Sony Releases DSR-PD170 Information

by News Editor

Published on Oct 30, 2003 12:00 AM
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Sony has made information about the DSR-PD170 avialable on their web site. The DSR-PD170 is the US NTSC version of the DSR-PD170P, the European Version of the camcorder which was first shown at the International Broadcasters Conference in September. The camcorder replaces the very popular DSR-PD150.

The DSR-PD170 includes improved low light performance which reduces the low light rating of the camcorder from 2 LUX to 1 LUX. The camcorder's signal to noise ratio has been improved by 6 dB. A wide angle conversion lens is included and the camcorder includes a new lens shutter. A recording start / stop button has been added to the handle on the top of the camcorder, which is also larger. The viewfinder has been increased and the eye cup is much larger. The DSR-PD170 includes a hybrid LCD which is designed to do well in both sunlight and low light and the camcorder has more steps of iris control.

The upgrades are practically identical to the upgrades that were done to the DCR-VX2100 (Review, Specs, $1980) announced earlier this month. The DCR-VX2100 is the consumer version of the DSR-PD170. The DSR-PD170 includes XLR inputs, can record to DVCAM and has a slightly better built body than the consumer DCR-VX2100.

The DSR-PD170 includes three 1/3 in. CCDs, with 360K effective pixels for video. The camcorder includes a 12x optical zoom and manual control over almost all picture elements. The DSR-PD170 will be available in December for a list price of $3,940.00.