What is the difference between a camcorder with 50 mp and another with 2-3mp?

[lh2160]

I know what Mega Pixels are but can someone explain what this means as far as camcorders are concerned. I was told a SONY PXW X160 has 50MP and a SONY NX5R only has between 2-3. Thanks!

 

[nvincent_08]

that 50mp on camcorder are pretty much gimmick for recording, why? because if you do the math, 1080p is only 2mp ish and even 4k only 9mp ish. that 50mp might be useful, if the camera downscale the video that were recorded in higher resolution then downscaled to fhd, it could make video crisper but if it is not, then it is more to gimmick

 

[USAFRet]

I know what Mega Pixels are but can someone explain what this means as far as camcorders are concerned. I was told a SONY PXW X160 has 50MP and a SONY NX5R only has between 2-3. Thanks!

I believe you may be misunderstanding the "50MP"

That is actually "XAVC-S 50 Mb/s"
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1275939-REG/sony_hxr_nx5r_nxcam_professional_camcorder.html

megabits/sec, not megapixels.

"I was told..."
For a camera starting at $3,000, you really really need to do a lot of homework on this.