It seems to be the area where most people scratch their heads and walk off disinterestedly saying it’ll never catch on.
Unfortunately it’s difficult to explain without going off into “techno speak“, but there are a lot of people out there with purchasing power who don’t want to admit that it’s all gobbledy gook to them.
So here goes.
First decision for anyone thinking of shooting HD is, do you want to shoot in Progressive scanning mode or Interlaced scanning mode (get it? P or I).
Or to put it in Layman’s terms with a “film” look or “video”.
Progressive scanned images (film look)have a higher resolution and less motion blur than interlaced.
Interlaced scanned images have the same perceived characteristic appearance as normal video.
Fast motion will look better shot in “I” (interlaced) mode, and appear jerky in “p” progressive mode.
Once this decision has been made, the other options of P and I rates are dictated by the end use of the material.
Is it for PAL or NTSC ?
UK and Europe , US , Japan, Worldwide?
TV or cinema?
Only once this has been established can a P or I rate be chosen.

The Sony HDW F750P can shoot either in 25P or 50i.
The Sony HDW F900 can shoot at 23.98, 24, 25, 29.94 & 30 frames per second or, 50, 59.94, and 60HZ Interlaced.

The first ever world wide universal format camcorder.