Hitachi Promises First Blu-Ray Camcorder by Year's End

July 20, 2007 – Hitachi plans to make giant steps by year’s end, promising to deliver not only their first high definition camcorder, but the world’s first Blu-Ray camcorder. The company will also manufacturer the 8cm Blu-Ray blank discs through Hitachi Maxell Ltd, as the media does not currently exist. The camcorder, which was first teased at CES earlier this year, is expected to record a full hour of video on a single disc.

 

The camcorder, which has yet to be named, will feature a new, specially developed processor and a 1/2.8” 5.3MP CMOS sensor, coupled with a primary color filter. Hitachi is boasting a new noise reduction technology that will incorporated into the sensor.  The camcorder will record full 190 x 1080 video.

 

The problem of recording HD video onto optical media at an affordable price was an obstacle for some time. Rather than leaping into the Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD format war, Sony and Panasonic announced the co-development of the AVCHD format a little more than one year ago. AVCHD was seen by some as a stop-gap measure to pacify consumers demanding HD on a non-tape format. However, the last year has seen AVCHD camcorders take off, with nine releases collectively from Sony, Panasonic, and Canon. Hitachi is not a member of the AVCHD consortium, and is the last major camcorder manufacturer not to offer a high definition model.  

The new camcorder is expected to accept five types of discs: BD-RE/-R, DVD-R/-RW and DVD-RAM. No model name, price, or exact date has been announced for the Blu-Ray camcorder. More details, including processor specs, are available from the press release.