In what looks to be the first Canon HV20 review, Impress Watch of Japan takes a good long look at how the HV20 handles and functions. Unfortunately, the whole review is in Japanese, but you can get a pretty good picture of the HV20 from machine-translation. One of the most interesting things to me is how Canon got the low-light rating to go from 5 lux to 3 lux.

From the looks of it, Canon is using the same noise reduction techniques/technology in the HV20 that is used in their venerable line of EOS digital cameras (UPDATE - it may actually be the 24p feature that allows the HV20 to deliver better in low light situations. See this Canon HV20 Review). This would definitely solve the mystery of how the same chip is being used to get a better rating.

The website has tons of pictures and even sample video of the cinema mode and 24p settings, so even if you can’t read it you can at least see the Canon HV20 in action.

Link [ via EngadgetHD ]