Panny joins the ‘true HD’ camcorder club
So we’re still waiting for a consumer 1080p camcorder but in the meantime JVC’s Everio GZ-HD7 and Canon’s HV20 have been doing their
So we’re still waiting for a consumer 1080p camcorder but in the meantime JVC’s Everio GZ-HD7 and Canon’s HV20 have been doing their best at sorting out the 720p side of things.You see, while most so-called HD ‘corders record at 1440x1080i before stretching the picture to fit your telly, the JVC and Canon shoot at true 1920x1080i resolution, matching your widescreen perfectly.Trouble is, in putting in the extra pixels, they have, shall we say, put on a couple of extra pounds. Thankfully Panasonic has the answer. It’s taken the same AVCHD technology it used to shrink down the HDC-DX1 and HDC-SD1 and added a true HD sensor. The result is the mini-DVD spinning DX3 (pictured) and SD-card swallowing SD3.What happened to the 2? We’ll never know, but the 3s manage to cram in the extra res without breaking from the same dinky form-factor of the originals.Being AVCHD the HD footage can be burned to standard DVDs. You’ll still need AVCHD compatible equipment to play the output back on but, since that list includes the PS3, we’re already sorted.
Panasonic HDC-DX3, HDC-SD1 Price: £TBA On sale: TBA Contact: Panasonic Related stories: Panny’s ‘HD lite’ camcorders
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
