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Sanyo Unveils New DMX-HD1000 1920x1080 HD Camcorder

by David Kender

Published on Aug 30, 2007 8:24 AM
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August 30, 2007 – Today, Sanyo unveiled the latest of the HD camcorders, the Xacti DMX-HD1000. According to Akihabara News and other sources, the camcorder is a big leap forward from previous Xacti HD models, now recording in fill 1920 x 1080 HD and encoding in the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 codec. Retaining the trademark super-compact body, the DMX-HD1000 still manages a 2.7” LCD, an HDMI output, and a revamped interface. The DMX-HD1000 has not been announced for the U.S. market, and the Japanese version announced today will ship in the middle of 2007.
 
The DMX-HD1000 is equipped with a 1/2.5” CMOS sensor, with a gross pixel count of 4,00,000. This is the same size as the sensor found in the VPC-HD2 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $585.36), their 720p camcorder released earlier this year, but the pixel count is smaller on the new model. It can record in a maximum quality setting of 1920 x 1080 at 12Mbps, which, at least on paper, puts it on par with the DVD AVCHCD camcorders from Sony, Canon, and Panasonic. Other quality settings include 1280 x 720 (12Mbps or 9Mbps) and three standard definition MPEG2 settings: 640 x 480 (6Mbps or 3 Mbps) and 320 x 240. Video is recorded to SD and SDHC cards up to 8GB. At this capacity, up to 85 minutes of the highest quality video can be captured.
 
The interface on the DMX-HD1000 has been slightly redesigned, and now clusters the buttons closer together on the rear of the body. From appearances, the new layout will do little to stem the flow of complaints from past Xacti camcorders in regards to handling. The zoom toggle is still awkwardly placed, and the compact body, as ever, presents problems for shooters with larger hands.


   
     
 
The entire body of the camcorder has been pitched forward, for reported ergonomic improvement. However, the 105-degree angle between the lens barrel and the grip means that the camcorder will not be able to stand up on its own accord for no-hands shooting.  
 
The DMX-HD1000 features a 10x optical zoom and an f/1.8 – 2.5 lens. The focal range is 6.3 – 63mm (35mm equiv = 49.7 – 497mm in movie mode, 38 – 380mm in still mode. Still images up to 3264 x 2448 (8MP) can be saved to the card, though that image is an interpolated blow-up from its native resolution of 2288 x 1712. The TFT LCD measures 2.7” and has a 230,000 pixel resolution.


 
The DMX-HD1000 will begin shipping in select markets in mid-September in either black or silver models. The press release does not state an MSRP, but reports have put it at about ¥120,000, or about $1041 dollars. The camcorder has not been announced by U.S. division of Sanyo at this time. Full specs and more information are available from the press release.