I bought some of these tapes as I was recording some important film and was concerned about dropping frames. And surely I had no frames dropped when I used these tapes. However, I normally use ordinary mini dv tapes and have had no problems using them either. Also, I don't understand how the colour quality can improve? These tapes are digital and record the 1's and 0's your camera produces. The visual quality comes from the camera, not the tape. If you use a standard mini dv tape, it's going to record the same 1's and 0's as if you were using an HD tape. The issue I believe is data loss. If you are making home videos and are willing to take the slight risk of dropping a frame, go for the standard mini dv. For what they are, I think the price of the HD tape is bonkers!