'The HDC-SD20 can capture full HD 1920x1080 video directly to SD/SDHC cards, features advanced optical image stabilization to reduce blurry images at long zoom ranges and can operate in light down to 9 LUX with its built-in video light. '
'The HDR-CX160 features several automated modes for better recording, including Optical SteadyShot for more stable videos, Tracking Focus to keep focus on a moving object, and Wind Noise Reduction. '
'The camera includes 32GB of built-in flash memory and supports SDHC cards, and it encodes the video as AVCHD files with data rates up to 24 mbps, the format's maximum capability. '
'The camcorder earned an audio score of Good, with noticeably better clarity and volume than rival camcorders offered. '
'impressively deep and professional manual controls'