JVC introduced a 3 CCD model in its Everio family of hard-disk-drive-based (HDD) camcorders.
The 30GB GZ-MG505 is the company’s flagship HDD camcorder featuring a 2.7-inch widescreen LCD, 10x optical zoom (8x for stills), three 1.3-megapixel CCDs, the company’s Megabrid imaging processing technology and 3D noise-reduction technology.
The unit can record up to seven hours of “DVD movie-quality video” at 9MBps or more than 10 hours at “DVD camcorder-quality” (6MBps), the company said. Using pixel-shift technology the MG505 can reach 5-megapixel resolution with still images at 2,560 by 1,920 resolution. Still images are saved to SD media (card optional).
The camcorder can record video in the 16:9 aspect ratio at 1,173 by 660 by 3 effective pixel resolution alongside a 4:3 mode.
New for the Everio series is an “event selection” feature for tagging video clips for later retrieval. Video can be assigned a category — such as birthday — before or after recording for producing video playlists in-camera.
The camcorder can connect to JVC’s recently introduced CU-VD10 ShareStation DVD burner for creating DVDs without a PC. DVD burning functions are controlled by the camcorder, which connects to the station via USB. The MG505 also features USB 2.0 connectivity for downloading video to a PC and is PictBridge-enabled for direct printing to PictBridge-enabled photo printers.
Like previous models in JVC’s HDD series, the camcorder protects the hard drive using polymer shock absorbers and a gravity-force sensor system that can detect sudden accelerations and power off the camcorder to protect the disc.
The JVC Everio GZ-MG505 ships in July and will retail for an estimated $1,300.
