Samsung SC-MX20R Digital Camcorder
Manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co. this digital video camera 180 minutes of battery life. It offers a 34x zoom lens with 1200x digital zoom. It has a f/1.6-4.3 lens with image stabilization. Its fastest shutter speed is 1/10000 second, as well as a 2.7" LCD for composing pictures.
Contents
Samsung SC-MX20 (red) Product Specifications
General
- Product Type Camcorder
- Enclosure Color Red
- Digital Zoom 1200 x
- Optical Sensor Size 1/6"
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Min Illumination 3 lux
- Analog Video Format NTSC
- Digital Video Format H.264
- Image Stabilizer Electronic
- Min Shutter Speed 1/60 sec
- Max Shutter Speed 1/10000 sec
- Shooting Modes Digital photo mode
- White Balance Presets , Automatic
- Exposure Modes Program , Automatic
- Webcam Capability Yes
- Widescreen Video Capture Yes
Main Features
- Color Support Color
- Face Detection Yes
- Still Image Format JPEG
- TV Tuner None
Memory / Storage
- Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard , SD Memory Card
- Media Type Flash card
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 2.3 mm - 78.2 mm - F/1.6-4.3
- Focal Length 2.3 mm - 78.2 mm
- Lens Aperture F/1.6-4.3
- Optical Zoom 34 x
- Lens system type Zoom lens
- Min focal length 2.3 mm
- Max focal length 78.2 mm
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Lens Manufacturer Schneider-Kreuznach
- Features Built-in lens shield
- Filter Size 30 mm
- Focus Adjustment Manual , Automatic
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
Additional Features
- Low Lux / Night Mode Yes
- Digital Still Camera Function Yes
- Additional Features Face detection , YouTube capture mode , USB 2.0
- compatibility , Digital noise reduction
- Software Cyberlink Medi@Show , Drivers & Utilities
- Included Accessories AC adapter , Battery pack , Hand grip , A/V Cable ,
- USB cable
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type None
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.7 in - Color
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
- Microphone Features Wind noise reduction
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB , 1 x Composite video/audio output , 1 x DC power
- input
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Audio Input
- Audio input type Microphone
- Microphone type Built-in
- Microphone Operation Mode Stereo
- Microphone Technology Electret condenser
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Operating System Support MS Windows Vista , MS Windows XP SP2
- Peripheral Devices USB port , CD-ROM drive
Miscellaneous
- Cables Included 1 , 1 x A/V cable , USB cable
Power
- Power Device Battery adapter - External
Battery
- Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery ( Included )
Viewfinder / Display
- Display Form Factor Rotating
- Display Format 112,000 pixels
- Viewfinder Color Support Color
Environmental Parameters
- Min Operating Temperature 32 °F
- Max Operating Temperature 104 °F
Physical Characteristics
- Width 2.4 in
- Depth 4.9 in
- Height 2.4 in
- Weight 9.9 oz
Review
This camera captures very good quality video, even on the lower resolution settings. The 680K pixel video CCD delivers high resolution video images with superior color resolution and detail.
There is a flaw in the firmware that neglects to give any of the better quality settings (the 16:9 footage that's better than the "YouTube" quality) the "16:9 flag" setting. So what you get is footage that's squished narrow because all the players and editing apps see this video as 4:3.
There is no external microphone jack. This is a major defect. Without the ability to connect an external audio source, the user is limited to the built in camera microphone.
The auto-focus has difficulty locking in under indoor lighting conditions.
Aspect Ratio Issue
When set to "TV Normal" the camera is supposed to capture 16:9 video. The actual pixel resolution of the capture at this setting is 720 x 480 (1.5:1). When the footage is viewed on an HDTV the video image does not fill the screen as it should, there is a black bar on the right and another on the left. The image also appears squashed. NTSC HDTV resolution is 720 x 480. The DV widescreen aspect ratio standard is 1.2121 which makes 720 actual pixels render as 873. A common LCD TV native resolution is 1920 x 1080 (1.2121:1) which can be reduced at the same ratio as 853 x 480.
Recommended Fix: mp4box
The Samsung MX20 does not tag its 16:9 files with the correct Display Aspect Ratio. It is not desirable to re-encode because that causes quality loss. You can use a utility such as mp4box which is part of GPAC to correct the Display Aspect Ratio tagging without re-encoding. The source file will be replaced (corrected.)
Note: mp4box has mutli platform versions, however, installation on Linux can be problem due to required dependencies. A utility that is a Video Aspect Ratio Converter is suitable, it need not be mp4box specifically.
Display Aspect Ratio (DAR): For US sold models, the ratio should be 40:33. Another source says NTSC widescreen is 864x480, which means the proper ratio for NTSC widescreen video should be 864:720, which simplifies to 54:45.
3. Digital video : the pixel ratio
The legacy digital representation of computer 4:3 NTSC has a format of 640x480 pixels. This is a natural choice, if you consider that 480 lines makes 480 pixels vertically, and 4:3 aspect makes 480 x 4/3 = 640 pixels horizontally. However, DV cameras as well as most digital video equipment work with a 720x480 frame size. Therefore, if you considered your picture elements to have a square aspect ratio (1:1) in analog format, your digitised frame now has a pixel ratio of 0.888 (640/720). You can view it that way: it takes 720 pixels with a 0.88 ratio to equate 640 pixels with a 1.00 ratio. Following the same idea, 16:9 NTSC has a pixel ratio of 1.20 (864/720). The "864" value comes from taking 460 x 16/9 = 853.3 and rounding to 864, since any line must have a number of pixels that can be divided by 16.
This mismatch between analog and digital pixel ratios, present on most equipment, requires some precautions be taken if one wants to preserve the exact aspect ratio of images. Circles on TV appear like ellipses on a computer screen and vice-versa! To illustrate the problem, consider the following example: you want to scan some photographs and transfer them to stills in DV format. If you're thinking of just scanning the images and resize to 720x480 (DV frame size), you're wrong. You must first crop the images to a 4:3 aspect ratio, then resize them, which will stretch them a little, but this way, they will appear correct on your TV !
40:33 82.50% 872x480 1.8167:1 (40:33.02752294)
54:45 83.33% 864x480 slightly less wide 1.8:1
853x480 tv 1.7778:1
The correct value for standard is 54:45.
process single video file command example:
mp4box.exe -par 1=54:45 homemovie.mp4
You can use a batch file to process a directory of video files
@ECHO OFF :LOOP "C:\Program Files\GPAC\mp4box.exe" -par 1=54:45 %1 SHIFT IF [%1]==[] GOTO END GOTO LOOP :END
The batch file script is based on the example from this source: https://youtu.be/rg4pc2rQ9Rw
Download mp4box GPAC from:
Recommended Fix Ubuntu / Mint: ffmpeg
Option #2 - This works better on newer Linux Ubuntu / Mint systems --- just use ffmpeg
VLC reports 720 x 482 using Display Resolution 720x480 which results in a horizontally squished video.
If you manually change the aspect ratio in VLC to 16:9 you will see a video at exactly 853x482.
ffmpeg -i homemovie.mp4 -aspect 85:48 -c copy homemovie-fixed.mp4
Not Recommended: Allen Anderson Fix
For users of the Samsung SC-MX20, this little program fixes the wide screen problem and gives the option to convert video files to a Windows Movie Maker friendly format.
Credit to: Allen Andersen
This fix does not work well, produces a much larger file. Re-encodes is lossy and inefficient.
Other Fix Options
another fix:
See: SC-MX20 Video Encoding for Better Video Quality
DAR = Display Aspect Ratio PAR = Pixel Aspect Ratio
Interlaced Video Issue
Support
Samsung Product Support
Replacement Parts
Battery
- Samsung IA-BP85ST, Li Ion
Charger
- See AC_DC_Adapter_Reference#Samsung_AA-E9
- AC Adapter AD44-00116B
- Part Number: AA-E9, AD44-00116B, AD44-00116A
- 100V~240V Switching AC Power Adapter Input (Output 8.4V 2A)
- Positive Tip polarity
This is the Samsung AC Adapter with the squared connector. Many Samsung camera models need this squared connector.
AC Adapter (Charger) testing
- According to a Extech Voltmeter the positive tip voltage is exactly 8.42v
- According to the label on the adapter the voltage should be 8.4V at 9A (match)
