The difference is the bit rate they use. The bit rate affects how clear the videos looks, especially in scenes where there is motion. The camcorder uses a variable bit rate (VBR) when encoding the video data so the actual recording times will vary depending on the content of the scenes. Recording in LP mode gives you a longer recording time; however, depending on the scene being recorded, the video and sound recorded in LP may be distorted. We recommend using HXP or XP recording modes for better quality.