User manual AIPTEK ACTION-HD GVS

Welcome: Dear user, thanks for purchasing this product. Much investment in time and effort has gone into its development, and it is our hope that it will give you many years of trouble-free service. Safety Notice: 1. Do not drop, puncture or disassemble the camera; otherwise the warranty will be voided. 2. Avoid all contact with water, and dry hands before using. 3. Do not expose the camera to high temperature or leave it in direct sunlight. Doing so may damage the camera. 4. Use the camera with care. Avoid pressing hard on the camera body. 5. For your own safety, avoid using the camera when there is a storm or lightning. 6. Do not use batteries of different specifications. Doing so may lead to the potential for serious damage. 7. Remove the battery during long periods between usage, as a deteriorated battery may affect the functionality of the camera. 8. Remove the battery if it shows signs of leaking or distortion. 9. Use only the accessories supplied by the manufacturer. 10. Keep the camera out of the reach of infants. 11. Risk of explosion if battery is replaced by an incorrect type. 12. Dispose of used batteries according to the instructions. This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subjected to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in residential installations. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television equipment reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: -Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. -Move the equipment away from the receiver. -Plug the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. -Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/television technician for additional suggestions. You are cautioned that any change or modifications to the equipment not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void Your authority to operate such equipment. If the time arises to throw away your product, please recycle all the components possible. Batteries and rechargeable batteries are not to be disposed in your domestic waste! Please recycle them at your local recycling point. Together we can help to protect the environment. FCC Compliance Statement: Table of Contents Getting Started................................................................ 1 Knowing your camcorder parts ............................................................. 1 Installing the battery.............................................................................. 2 Charging the battery ............................................................................. 2 Inserting a memory card (optional) ....................................................... 2 Turning on/off your camcorder .............................................................. 2 Setting language ................................................................................... 3 Reading LCD indicators ........................................................................ 3 Basic Operations ............................................................ 4 Recording a video clip .......................................................................... 4 Recording a voice clip........................................................................... 4 Taking a still picture .............................................................................. 5 Playing back your recordings................................................................ 6 Playing back your recordings on PC..................................................... 7 Connecting the camcorder to TV .......................................................... 8 Advanced Operations .................................................... 10 Menu operation ..................................................................................... 10 Menu items in Camera mode................................................................ 10 Menu items in Playback mode .............................................................. 11 Menu items in Setting mode ................................................................. 12 Battery Life Indicator ............................................................................. 13 Battery Life............................................................................................ 13 Storage Capacity .................................................................................. 14 System Requirements .......................................................................... 14 Specifications........................................................................................ 15 Getting Started Knowing your camcorder parts Internal Microphone Lens Speaker External Microphone Flash strobe Battery cover Tripod socket SD/MMC card slot LCD monitor OK key/ Joystick 5-way AV connector/ Earphone USB connector MODE button Shutter button Macro mode switch Flash switch Resolution switch Power button Delete button MENU button Record button AF lock switch Play button HD OUT Strap hook Zoom (in/out) button 1 Installing the battery 1. Press the Push button first and slide the battery cover open. 2. Place the accessory Li-Ion battery into the compartment. Note that the metallic contacts must be aligned with the contacts in the compartment. 3. After the battery is properly installed, replace the battery cover. Charging the battery Please charge the battery at least 8 hours for first time use. 1. Connect the cable. Connect one end of the supplied AC adapter to the USB port of the camcorder and the other end to a wall outlet. OR Connect one end of the supplied USB cable to the USB port of the camcorder and the other end to a powered PC. Make sure the camcorder is powered off. 2. The charging LED turns red and the charge starts. 3. When the charging is interrupted or the battery pack is fully charged, the charging LED will turn green. When using a PC to charge the battery, do not power on the camcorder, or the charge will stop. Inserting a memory card (optional) To insert a memory card, do the followings: (1) Open the SD/MMC card cover. (2) Gently push the card until the card reaches the bottom of the slot. To remove the memory card, gently push the card and it will pop up. Then pull the card out of the slot. Turning on/off your camcorder Open the LCD monitor or press and hold down the Power button for 1 second to turn on the camcorder. To turn off the camcorder, press and hold down the Power button for 1 ~ 3 seconds or close the LCD monitor. If the camcorder stays inactive for a long period of time, it may automatically shut down due to the Auto-Off setting. Setting language 1. Power on the camcorder. 2. Press the MODE key to enter the MODE menu. 3. Use the Joystick switch to select the Setting mode and press OK to enter the menu screen. 4. Use the Joystick to select the Language item, and then Press OK to confirm. 5. Move the Joystick up/down to select a language. 6. When done, press OK to confirm the setting. Reading LCD indicators 00:00:05 Digital zoom Optical zoom 00:06:40 1 Mode icon Video resolution Picture resolution Continuous shot AF lock Focus Internal memory/SD card inserted Battery life Zoom ratio indicator Flash White balance Remaining recordable time NightShot Stabilizer Recording time Basic Operations Recording a video clip 1. Adjust the focus: Normally the camcorder can auto focus without adjusting focus. If you want to take closeup pictures, you can push the Up button to switch to Macro mode ( ). 2. Zooming: Move the Zoom button up or down to zoom in or zoom out the screen. 3. Press the Record button to start recording. 4. Press the Record button again to stop recording. The zoom function is also available during recording (except in macro mode). The camcorder has built-in electronic stabilizer, which can only be activated in HD 720P(60f) / WVGA(60f). In HD 1080P(30f) mode, this function is disabled. It's normal that the camcorder will feel slightly warm with continuous use / recording due to its high performance. AF lock When recording in one spot without zooming in / zooming out or moving around, you can activate the AF lock function by moving the Joystick right. To disable this function, move the Joystick right again. AF lock switch Recording a voice clip 1. Power on the camcorder. 2. Press the MODE key to enter the MODE menu. 3. Use the Joystick switch to select the Voice Recorder mode and press OK to enter the menu screen. 4. Press the Record button to start recording 5. Press the Record button again to stop recording. 4 Taking a still picture 1. Adjust the focus: Normally the camcorder can auto focus without adjusting focus. If you want to take closeup pictures, you can push the Up button to switch to Macro mode ( ). 2. Zooming: Move the Zoom button up or down to zoom in or zoom out the screen. 3. Press the Shutter button half way down and hold for the camcorder to auto focus. When the focus frame turns green, press the button fully down to take a still picture. focus frame Due to the sensor capture feature, the LCD preview and ratio of still picture capture will vary depending upon different video resolution settings. The image capture of the camera is set where as video resolutions are different. Video resolution Preview 16:9 ratio HD 1080P(1440x1080) Taking pictures and focusing 4:3 ratio HD 60f(1280x720) 16:9 ratio 4:3 ratio WVGA 60f(848x480) Continuous shot While in preview mode you can capture continuous images (at video resolution) by "clicking and holding down" the Joystick. The camcorder will continuously snap shots (up to 10 per second) until you release the Joystick, or until the memory is full. Continuous shot function is disabled in HD 1080P(30f) mode. OK key / Joystick 5-way 5 Playing back your recordings 1. Press the MODE button and use the Joystick to switch to "My Works" mode. Or press the Play/Pause button ( ) on the left side of the LCD monitor. 2. There are three folders below My works: Video, Picture, and Voice. Select Video, Picture or Voice, and then press the OK key to enter the index mode. 3. Operations in playback mode: File type Index mode Shift between Index mode and Fullscreen mode Full-screen mode Shift between files 1. In Index mode: Use the Joystick to move the highlight box. 2. In Full-screen mode: Use the Joystick to move left or right. When selected (in full-screen mode), the file automatically starts playing. During playing/While paused, press the OK key. During playing, use the Joystick to move up or down. During playing, press the MODE button. Press the Shutter button. During playing, use the Joystick to move right. To stop, press the OK key. During playing, use the Joystick to move left. To stop, press the OK key. Use the Joystick to move up or down. When the zoom ratio is greater than 1.0x, press the OK key. When the zoom ratio is locked, use the Joystick to browse the picture. In Index mode, press the OK key to switch to Fullscreen mode. In Full-screen mode, press the MENU button to switch to Index mode. How to... Action Start playing Pause/Resume playing Adjust the volume level Video & Audio Stop playing Return to the preview screen Fast forward Fast backward Zoom in/out Picture Lock/Release zoom ratio Browse the enlarged picture Playing back your recordings on PC Installing software Please notice that the recorded videos are .mov format. So you need some special programs to view the recordings on PC. For first time use, please make sure you have QuickTime 7.0 (or above) player on your PC. If not, please download the QuickTime player from the website. OR Please install the software on the bundled CD. Connecting to PC and Saving files After the software is properly installed on your PC, please follow the procedures listed below. 1. Turn on the camcorder. 2. Connect the camcorder (with SD card inserted) to your computer with the USB cable. 3. A dialogue window will appear automatically. Please select the item "Open folder to view files" and click "OK". 4. If the dialogue window does not appear automatically, you may double click on "My computer" and open the "Removable Drive". 5. Double-click on the DCIM file folder. 6. Double-click on the 100MEDIA file folder. 7. Copy the files you wish to keep and save them to the desired location on your computer. Connecting the camcorder to TV Please follow the below instructions to connect your camcorder and TV via accessory AV cables for real-time display. You can display your video clips and still pictures on your TV, sharing them with your friends and family. Connecting the camcorder to HDTV HD TV hereby means the HDTV built-in component input ports, thus can perform HD high resolution quality while connected. HD TV (green) Component Video in (blue) (red) (red) AV (white) (yellow) Component Audio in HD OUT (Do not plug in Yellow Cable) 1. Turn on your HD TV. 2. Turn on the Camcorder. 3. Plug one end of the component video cable into the (Component Video IN) port on the HDTV and the other end into the (HD OUT) port on the Camcorder. 4. Plug one end of the other AV cable into the (Component Audio IN) port on the HDTV and the other end into the (AV) port on the Camcorder. (Please do not plug in the yellow connector to the HDTV's AV-IN.) 5. Press the input switch mode on the HDTV and select "Component Input". If you record an HD resolution clip while connected to your HD TV, the TV display video resolution will down size to WVGA resolution due to data bit rate, but the recorded file will remain HD with no change. The HD TV will display your video clips in 1080i (60 fields) resolution mode although it is recorded in 1080P (30 frames) setting. Connecting the camcorder to Standard TV TV = Traditional CRT TV AV mode AV AV-IN Video Audio AV cable 1. Power on your TV and switch the TV to AV mode. 2. Connect the audio and video ends of the AV cable (yellow/white/red color) to the TV "AV-IN" jacks. 3. Power on the camcorder. 4. Connect the other end of the AV cable to the "AV" port on your camcorder. When the pop-up message appears on the screen, please select "AV-Out". Advanced Operations Menu operation The menu items provide several options for you to fine-tune your camera functions. The following table gives details on menu operations. How to... Bring up the menu Move the highlight bar Enter sub-menu/Confirm an item Exit menu/Go back to upper menu Press the MENU button. Use the Joystick to move up or down. Press the OK key. Press the MENU button (when in sub-menu). Action Menu items in Camera mode Power-on Press the Menu button. Item Video Resolution Option HD 1080P(30f) HD 60f(720P) WVGA 60f(DVD) On Auto Off Description Set the video resolution to HD 1080P (1440x1080 pixels). Set the video resolution to HD 60f (1280x720 pixels). Set the video resolution to WVGA 60f (848x480 pixels). The flash is forced to fire in every shot. The flash automatically fires when the lighting is insufficient. The flash is disabled. Enabling this setting allows you to take a photograph with a dark background. Since the shutter speed will slow down when taking photographs at a dark place, we recommend using a tripod to eliminate blurring from hand shake. Warning: Noise increases when NightShot is enabled. Warning: The stabilizer function is disabled when NightShot is enabled. Enabling this setting allows you to take a photograph with a dark background. Since the shutter speed will slow down when taking photographs at a dark place, we recommend using a tripod to eliminate blurring from hand shake. Warning: Noise increases when NightShot is enabled. Enable/Disable the selftimer. After the selftimer is turned on, the camera will have ten seconds delay before recording when the Shutter button is pressed. Flash Strobe NightShot On/Off EV -2~+2 Selftimer On/Off 10 Menu items in Camera mode (continued) Item Continuous Shot (at video resolution) Option On/Off Auto Sunny Description Enable/Disable continuous shot function. The camera automatically adjusts white balance. This setting is suitable for outdoor recording in sunny weather. This setting is suitable for recording in cloudy weather or shady environments. This setting is suitable for indoor recording with fluorescent lamp lighting, or environments with high color temperature. This setting is suitable for indoor recording with incandescent lamp lighting, or environments with low color temperature. Make recordings in natural color. Make recordings in black and white. Make recordings in sepia-toned color. Enable/Disable auto focus function. Enable/Disable stabilizer function. Stabilizer function can prevent the image from blurring causing by hand shake. White Balance Cloudy Fluorescent Tungsten Normal Effect AF Lock Stabilizer Black & White Classic On/Off On/Off Menu items in Playback mode Power-on Press the MODE button Use the Joystick to switch to My Works mode Select Video, Picture or Voice folder Press the OK button Press the MENU button. Item Delete One Delete All Lock Repeat All Option Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No All Delete current file. Delete all pictures and video/audio files stored in the memory. Single, multiple, or all files can be locked. A locked file cannot be erased by a delete function. While the formatting function will erase all locked/unlocked files. The camera displays images/video clips in sequence. You can press the OK key to stop the slide show/video play. Description * If there are no files in the camera, no items will be seen. 11 Menu items in Setting mode Power-on Press the MODE button Select the Setting ( the OK button. Item Clock Language Option Off Beep On Shutter On Start Movie Icon LCD Brightness On/Off On/Off -2~+2 NTSC TV System PAL 50Hz 60Hz Off 1 min Auto Off 3 min 5 min Yes No On Off Set date and time. Let you select the language used for OSD. Disable beep sound. Enable beep sound. Disable beep sound, but keep Shutter sound. Enable/Disable start movie function. Enable/Disable OSD icons to display on the screen. Set LCD brightness. A positive value makes the LCD brighter; while a negative value makes the LCD dimmer. Set TV system compatibility to NTSC. This option is suitable for America, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea areas. Set TV system compatibility to PAL. This option is suitable for Germany, England, Italy, Netherlands, China, Japan, and Hong Kong. Set flicker frequency to 50Hz*. Set flicker frequency to 60Hz*. Disable Auto-off function. The camera automatically shuts down when staying inactive for over 1 minute. The camera automatically shuts down when staying inactive for over 3 minutes. The camera automatically shuts down when staying inactive for over 5 minutes. Format the storage medium. Note that all files stored in the medium will be gone. Cancel action. Restore factory defaults. Note that your current settings will be overridden. Cancel action. Description ) mode Press Flicker Format Default 1 Menu items in Setting mode (continued) * Flicker settings table: Region Setting Region Setting England 50Hz Portugal 50Hz Germany 50Hz America 60Hz France 50Hz Taiwan 60Hz Italy 50Hz China 50Hz Spain 50Hz Japan 50/60Hz Netherlands 50Hz Korea 60Hz Russia 50Hz Thailand 50Hz Battery Life Indicator Icon Full battery life Moderate battery life Low battery life * The flash strobe and the LED lights will be disabled." Empty battery life Note: To avoid sudden outage of power supply, you are recommended to replace the battery when the icon indicates low battery life. Description Battery Life Still picture Number of shots 110 * shoot every 30 seconds ** flash is off *** resolution is set to 5M (2592x1944) Video clip Recording time (minute) 50 * resolution is set to 720P 60f (1080x720 @60f) Note: This table is for your reference only. The actual battery life depends on your battery type and recharge level. 1 Storage Capacity Video (min.) Memory HD 1080P 30f / HD 720P 60f 3 7 15 30 60 WVGA 60f 7 15 30 60 120 Still picture 5M 145 290 580 1160 2320 SD card (5MB) SD card (51MB) SD card (1GB) SD card (GB) SD card (4GB) Note: The actual value of capacity may vary (up to ± 30%) depending on the color saturation and complexity of your subject and surroundings. System Requirements System requirements are different in different video resolution settings: Video Resolution HD 1080P (1440x1080) @30fps HD 60f (1280x720) @60fps PC system requirements OS = Windows XP SP2, Vista or above CPU = Pentium 4 3.2GHz Core 2 Dual or above System RAM = 1GB (2GB recommended) Graphic card = 256MB of RAM OS = Windows XP SP2, Vista or above WVGA 60f (848x480) @60fps CPU = Pentium 4 3.2GHz or above System RAM = 512MB (1GB recommended) Graphic card = 256MB of RAM 14 Specifications Item Model Image sensor 5 Mega-pixel camera 5 Mega (2592x1944 pixels) Still image: 5M(2592x1944) 1440x1080 (HD 1080P) 1280x720 (HD 60f) 848x480 (WVGA 60f) Optical zoom lens 4X (2X in 1080P mode) MOV, JPEG, WAV 1440x1080, up to 30fps (HD 1080P) 1280x720, up to 60fps (HD 60f) 848x480, up to 60fps (WVGA 60f) Yes SD/MMC card (up to 32GB SDHC) 3" LCD HDTV Component out, NTSC/PAL system supported USB 2.0 Yes internal (stereo); external mic jack Yes Yes (both in still image and video modes) Electronic Image Stabilization (Only available in 720P 60fps and WVGA 60 fps, the video resolution mode) NP60 compatible Li-ion rechargeable battery Description Resolution Lens Digital zoom File format Video frame rate Internal memory External memory LCD display TV out Interface Voice recorder Microphone Speaker Nightshot E.I.S. Battery Note: Specifications are subject to change without notification. For more information on camcorder details and more advanced operations, please refer to the electronic manual included in the accessory CD. 15 HD-DV Camcorder 82-486-90010-000v1.0