Sony Announces First Hard Drive Recording High Def Camcorder HDR-SR1

At a press event in New York today, along with the unveiling of four other models, Sony announced the first hard drive based high definition camcorder, their new HDR-SR1. The HDR-SR1 uses the new AVCHD format to encode video, at up to 15 Megabits per second, to an internal hard drive. Along with the HDR-SR1, the company also announced an AVCHD camcorder which records to DVD-R disks. The HDR-SR1 has brought back many features from past Sony camcorders which were popular with prosumers, which is a clear indication of their target market on this new model.

The HDR-SR1 is the world's first consumer high defintion camcorder that can record video to a hard drive disk. Sony first entered the hard drive disk camcorder market this year in January, with their introduction of the standard defintion HDR-SR100. Along with the HDR-SR1, Sony has announced three new hard drive based camcorders that use standard defintiion. The HDR-SR1, however, is the first to record in full high definition (1080i). It uses the new AVCHD format: a versitile encoding format that uses MPEG2 and H.264 encoding chips to create high definition video. Though the AVCHD standard allows for up to 24 Mbps, the HDR-SR1 will have a maximum bit rate of 15Mbps.

The camcorder is clearly geared to the prosumer market. The HDR-SR1 brings back a  multi-function ring which will control focus, exposure, AE shift, and white balance shift. In addition, some of the biggest news about the HDR-SR1 is that Sony has brought back a dedicated microphone jack and a dedicated headphone jack, two features that can't be found on any Sony conusmer camcorder under $3,000.  The camcorder also features an HDMI-out jack and a Control-L jack.

The HDR-SR1 uses a 1/3" ClearVID CMOSm which offers 2.1 gross MP (1.43 effective MP in 16:9 and 1.08 effective MP in 4:3). The chip camcorder which captures stills at a resolution of up to 4 Megapixels. Sony is including their dual record function,  which allows users to record stills at a resolution up to 2.3 Megapixels while recording video. The camcorder records stills to the hard disk drive, MemoryStick Duo, and MemoryStick PRO Duo cards and includes a flash.

The introduction of the first high defintion hard drive camcorder will certainly put JVC in a tough spot. JVC, which introduced the first HDV camcorder, has been their biggest proponent up to this point, with their third generation of hard drive based camcorders currently on the market.  They have lagged in recent years, though failing to come out with a follow up model. It also seems it will be tough for them to compete with standard definition models while Sony is presenting high definition models, although the Sony ones are much more expensive.

The HDR-SR1 will be available in September for $1,500.