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AVCHD posts

JVC joins the sub-$200 Blu-ray player game with ultrathin XV-BP11

by Darren Murph posted Oct 28th 2009 at 8:59AM

Sub-$200 Blu-ray players certainly aren't new -- heck, some guys have been doing it since the year 2008 -- but you'll never catch us kvetching about a little more competition. JVC has today introduced (in the briefest way possible, might we add) its newest Blu-ray player just ten months after deciding to play the BD game here in the States. The ultrathin (and "now available") XV-BP11 should slide into just about any AV rack, bringing Blu-ray / DVD playback, AVCHD support, HDMI 1.3, a USB socket and compatibility with a slew of audio formats. Curiously enough, the outfit doesn't bother to mention if this thing is Profile 2.0, but we're guessing (read: hoping) that it wouldn't do something as ludicrous as charge two bills for a Profile 1.1 deck in late 2009. Then again, we've seen zanier things go down...

Update: Ouch -- this thing is only Profile 1.1. Dud. [Thanks, Aaron!]

Continue reading JVC joins the sub-$200 Blu-ray player game with ultrathin XV-BP11

Digital Cowboy's DC-MCNP1 2.5-inch NAS doubles as media player

by Darren Murph posted Jul 30th 2009 at 5:21AM


It's a little hard to believe that we've gone two whole months without a new device from Digital Cowboy, but at long last, the Japanese wrangler is hitting back with a striking new piece of consumer electronics goodness. The DC-MCNP1, which falls neatly into the Movie Cowboy family, is a 2.5-inch NAS drive at heart, but aside from giving you access to files on its diminutive internal drive anywhere in the world, it also streams a plethora of file formats to your HDTV. The HDMI / composite video outputs should take care of the vast majority of ya, and the USB 2.0 socket provides an expansion option for those needing to hook up an external HDD. An Ethernet port is built in for network access, but those who'd prefer to cut the cord can certainly plug a wireless adapter into that USB socket and pray continuously to the signal gods above. If you find yourself in Fukuoka next month, give this one a look if you've got ¥19,900 ($209) to spare.

JVC issues Everio GZ-HM400 Full HD camcorder in Japan

by Darren Murph posted Jul 30th 2009 at 4:14AM


Lookie here -- time for yet another HD camcorder in the quickly expanding Everio family. Launched today in the Land of the Rising Sun, the JVC Everio GZ-HM400 is a Full HD shooter with a 10.3 megapixel CMOS sensor, 2.8-inch flip-out LCD, 32GB of built-in storage, an SD / SDHC expansion slot, HDMI output, a 10x optical zoom and a fairly preposterous (in a good way) 600fps slo-mo mode, just like that ultra-sleek GZ-X900 we peeked back in March. The unit can also snap 9 megapixel still shots and hold nearly three hours of Full HD content before needing a USB-led cleansing. Indeed, this here camcorder mimics the aforesaid GZ-X900 in pretty much every way save for design, and it's expected on Japanese store shelves early next month for ¥110,000 ($1,157).

[Via Akihabara News]

Read - JVC press release
Read - Hands-on shots

Continue reading JVC issues Everio GZ-HM400 Full HD camcorder in Japan

For the first time, burn a Blu-ray directly within Final Cut Pro 7

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 23rd 2009 at 11:37AM


Apple might not be ready to add Blu-ray to its computers yet, but prosumers can finally burn their creations directly to the discs (with a 3rd party drive of course) from Final Cut Pro 7. Otherwise, there's also the alternative of burning that HD footage you couldn't bear to squish onto YouTube to a DVD in the AVCHD format, but Macworld notes that beyond a few templates with FCP itself, DVD Studio Pro doesn't support Blu-ray authoring, encoding or burning at all. Of course, video editors probably have one or two other features to concern themselves with so check out the full review, but we'll be busy divining the exact date that "bag of hurt" shows up packed into the next Macbook.

Sony's latest DVDirect camcorder-to-DVD recorder creates AVCHD DVDs with 5.1 sound

by Nilay Patel posted Jul 7th 2009 at 12:57PM


It's some 60 percent smaller in size, but other than that Sony's new VRD-MC6 DVDirect looks and acts an awful lot like the previous VRD-MC10 and VRD-MC5: it can take 1080i video with 5.1 audio off your Handycam's drive or Memory Stick and shoot out an AVCHD DVD that plays back on compatible Blu-ray drives like the PS3. If you're not into the all-Sony seamless end-to-end HD experience, you can also bring in SD video over FireWire, composite, or USB to churn out regular old DVDs with automatic chaptering and custom menu backgrounds, or you can go totally old-school and just drop in an SD card full of photos and MP3s to generate a slideshow. Yeah, it's not nerd heaven and you won't be editing Oscar-winners here, but at $230 it's a pretty painless way for everyone else to archive and share their videos. Ships in September.

JVC XV-PB1 Blu-ray player surprises with 1080p MPEG-4 MKV support

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 25th 2009 at 7:43PM


The first Blu-ray player to come to the U.S. from JVC, the XV-PB1, hasn't received a lot of hype since its CES reveal, but that might change now that it appears to be one of the first supporting MKV playback, following the Oppo BDP-83 and LG BD390. EHD reader Bill picked one up on the humble and lets us know he's had no problems playing 1080p video with DTS audio from a burned DVD. The manual on JVC's website indicates official MKV and AVCHD support, but surprisingly, not DivX although the spec sheet on the same website says it does. We're reached out to JVC to confirm what buyers can expect from the XV-PB1, but with MKV on top of BD-Live, network streaming from PCs and reportedly extremely fast load times this $299 player might reshuffle the list of most desired Blu-ray hardware.

JVC's new Everio X GZ-X900 does 1080p video, 9 megapixel stills, 600 fps slow motion

by Paul Miller posted Mar 3rd 2009 at 4:38PM Breaking News


JVC's new "Everio X" GZ-X900 camcorder is just what we like in a flagship device: incredible style, crazy specs, and awesome slow motion video of us slapping people. The GZ-X900 reworks the Everio line into a new brick-like form factor that's bordering on the shape of camcorders of yore, but JVC puts a nice twist to it, and the camera is obviously very compact. JVC used some "premium materials" in the construction and it really shows, but what's more exciting is the high-end 1080p resolution, with 1000 "TV lines" to sample from (it's not upscaling from a completely bum source like many compact camcorders). The unit also works as a fast-action still camera, for 9 megapixel shots at 15 fps, and 5.3 megapixel shots at 60 fps. What we're really wild about is the 600 fps slow motion, which operates at a 640 x 72 resolution -- you can get more pixels at slower frame rates. Unfortunately, none of this good stuff comes cheap: the camera hits retail in June for an even $1000.

Gallery: JVC's new Everio X GZ-X900 does 1080p video, 9 megapixel stills, 600 fps slow motion

Philips revamps Blu-ray lineup with three new players

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 14th 2009 at 11:33AM

BDP-7310 Blu-ray player

In all the announcements at CES we somehow managed to miss these new Blu-ray products from Funai Philips. The three new players consist of two that can do BD Live and the entry level BDP-3010 which is still profile 1.1. Both the BDP-5010 and the BDP-7310 have an SD slot for BD Live, but the higher model includes a 1GB SD card. The 7310 will also include support for more audio codecs as well as AVCHD and DivX. Both the 3010 and 5010 will be available in April for $229 and $249, while the 7310 is expected in May for $299.

Canon's HG21 HD hybrid camcorder gets hands-on treatment

by Darren Murph posted Nov 28th 2008 at 11:43PM


The flow of HD camcorders has slowed dramatically since CES 2008, but Canon bucked the trend by introducing a new pair smack dab in the middle of summer. The brawny (and capacious) HG21 was recently handled by the mates over at CNET's UK branch, and a host of hands-on photos have magically appeared. At first glance, the general build reminds us a lot of JVC's Everio HD40, but it's probably that 120GB HDD flanked on the side that does it. At any rate, have a gander yourself down in the read link.

Chinese pirates offering cheap AVCHD Blu-ray rips on disguised DVD-Rs

by Darren Murph posted Nov 17th 2008 at 4:26AM


Just last week we heard that Warner Bros. was ending its home video / DVD business in South Korea due to rampant piracy, and now we've got a report from China suggesting that sophisticated pirates are duping buyers with faux Blu-ray Discs that are actually DVDs. As the story goes, movie pirates in select parts of Asia are ripping bona fide BDs and then burning them in AVCHD format (which uses 720 horizontal lines of resolution compared to Blu-ray's 1,080) on writable DVDs. Word on the street has it that these discs are being offered for around $7 each, and they even boast the BD hologram and the iconic blue hues on the packaging. Reportedly, none of the discs have made it outside of Asia just yet, but stay sharp should you ever get the urge to snag a discounted BD title while traveling abroad.

[Image courtesy of UberGizmo]

Corel WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray Update Pack ready for download

by Darren Murph posted Aug 20th 2008 at 4:36PM

Ooh, goodie! A full five months after Corel released its WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray application, the first major update pack has arrived. The unimaginatively named WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray Update Pack checks in at just under 50MB and size and promises to resolve the "Enable S/PDIF Out" / "HDMI output to speaker" issues while expanding the list of compatible commercial titles and enhancing compatibility for a slew of VGA chipsets within Windows Vista / XP. There's no direct mention of BD-Live support, but for those who purchased the original, why not give the update a go and report back?

[Thanks, Tyler]

Canon churns out HF11 / HG21 HD camcorders

by Darren Murph posted Jul 22nd 2008 at 8:25AM


No sooner did we have a chance to wrap our mitts around JVC's Everio GZ-HD40 and Samsung's SC-HMX20C than Canon comes out with a pair of its own. Kicking things off is the iVIS HF11 (which turned up in name back in April) -- an HD camcorder with 32GB of built-in memory, an SD / SDHC card slot, Full HD recording capabilities (using the polarizing AVCHD format) and a 12x optical zoom. The iVIS HG21 (pictured after the break) relates most closely to the aforementioned HD40, as it packs a capacious 120GB internal HDD, 2.7-inch flip-out LCD and most of the same specifications as its sibling. Expect 'em both to land next month (at least in Japan) for ¥140,000 ($1,317) apiece.

Continue reading Canon churns out HF11 / HG21 HD camcorders

JVC Everio HD40 HD camcorder review

by Darren Murph posted Jul 8th 2008 at 10:14AM Featured Story


Just last month, we had the absolute pleasure of reviewing Samsung's SC-HMX20C -- which, if you couldn't tell, we really liked. This month, JVC's GZ-HD40 arrived, and we set out to put it through the same paces. Upon ripping the box open and wrapping our paws around it for the first time, we were simultaneously pleased with how light it felt and somewhat dismayed by the bulky design. Still, there's more to a camcorder than external pizazz, so join us after the break as we test out this dual-format device on a fantastic weekend filled with sun, sand and sunburn.

Continue reading JVC Everio HD40 HD camcorder review

Sony HDR-CX12 AVCHD camcorder captures smiles and scowls for $900

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 19th 2008 at 1:04AM


Sony just outed its newest HD camcorder dubbed the HDR-CX12. We're looking at 1,920 x 1,080 AVCHD video from a 10 megapixel ClearVid 1/3.13-inch CMOS sensor, BIONZ image processing, image stabilized Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T 12 optical zoon lens, a 2.7-inch LCD, 5.1 surround sound mic, and Memory Stick PRO Duo (4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (Mark2) in the box) storage. It's not the world's smallest, but it's only the size of a soda can, AKA, pop can for you mid-westerners. This camcorder also packs Sony's Smile Shutter tech which automatically throws the shutter (even when in standby) when your subject smiles... or grimaces at having to stand around taking yet another family photo. Smiles can even be prioritized by children or adults. $900 starting tomorrow or early August for brick-n-mortarers.

Update: Another glamor shot and now video of Smile Shutter working on the Japanese CX12 posted after the break.

[Via Akihabara News]

Continue reading Sony HDR-CX12 AVCHD camcorder captures smiles and scowls for $900

Panasonic's HDC-SD100 and HDC-HS100 AVCHD camcorders, now with extra MOS

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 18th 2008 at 2:19AM


Ready for some new terminology? Good, try on "3MOS" -- Panasonic's newest sensor adaptation which, judging by machine translated text, is a trio sensors capturing twice the light of a single CMOS of the same 1/6-inch size. Think 3CCD applied to CMOS sensors. The result is said to be superior image quality and impressive low-light recording capability -- twice the sensitivity of its own 3CCD camcorders thanks to what Panny calls its new "heavy lifting iA" enabling them to shoot in a mere 2 lux of available lighting. That's just a glimpse at what you'll find inside the solid state HDC-SD100 (supporting up to 32GB of SDHC) and the HDC-HS100 hybrid offering both SDHC and a 60GB hard disk for storage. These 1080i AVCHD camcorders also features Panasonic's improved optical image stabilization, a 12x optical zoom, 5.1-surround mic, and HDMI-out.The ¥130,000 (about $1,205) SD100 and ¥150,000 (about $1,390) HS100 should hit the Japanese retail block on July 12th.

Update: English press release now available.




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