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Canon USA and Canon, Inc. announced the HV10, their first consumer-oriented high definition camcorder. With an estimated MSRP of $1299, the HV10 is an HDV camcorder set to compete directly with Sony’s HDR-HC3, undercutting its cost by $200. Among the key features: optical image stabilization, a 10x optical zoom, a 1/2.7-inch CMOS sensor, and Instant AF, a new focusing system borrowed from Canon’s prosumer line.

Canon’s entrance into the consumer HD field has been long in coming. Sony has already cycled through its first model, the HDR-HC1, and replaced it with the HDR-HC3. Canon has not been idle, however. Just last week the company expanded their prosumer HDV line three-fold with announcements for the XH A1 and XH G1. But with a base price of $3999 for the A1, the camcorders were unlikely to entice weekend shooters.

The HV10 features a 1/2.7” CMOS chip (2.96 gross MP, 2.07 effective MP). This is the first Canon camcorder to utilize a CMOS chip, though the company has manufactured them for some time for use in their still cameras. The camcorder shoots full 1080i HD video, and offers noise reduction built into the chip (historically, noise has been a problem with many CMOS camcorders). The CMOS sensor is designed with a Bayer pattern, which defines the arrangement in which color filters are laid out, boosting the number of green pixels to increase color production for the human eye. The HV10 will also feature a DIGIC DV II processor, the same processor found on Canon’s prosumer HDV line, including the XL H1. The HV10 also features Super Range optical image stabilization.

The CMOS chip will allow the HV10 to take larger stills than were possible with their previous CCD imagers, up to 3.1MP (2048 x 1536). Another benefit of the CMOS is the ability to capture stills up to 2MP while simultaneously shooting video. Stills save to a MiniSD card, the same card media found in Canon’s DVD lineup. No card is included. A flash and a full array of manual controls round out the still package.

The HV10 aims squarely at Sony’s existing market for their HC3. The HC3 was Sony’s second generation HDV camcorder replacing the HC1 and is priced almost exactly at the same level as the new Canon HV10. The two camcorders will go head to head for sure on the floors of the nation’s retailers, with one of their biggest differentiating factors being their style. The Canon HV10 adopts the upright, compact style of their top MiniDV camcorder, the Optura 600.

Read more at camcorderinfo

In the continuous jostle to develop the world’s biggest plasma television, Matsushita Electric, owner of the Panasonic brand has announced that it hopes to start selling the world’s largest 103-inch plasma television by early 2007. And the statistics of this new entrant? Weighing under 475 pounds and measuring approximately 8-by-4.5 feet, this latest monster is set to beat the existing 102-inch model developed by Samsung by a mere one inch. And by way of comparison, “the panel is bigger than a double-sized mattress and almost as heavy as an upright piano.” The plasma panel is capable of producing images at a high definition resolution of 1920-by-1080 pixels. Now Matsushita competitors such as LG and Samsung will have to grease up their machines and announce something even better and “bigger” to stay in the race.

The device is slated to be launched at a price of - hold your breath - $50,000 in Japan this September. The 103-inch panels are already available for order by business users in the United States and will ship this autumn.
[Via Popgadget, The Sidney Morning Herald]

Pentax is pleased to announce the launch of the Pentax Optio S7, a compact digital camera slimly designed for greater portability. The Pentax Optio S7 is the latest model in our Optio S series, which is renowned for its slim and stylish compact bodies. In addition to an upgraded 7.0 effective Megapixel, this model has been decked out with extra features to make it easier to use, including a Blur Reduction mode, which reduces camera shake and subject blurring, and Face Recognition AF & AE, a function that simplifies portrait-taking by automatically detecting the position of the subject’s face and adjusting the focus and exposure based on the detected position.

[via letsgodigital ]

The HDR-UX1 and the HDR-SR1 are two camcorders from Sony that take advantage of the AVCHD format. This High Definition format works with 8cm DVDs, flash memory or hard drive based storage.

The first of the two camcorders, the HDR-UX1 records to 8cm Dual Layer DVDs that allow for up to 1 hour of HD content. The audio will also be stored in an improved format—Dolby Digital 5.1. The unit will be available in September for $1,400.

The second camcorder, the HDR-SR1, stores its movies onto a hard drive, and thus, can save up to 10 hours of HD video. The hard drive costs an extra $100 over the 8cm DVD version, but won’t cause any delays, so the HDR-SR1 will be available in September for $1,500.

Both camcorders have HDMI output and can shoot 2.3 megapixel stills.

[vai gizmodo, camcorderinfo]