JVC Unveils 3D Full 1080p Camcorder

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 2/7/2011

WAYNE, N.J. — JVC America ventured out beyond the world of 3D D-ILA video projectors at the recent International CES to unveil a variety of approaches to stereoscopic HD camcorders for 2011, and tipped its hand to future offerings by demonstrating a prototype of what one day may be the first consumer 4K-by-2K UltraHD video camera to reach the market.

The company’s key announcement centered on what it called the first camcorder capable of recording FullHD 1080 3D videos.

The GS-TD1, which will ship in March at an under $2,000 suggested retail, incorporates a 5x optical zoom twin GT lens system, dual back-illuminated CMOS image sensors, and a new high-speed Falconbrid highspeed imaging engine, which all combine to produce two independent FullHD 1080i channels, one for each eye.

The camcorder also offers 3D time-lapse recording, 3D digital still image capture, and a 3.5-inch glassesfree 3D touchscreen LCD monitor to playback 3D images on the go.

The screen technology uses a parallax barrier to block the left eye from seeing right-eye content and blocks the right eye from seeing left eye content.

Sound is recorded with JVC’s Biophonic technology that is said to produce 3D-like surround sound from twochannel speakers.

Images are recorded to 64GB of internal flash memory and an SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

The GS-TD1 will also ship with 3D Media Browser software to allow consumers to have a complete capture, record, edit, archive and sharing solution.

As an entry level to 3D, the company also said it was offering this year the GZ-HM960 ($899 suggested retail), which incorporates a built-in real time 2D to 3D converter. It can play back 2D footage and stills in 3D on 3D HDTVs via HDMI or on the camcorders 3.5-inch touchscreen display without 3D glasses.

As for the future, JVC demonstrated a prototype camcorder capable of 4K-by-2K resolution, also known as UltraHD.

Exact resolution was listed at 3,840 by 2,160 pixels, capable of producing 8.3-megapixel frames at 60 fps. The system is based on newly developed processors that are more than twice as fast as previous models. The chips were also said to use less power and are cheaper to make than the processors in current JVC camcorders.