Sony Rolls Out Hi-Def Camcorders With 10-Meg Still Pix Capability

Sony announced six new high-definition camcorders Sunday at CES, two of which can take 10-megapixel still photos, a remarkably high resolution for a camcorder.

At the top of the line are the HDR-SR12 ($1400), which includes a 120 GB hard drive, and the HDR-SR11 ($1,200) which has a 60 GB hard drive, both of which can take 10 megapixel photos.

The HDR-SR12, along with the HDR-SR11 ($1200), HDR-SR10 ($1000), HDR-UX20 ($1000), and HDR-UX10 ($800) all can record at 1920 X 1080, and will be available in March. All of the models include the face detection technology that automatically identifies up to eight faces and corrects focus, exposure, and color controls for both video and still photos.

Both the SR12 and SR11 camcorders mark the introduction of Sony's 5.7-megapixel ClearVid? CMOS sensors with 10.2-megapixel photo capture, the company says. In dual rec mode for simultaneous video and photo capture, the two models can take 7.6-megapixel photos up to the capacity of the media card in contrast to five, 3-megapixel photos on the other models with 2.4-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensors.

The two camcorders can also capture 2.1 megapixel photos from from video footage while in playback mode, and 3-megapixel photos from footage using bundled Picture Motion Browser software on a compatible PC.

The HDR-SR10 has a 40GB hard drive and can take 4 megapixel photos. All three of the hard drive-based camcorders can also record to Memory Stick media cards.

The UX20 model includes 8GB of internal memory, and can also record to Memory Stick or to a 3-inch DVD. The lower priced UX10 model is similar, except that it does not include the built-in memory.

The company also announced one additional hi-def camcorder, the HDR-HC9 ($1100) which records at the slightly lower HD resolution of 1440 X 1080. It will be available in be available in February.

Read PC World's ongoing coverage of this giant technology show at our CES InfoCenter.

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