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As tipped last week by SmartHouse, Hitachi has rolled out two Blu-ray Camcorders that can record at full 1920×1080 HD resolution. Users can also burn content straight onto a Blu-ray Disc built into the device.
When SmartHouse first tipped the launch of the product in Australia Hitachi got their knickers in a twist claiming that we had used a picture of the Camcorder which their inhouse Solicitor and General Counsel claimed does not show the right product or the correct detail and has and will cause gross misrepresentation to the public at large. They demanded that the picture be pulled down “Immediately” (See http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Digital_Photography/Video_Cameras/X7X5A9L4.
Ironically the picture was taken at an Hitachi stand at the CEATEC trade show in Japan two weeks ago under a screaming big banner claiming “World First Blu-ray Camcorder” . The same image used by SmartHouse was used by over 30 technology web sites including leading web site Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/20/hitachis-blu-ray-camcorders-coming-this-year/ as well as sites like Mobile Magazine http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/336/C12935/
To date Hitachi has failed to supply an image which they say is correct. Maybe Hitachi is developing one off models for Australia.
The models launched in Australia will not be available until November 2007. The product will have a 5.3 megapixel CMOS sensor as tipped by SmartHouse and picture master Full HD processing as well as HDMI connectivity. They also come with digital noise reduction, one-second quick-start function, SD Card slot, 10x optical zoom lens and a 2.7-inch HD-capable widescreen display. The Blu ray camcorder will record 4 hours of content by utilising Hitachi’s mpeg4 AVC/H.264 compression to copy Full HD files to Blu-ray Disc.
The Hitachi BD70 model will offer a single Blu-ray disc and multi-format DVD burner-drive capable of storing up to one hour of Full HD 1920×1080 footage, while the BD7H hybrid Blu-ray Disc and hard disk drive model will feature a 30GB hard disk drive as well as an 8cm Blu-ray Disc and multi-format DVD burner-drive.
In the Hitachi press release Hitachi Australia product specialist Mark Lawson said “With the explosion of affordable large screen High Definition (HD) TVs, consumers have come to realise the limitations of the Standard Definition video recorded on DVD and home camcorder movies. “To many people, even the crisp clear images of HD broadcast started to look a little fragmented when viewed on a screen of 50-inches. Then in late 2006, flat panel displays took another exciting leap forward with the introduction of Full HD” he said.
Ironically Hitachi has not released pricing at this stage for the new models however SmartHouse is tipping that these models could be expensive when released.
