Panasonic AVCHD Video Cameras

Panasonic has launched two AVCHD camcorders, including what it claims is the world's smallest and lightest 3CCD HD camcorder.

The two camcorders, the HDC-SD1 and the HDC-DX1 use the AVCHD encoding format jointly developed with Sony to record 1920 x 1080 pixel video to flash media, in the case of the SD1, and recordable DVD, in the case of the DX1.

The flash memory used by the SD1 is the new SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) format which allows a 4GB card to store one hour of high definition video. The HDC-DX1 can store up to 40 minutes of high definition footage on a dual-layer 8cm DVD disc.

Both camcorders feature a 13-element Leica lens with optical image stabilization and a unique system for recording 5.1 channel surround sound audio. Surround sound is recorded using five separate microphones. A zoom mic function links the recorded audio to the zooming of the lens so that the audio recorded changes as the focus and central subject of the recording change.

“We’re excited to introduce Panasonic’s first consumer High Definition video camcorders,” said Rudy Vitti, national marketing manager, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “We’ve implemented our black box technologies, such as our 3CCD camera system and Optical Image Stabilization to deliver the best image quality to consumers. These two camcorders offer quality and accessibility, with the scalability of SD memory with the HDC-SD1 or the convenience of recording to DVD discs with the HDC-DX1.”

Three-CCD camcorders split the light from the lens into red, green, and blue and each color is processed on a separate chip (CCD). This improves the color fidelity of the camcorder and makes color reproduction more accurate.

Both the HDC-SD1 and the HDC-DX1 will be available in March 2007 for a suggested retail price of $1499.95 and $1399.95 respectively.