Canon's building on its well-received XL H1 prosumer, interchangeable-lens video camera with the new XL H1S and XL H1A. The primary addition shared by the new cameras is the updated 20x HD Video Lens III, but there are also improvements to the image and color settings, audio input capabilities and an external LCD monitor output plug. The XL H1S bests the H1A with uncompressed HD-SD1 output, but will run you a full three grand more when it hits in June for $9,000, with the H1A landing mid-July for $6,000.

Asus continues to crank up its media PC related offerings, its latest are two HDMI equipped sound cards aimed at HTPC users or prosumers. Next week at CeBIT expect to see the Xonar DX sound card, a slimmed-down edition of its Xonar D2X card made to fit any PCI-E x1 equipped computer. Dolby Digital Live and DTS connect support is still part of the package, plus EAX 5.0 compatibility. Next up is the Xonar AV1, complete with three HDMI jacks and Asus' Splendid HD chip to assist audio and video mastering. Price or release date on these is unknown but we're sure to get a closer look once the show starts.

Although the new year has just begun, we're sure you can already count the number of social events, birthday parties and vacations you'll be attending in 2008. So if you know you're going, why not capture a few rolls of memories while you're at it, right? This week's Ask Engadget HD inquiry comes from Heyward, who is desperately seeking help in selecting an HD camcorder to tag along with him to the aforementioned getaways.

"I'm looking for a full HD camcorder. I don't mind shelling out a little dough, but I will draw the line at $1,500. It has to be hybrid media, though I don't want anything involving optical media (so flash-based is okay). I'd prefer control over frame rate and compression method, but I understand that those features might be too much to ask for on a sub-prosumer cam. I'm looking for a larger-than-average, easy to read screen, and a decent battery life. Help, please!"

You can almost hear the frustration in his voice, now can't you? C'mon -- we know at least some of you HD aficionados out there have bit the bullet and picked up an HD camcorder by now, so take a moment of your lunch break and tell poor Heyward what's what.

Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.

Canon has just announced their first prosumer high-def camcorders. These things might not be as small and compact as Sony's consumer lines, but they weren't meant to be ether. Canon basically took their old, but still a goodie, XL H1 (MSRP $9999) and shrunk the size of the camera and price. The two new camcorders both have the same imaging system as the XL H1 with three 1/3-inch 16:9 CCDs that can record 1080i60/24. Well, to be honest, the resolution is really 1440 x 1080 which is still high-def; just, not the 1980 x 1080i that you were expecting. The cams are equipped with a 20x optical HD lens and have the same DIGIC DV II processor as the XL H1. These two models are identical sans one little thing: a jack pack. The XH G1 (pictured with jack pack on the right) retails at $6999 and has an improved SD/HD-SDI that embeds not only the video signal and timecode, but also the audio. There is also a separate SMPTE Timecode in/out (via a toggle) and a Genlock input. If you don't need these jacks, you can save some gas money by picking up the same quality video via the XH A1 at $3999. The XH A1 should be available in October with the big brother coming in late November.

Now of course we would say DVGuru is the best place to go learn about high definition tools for producing independent films, but if you like to get more hands on and happen to be in Utah starting tomorrow, visit the HD House.

They've got panel discussions, product demonstrations and more planned. The tech sponsor for the house is Grass Valley, who will be spotlighting their HD camcorder and media.

Any of you prosumers hitting up Sundance want to tell us how it is?