Are you in the market for an HD camcorder but you want something a bit more professional than the common consumer HD camcorders? Well if that’s the case, check out the newly introduced Sony HVR-HD1000U HDV camcorder. This entry-level professional HD camcorder features a shoulder-mount design and a price point of around $1900 - making it available to a wider range of users including wedding videographers, freelancers, and educational video creators (heck - even semi-pro bloggers can probably afford this!).

Here are the major features of the Sony HVR-HD1000U HDV camcorder:

• Supports both HDV and DV formats
• With HDV format, users can shoot approximately 60 minutes of HD video on a 6mm cassette tape
• Supports several down-conversion modes that output converted SD signals to the user’s current SD production systems
• Features a high-end Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonner T 10x optical zoom lens to help reduce reflection
• Features Super Steady Shot for image stabilization
• Uses Sony’s 1/2.9 inch ClearVid CMOS sensor system with its unique pixel layout rotated 45 degrees to provide higher resolution and sensivitity
• Capture 6.1 megapixel still images in Picture Mode. Capture 4.6 megapixel still images while HD video is being recorded
• New LCD monitor and electronic view finder configuration. LCD monitor is in front of camera operator when the camera is shoulder-mounted
• Smooth Slow Rec function allows users to perform slow motion playback by capturing images at four times faster than normal field rate (240 fields/s)
• 10 hours battery life with NP-F970 battery
• HDMI, i.LINK, USB, Memory Stick Duo slot

The Sony HVR-HD1000U camcorder is expected in December for a around $1900.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony HVR-HD1000U, HDV camcorder

Panasonic has announced that they have begun shipping a new line of High Definition LCD Rear Projection Display televisions featuring a new revolutionary long-life technology called LIFI. LIFI is a “first-of-its-kind” light fidelity projection display application which ensures image brightness over an extended period of time. It also reduces the startup time typically found on rear projection display systems. The new LIFI HD lineup includes two new series - the LCZ and the LCX series.

The LCZ is available in three sizes - a 61 inch, a 56 inch, and a 50 inch display - and feature 1080p resolutions, a glossy black finish, and a floating panel design. The LCX is available in two sizes - a 61 inch and a 56 inch model - both with 720p resolution.

These new displays replace the typical High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps with LIFI lamps resulting in a light source that is more stable with a much longer life-span. Since the light source does not use electrodes and the LIFI bulb is 1/8th the size of a typical HID lamp, the startup times are also greatly decreased - from a typical 60 seconds to a mere 15 seconds.

Features of the Panasonic LCX70 Series include:

• LIFI Light Source
• New 720p LCD Panel
• All Black Cosmetics
• 3,000:1 Contrast Ratio (Target)
• Full Range Speaker System (20W output)
• HDMI (Front 1, Rear 2)
• PC Input
• SD Card Slot
• EZ Sync

Models in this line include:

• PT-61LCZ70 for $2199.95
• PT-56LCZ70 for 1899.95
• PT-50LCZ70 for $1699.95

Features of the Panasonic LCZ70 Series include:

• LIFI Light Source
• New 1080p LCD Panel
• Piano Black Cosmetic
• 3,000:1 Contrast Ratio (Target)
• Full Range Speaker System (20W output)
• HDMI (Front 1, Rear 2)
• PC Input
• SD Card Slot
• EZ Sync

Models in this line include:

• PT-61LCX70 for $1995.95
• PT-56LCX70 for $1699.95

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Panasonic, LIFI, Rear Projection

Sony is expected to present a new high end Blu-ray standalone player at the upcoming IFA 2007 called the BDP-S1E. According to AVING USA, the BDP-S1E features:

• DVD video up-scaling to 1080p
• 24p True Cinema Mode
• Supports eight channel audio (7.1 linear PCM) as well as Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sony, BDP-S1E, Blu-ray player

If someone were to ask you which company was the top selling LCD manufacturer for the second quarter of this year, what brand name would you say? Sony? Samsung? Sharp? If you were to say those names, you would be… WRONG! The top selling manufacturer for the second quarter was in fact Vizio which saw sales in North America rise 76.4 percent over the first quarter.

According to iSuppli, the company shipped 606,402 LCD TVs in North America during the second quarter - up from 343,704 units in the first quarter. Overall, Vizio’s market share in North America rose to 14.5 percent - up from 9.4 percent in the second quarter.

The company went from fifth place to first place during the quarter passing the likes of Samsung, Philips, Sharp, and Sony.

According to Riddhi Patel, principal analyst at iSuppli, “Vizio’s success is mainly due to the company expanding its retail presence to Wal-Mart and Sears at the beginning of the second quarter”. There’s nothing like high volume channels and cheap prices eh?

It should be noted that the overall LCD market also grew during the second quarter increasing from 3.7 million units to 4.2 million units.

Now the bad news.. and it’s not for Vizio. Sony slid to sixth place as LCD shipments actually declined to 263,377 units from 412,323 units in the first quarter. That’s a drop of 36.1 percent.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Vizio, LCD TV

If you’re looking for a way to up-convert virtually any standard digital or analog source into HD quality video (720p, 1080i, and 1080p), then you might be interested in Key Digital Systems new KD-VPHD3 video/audio processor. The processor is the latest addition to Key Digital Systems’ popular Hot Rod Series of video and audio products.

Features of the KD-VPHD3 include:

• Acts as a universal distribution center for any HDMI or component video source
• Full HD 1080p output
• Supports HDMI 1.3
• Individual customization of the aspect ratio, brightness, contrast, hue, edge enhancement, and image position for every input source
• Up-scales and deinterlaces input video
• Supports VGA input as well

The Key Digital Systems KD-VPHD3 is available now for an MSRP of $2000.

Technorati Tags: Key Digital Systems, KD-VPHD3, Audio/Video Processor

Big news yesterday in the HD DVD vs Blu-ray format wars. Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG announced that they would exclusively support HD DVD on a worldwide basis over Blu-ray. This will include all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies, and MTV Films.

Why the commitment to HD DVD? According to the press release from Viacom, the companies made the decision based on an evaluation of the “current market offerings” which showed that HD DVD was “market-ready technology”, and had “lower manufacturing costs”.

The first HD DVD to come out from Paramount will be “Blades of Glory” on August 28th. Following this release will be “Shrek the Third”, and “Transformers”.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, had this to say about the “Shrek the Third” release on HD DVD - “We decided to release “Shrek the Third” and other DreamWorks Animation titles exclusively on HD DVD because we believe it is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a key segment of our audience — families”.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: HD DVD, Paramount, DreamWorks

Sharp Electronics is introducing a new full HD, 1080p line of LCD TV’s called the D64U series. This new lineup features a thin, lightweight “slim-line” design offering a significantly smaller footprint than previous AQUOS TV sets. The new D64U lineup consists of the following models:

• 65 inch LC-65D64U
• 52 inch LC-52D64U
• 46 inch LC-46D64U
• 42 inch LC-42D64U

Sharp claims the new D64U series is the thinnest large screen flat panel television in the industry nearly 25 percent thinner than previous AQUOS models and also 20 percent lighter than previous models. Sharp achieved the smaller form factor by re-engineering the circuitry layout inside the panel and cutting the overall number of parts.

Features of the new Sharp D64U LCDs include:

• Full HD 1080p picture
• Utilizes Sharp’s proprietary Advanced Super View (ASV)/Black TFT Panel with multi-pixel technology
• Dynamic Contrast Ratio of 10,000:1 with enhanced picture contrast technology
• Enhanced Fine Motion video circuitry delivers the fastest pixel response time of 4ms
• Utilizes Sharp’s proprietary 4 wavelength backlight system to round out enhanced specs, providing deeper more vibrant reds
• 176 degree viewing angles
• Three side terminal inputs - One HDMI. one component, and one composite
• Rear has two HDMI, one component, two composite, one S-Video, a dedicated PC input, and RS-232C for system control
• HDMI support is version 1.3

Pricing and availability for the sets are as follows:

• LC-65D64U will be available in September; pricing is to be announced
• LC-52D64U will be available in August for a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $3,799.99
• LC-46D64U will be available in August for an MSRP of $2,699.99
• LC-42D64U will be available in August for an MSRP of $2,099.99

Thanks to Akihabara News for the pictures

Technorati Tags: Sharp, D64U, LCD TV

Blu-ray or HD DVD? That’s the big question these days when we’re talking about high definition video content. Well.. the folks at Axonix Corporation are saying - why not have both with their new MediaMax HD Entertainment Server. MediaMax HD is the first Media Server system to play via Cover Art or Metadata both HD DVD and Blu-ray movies. The system actually includes a MediaDeck 4 system and a MediaServer box with oodles of storage space. MediaMax HD DVD provides the following:

• Instant playback of media stored on it’s Media Server including HD and SD DVD movies, CD, MP3, and WAV music, photos, and downloaded music and movies via the Axonix NetPlay service
• Includes a MediaServer and one or more MediaDeck 4 HD Media Players which include either an SD, HD DVD or Blu-ray drive
• MediaMax interface allows you to browse your media collection utilizing vivid HD quality cover art
• Browse via metadata including Genre, Actor, Director, Artist, Album, Title, Favorites, or by Playlists
• Supports SD/HD DVD movies, downloaded movies, music CDs, downloaded WMA and MP3s, imported or ripped WAV, converted iPod music, Internet radio, JPEG photos, etc

MediaDeck 4 is $3495 with an SD DVD/CD drive; $4995 for the MediaDeck 4 HD DVD with integrated HD DVD drive, $5995 for the MediaDeck 4 Blu-ray  with integrated Blu-ray drive. All the MediaDeck 4 models support the playback of HD movies loaded on the MediaServer. MediaServers with up to 13 TBs of RAID 6 are available with or without HD or SD drive. The Spectra 2 SD 500GB Series MediaServer starts at $5795.

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Onkyo has announced the launch of their first HD DVD standalone player in the form of the DV-HD805. The DV-HD805 will be available in the fall timeframe of this year and will support HDMI version1.3a.

Key features of the Onkyo DV-HD805 include:

• Supports Dolby TrueHD, dts HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio
• Supports 24 frames per second playback
• Supports HDMI v.1.3a enabling Deep Color support
• Includes Ethernet port to for web-enabled content
• Includes on-board HQV Reon VX video processing chipset for video scaling to 720p, 1080i, 1080p

The DV-HD805 will be available at a price of $899 which seems a tad bit high for an HD DVD player considering third generation Toshibas are now under $500 dollars. Thanks to Gizmodo for the picture of the player.

[Check it out viz Gizmodo]

Technorati Tags: Onkyo DV-HD805, HD DVD player

Matsushita Electric Industrial, the parent company of Panasonic, has announced that they will launch a new 37 inch LCD TV in September - modifying their original policy of only selling LCD TVs for the 32 inch and smaller TV market. Matsushita was attempting to segment the market by reserving plasma television sets for those who wanted larger form factors and keeping the LCD market down at the low end. Unfortunately this policy resulted in Matsushita missing out on the growing demand for large screen LCD TV’s with companies such as Sony and Samsung eagerly fulfilling the consumer demand. Matsushita’s attempt at market segmentation was doomed to fail as LCD panels dropped in price and consumers increasingly saw less of a difference between plasma TVs and LCD TVs. It all boils down to money for Matsushita of course. Plasmas have higher gross profit margins than LCD panels so why not try and sell plasma displays right? Unfortunately it appears this decision has backfired on them and Matsushita now finds itself needing to catch up in the LCD market.

The new 37 inch LCD TV will be unveiled in Japan on September 1st for a price of $2508 (300,000 yen). No word on actual specs at this time but for that price, it better be a 1080p display.

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Technorati Tags: Matsushita, LCD TV