As the price of Flash Memory keeps falling, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.) announced that they will be launching two new High Definition camcorders, one using Secure Digital as storage and the other with an internal 8cm DVD±RW DL / DVD-RAM drive. The advantages with Secure Digital include their size, weight, storage capacity and performance. With a 4GB SD card, the camcorder can fit up to 90 minutes of high definition recording at 6Mbps using the AVC codec. With a double layer DVD, the DVD version can store up to an hour's worth of HD video.
Both camcorders feature 1080i recording and 3 CCD sensors to cover red, green and blue separately for improved picture quality over similar single image sensor camcorders. By using standard 8cm DVD discs or Secure Digital memory (depending on the model), consumers can transfer footage to a PC without the need for a Blu-ray or HD DVD drive.
The HDC-SD1 (SD model) priced at ¥180,000 (~US$1,527) is due for launch on December 1st and the HDC-DX1 will be priced at ¥160,000 (~US$1,357) and will be launched two weeks later. The SD model features dimensions of just 74 x 69 x 142 mm and includes a 4GB SD card, while the DVD model features dimensions of 92 x 91 x 163mm.
Unlike DVD and hard drive based camcorders, Secure Digital camcorders are unlikely going to be limited by the SD cards out now. For example, from what I can see, at the way flash memory capacities keep increasing, we can easily see 16GB to 32G cards widely available in the next two years, particularly with 4GB cards already selling for less than what the cheapest 1GB cards cost this time two years ago.
Further details can be found at the Network World source here and at Engadget, which explains more about the use of AVC.
