The camera records 1920-by-1080 video at 60 interlaced frames per second, with a maximum bit rate of 16 megabits per second. That bit rate is significantly below the 24 mbps maximum supported in the AVCHD spec. The camcorder lacks the Web-friendly 30 progressive frames per second and film-style 24 progressive frames per second modes found on some other HD camcorders. While that issue can be laboriously addressed during the editing process, image quality is more fixed. And here, this Sony model performs only so-so.

In PC World Test Center jury evaluations, the HDR-XR200V performed well in bright interior light, creating good-looking video a notch below the and the ; the HDR-XR200V earned a standard-lighting video score of Good.

Its battery life is also decent; the HDR-XR200V's rechargeable battery lasted nearly 2 hours on a single charge (111 minutes in our test), which netted a battery life score of Good.

But in low-light conditions, stuttering motion significantly marred the video. The Handycam's low-light footage was among the worst rated in our test group of six camcorders, notching a disappointing score of Fair. Still images in bright light were also only Fair, with a green cast that didn't appear in stills generated in identical conditions by other camcorders.

The Sony Handycam HDR-XR200V isn't a bad camcorder, but its main draw might be its fancy extras rather than its output. In terms of overall video performance, better alternatives exist at both higher price levels (the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and the Canon Vixia HF S10, each $1300) and lower (the $500 Sanyo Xacti VPC-FH1).