What is the difference between SP, LP and EP recording modes on my camcorder?

What is the difference between SP, LP and EP recording modes on my camcorder?

Tim Smith (Camcorder Training Specialist) gives expert video advice on: How does a camcorder work?; Why don't consumer camcorders work well in low light? and more...

All camcorders have different recording speeds and different record modes like SP or LP even ELP, which is extended long play. SP is your standard recording mode. That is really going to deliver. In an analog world, it will deliver best picture quality. If you recorded in SP you got best picture quality and as you increased your record time to, say LP or long play, or even in some cameras ELP - extended long play - you got a lot more record time, but it did cost you in picture quality. The resolution dropped with each addition of record time. Now we're kind of working in the digital world and that is really not true anymore. When you go from SP to LP, you really do maintain the same picture quality and get more out of the tape, but a word of caution here: when you go from SP to LP, many manufacturers - and we state these in our manuals - will not guarantee that that tape is going to play back on anything but the camera you recorded it on, so you have to be a little bit careful. Use LP mode when you have to, but try to stay in SP most of the time because you don't want to end up with a tape that you can't play back on somebody else's camcorder or deck or maybe even on the next generation of camcorder you buy. So, use LP, but use it sparingly.