Sanyo Updates Xacti with VPC-HD2

January 8, 2007 – Tailing the end of a huge string of camcorder announcements here at CES, Sanyo announced this morning that they will replace the Xacti VPC-HD1a with an improved version, the VPC-HD2 ($699 MSRP). The company promised that some of the past complaints have been addressed, including low light performance. The Xacti, which Sanyo still hails as the smallest and lightest HD camcorder, features a higher resolution image capable of 7.1MP stills, a faster start-up time, and a 10x optical zoom.
 
At a press event last night, John Lamb, Senior Marketing Manager for Sanyo Fisher Company’s Audio Video Division, stated the VPC-HD1 and its mid-year successor, the VPC-HD1a, had both found markets with people looking for high portability that met HD specifications.
 
The VPC-HD1 did not fare well in CamcorderInfo.com’s performance testing, though some of those problems may have found some remedy in the VPC-HD2. The imager has been increased to a gross pixel count of 7.38MP, which Sanyo claims to have improved low light performance up to 75%. This likely factors in a new “High Sensitivity” button on the exterior of the body which functions as an auto gain boost, so while quality may not be excellent in low light, the information is still readable.
 
As in last year’s models, the VPC-HD2 records in 1280 x 720 progressive video, encoded in MPEG-4. The camcorder does not employ the latest MPEG-4 codec, AVCHD, which has become quite popular in the last several months with Sony and Panasonic. Bit rates on the Sanyo are limited to DVD camcorder speed, approximately 9Mbps. The Web-SHQ setting has returned. This setting is optimized for shooting iPod and MPEG-4 media players.
The VPC-HD1 records to SD and SDHC memory cards. In the highest quality video, about 21 minutes of footage can be recorded per gigabyte. Current SDHC cards are available in capacities up to about 8GB. No card comes included with the camcorder.
 
The OLED screen originally found on the HD1 was replaced on the HD1a with a traditional LCD after Sanyo and Kodak ended a manufacturing partnership. The VPC-HD2 features a 2.2” LCD with a 210K resolution. The lens has a maximum aperture of f/3.5 in both wide and telephoto with a 10x optical zoom. Digital image stabilization is also among the camcorder's features. A docking station is included with the VPC-HD1, which includes S-video/AV-out, Component, HDMI, and USB ports.
 
The VPC-HD2 retails for $699 (MSRP) and is expected to ship in March 2007.