Hitachi (News - Alert) Home Electronics, Inc. today introduced next-generation Blu-ray Disc Hybrid Camcorder with the ability to record onto the next generation HD format, Blu-ray.

 

The DZ-BD10HA from Hitachi’s Consumer Group contains several new features and improvements, according to the company. Those include a newly developed 7 megapixel CMOS image sensor, which captures rich and vibrant videos and stills in High Definition, company officials say.

 

The new DZ-BD10HA can also record up to four hours and 20 minutes of 1920x1080 video, or eight hours and 40 minutes of 1440x1080 video, onto the built-in 30 GB HDD, company officials say. Additionally, the built-in SDHC card slot provides added flexibility by allowing for Full HD video and still recordings, officials say.

 

The camcorder also offers a dubbing function that allows Full HD video to be transferred with the single push of a button from either the HDD or SDHC card to the BD drive, all within the camcorder, without having to connect to a PC, officials say. Editing functions such as split, splice, delete, merge, and transitions can also be performed within the camcorder before dubbing for additional functionality, company officials say.

 

The Transcoding feature allows a camcorder to transfer full HD videos off the HDD or SDHC card to standard definition DVD discs for the sharing of videos with friends and family who may not own a Blu-ray player yet, they say.

 

Also, Hitachi says it’s developed a compact, low power consumption, quiet and highly reliable 8cm BD/DVD drive, which results in a 20 percent reduction in overall volume compared with last year’s DZ-BD7HA Blu-ray hybrid camcorder.

 

“Hitachi is well known for having introduced the world’s first DVD camcorder, the world’s first Hybrid camcorder with a DVD drive and a Hard Disk Drive and the world’s first Blu-ray camcorder,” said Daniel Lee, a vice president at Hitachi. “Hitachi continues to improve upon and deliver cutting-edge and innovative products, and is pleased to offer the latest upgrades in camcorder technology to its customers and consumers. The new DZ-BD10HA underscores Hitachi’s commitment to developing original technologies that consumers can easily embrace.”

 

The camcorder has the ability to record HD video onto three separate formats and provides the flexibility and ease of playback and long recording time all in one camcorder, according to the company. The CMOS image sensor in this camcorder is designed to record the highest resolution video with effective 4.67 mega pixels while minimizing distortion and artifacts to ensure the most clear and vibrant high definition picture, company officials say. The camcorder is also capable of capturing 6.22 mega pixel stills onto an optional SD or SDHC card.

 

With the push of one button the user can transfer HD video from the SDHC card or hard drive to a Blu-ray disc all within the camcorder; this eliminates the need to turn on a computer, company officials say. Also, the face detection feature automatically detects and focuses on the face to provide true-to-life color accuracy and sharp picture quality to the user, officials say.