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JVC GZ-HD300

JVC announced today its lineup of HD camcorders in the Everio series. The GZ-HD320 ($799 MSRP), GZ-HD300 ($699 MSRP), and GZ-HM200 ($579 MSRP) all feature the same 1/4.1-inch 3.05-megapixel CMOS sensor, a new 20x lens, 24Mbps AVCHD recording, a new processor, and face detection.

All of JVC's 2009 camcorders announced today, including HD and standard definition models, are encased within the same compact body, which is both an engineering feat and likely a smart financial decision for JVC. Identical bodies means that manufacturing can be streamlined to a single mold. The body design is similar to last year's standard definition Everios. They include a new hand strap that can be converted to a wrist strap.

The three HD models record 1920 x 1080/60i video, similar to most HD camcorders. However, JVC has carried over a feature from last year that allows for upconversion to 1080/60P. A review of the process on last year's model showed a slight improvement in the rendering of horizontal lines and reduced moires. Perhaps having found some traction with an upconversion feature, some of JVC's new standard definition models announced today offer upconversion from 480i to 1080i.

The GZ-HD320, GZ-HD300, and GZ-HM200 include a new Konica Minolta 20x HD lens, amongst the most powerful zooms for any HD camcorder. The new Gigabrid Premium video engine allows for a 30% reduction in power consumption, as well as speeding up write-times by 2.5x when connected to an Everio Share Station DVD burner. All three HD Everios offer the option to record in x.v.Color, the trade name for the expanded xvYCC color space supported by many HDTVs.

Video can now be recorded in bitrates up to 24Mbps, the fastest possible bitrate for AVCHD. In every bitrate option, video is now recorded in full 1920 x 1080. The GZ-HD320 is equipped with a 120GB hard drive. Recording in the highest quality, it can store up to 11 hours of video. The GZ-HD300 has a 60GB hard drive, which holds approximately 5 and a half hours in the best quality. Both are equipped with a microSDHC slot for expanded memory. The GZ-HM200 is a card-only camcorder, featuring dual SDHC card slots. The processor supports seamless recording from one card to another. Two 16GB cards can collectively store 2 hours and 40 minutes in the highest quality. Two 32B cards can hold about 5 hours and 20 minutes.

All of the new JVC camcorders announced at CES have several features focusing on clip management and sharing. The included software allows for simple export to iTunes, which makes it easier to move video clips to iPods and iPhones. The software also features a YouTube upload tool, and clips can be edited in-camera in order to conform to YouTube's 10-minute time limit. Also on the software is a calendar-view tool that allows you to see clips organized in a simple, chronological manner. The new Digest Playback tool is an in-camera feature that searches across all the recorded clips to create a 'coming attractions' trailer.

Archiving footage is easy when the camcorders are connected to an Everio Share Station DVD burner. All camcorders have a one-touch back-up feature. HD video can be archived on JVC's Share Stations as AVCHD DVDs that are playable on Blu-Ray players. New this year is the ability to output video for use with third-party Blu-Ray burners.

The GZ-HM200 ($579 MSRP) and GZ-HD300 ($699 MSRP) are available in black, blue, or red, and are scheduled to ship in February 2009. The GZ-HD320 ($799 MSRP) is available in black only and will ship a month later in March.