Hi8 is a video format used in consumer camcorders, described in the source as the era when camcorders first entrusted the recording of “truth” to ordinary people. In this context, Hi8 is characterized by its soft, low-resolution grain. It is contrasted with high-definition imaging, which can make everything look beautiful and often produces the most convincing images precisely when they are the most synthetic. Hi8 works in the opposite way: its rough surface signals to the viewer that the image is constructed rather than natural. The term therefore functions not only as a technical reference to an older recording standard, but also as an aesthetic marker associated with analog texture, mediated memory, and the visible materiality of recorded images.