JVC, leaders in camcorder technology, today announced the launch of a hard drive camcorder that combines a 3-CCD image device for superior pro-quality video and 5 Megapixel still pictures with the long recording time of an internal 30 GB (Gigabyte) hard disk drive. The recipient of the prestigious TIPA award for Best Camcorder 2006 (European Photo & Imaging Awards) even before its worldwide release, this hard disk black beauty is already following the multi-award winning footsteps paved out by the worldds first 3CCD HDD camcorder the Everio GZ-MC500.
The new JVC Everio G Series GZ-MG505, like all Everio G Series camcorders, eliminates the need to carry tapes, discs or any media at all, yet can record up to seven hours of DVD movie-quality video or more than 10 hours at DVD camcorder-quality. Pro-quality performance coupled with high capacity recording means that you can virtually take this camcorder anywhere whether youure a beginner or a professional. You donnt need to worry about where you can buy or even where to pack tapes or discs because you donnt need them. Just take the camcorder with you to capture your holiday, trip or event without any interruptions… just keep shooting!
To put this storage capacity in context, it would take 22 single-sided DVD camcorder discs (8 cm/20-minute discs) to hold just 7 hours of video at camcorder quality. In Eco mode, over 37 hours worth of video can be shot without any need to eject or reload recording media.
The GZ-MG505 sits at the top of the Everio G Series line because of its superior image quality, made possible by a 3-CCD imaging device that uses pixel-shift technology to deliver 5 megapixel quality. In addition to native full resolution 16:9 (1173 x 660 x3 effective pixels) and 4:3 DVD movie quality video with superior colour rendition, this high-performance image sensor enables shooting of high-resolution JPEG photos of up to 2560 x 1920 pixels. And best of all, the hard diskks high capacity means that nearly 10,000 photos can be shot without a second thought, with plenty of room left for hours of video, even at the highest quality settings. Here again, to take this many snapshots would require 416 rolls of 24-exposure film on a regular camera, making it the ideal camcorder companion for vacations where travelling light is the priority.
Despite the enormous storage capacity, the GZ-MG505 weighs-in at just about a pound or 450 g; 510 g including the battery and lens cap. Itts small enough to easily take anywhere. Its classic camcorder-style design is topped off by the 2.77 widescreen 16:9 LCD that accurately displays native 16:9 videos while they are being shot, as well as during playback in the field. The microphone input and accessory shoe provide flexibility to capture sound and attach lighting. And with multiple interfaces, high speed 12x USB 2.0 data transfer, and supplied software (Macintosh and Windowss), itts easy to view and share all those wonderful memories.
The Everio GZ-MG505 creates sharp and vivid images by dedicating a 1.33 (1.23 effective) megapixel CCD to each colour red, green and blue. JVCCs advanced prism optics and filterless 3-CCD pixel shift technology quadruple the pixel count to record 5 megapixel-class stills. Simply put, the pixel shift technique, used also in JVC professional cameras, captures double the 1,228,800 pixel information in both the horizontal and vertical directions, creating a real full colour image pixel count multiplied by 4 for stills. (In photo mode Everio GZ-MG505 uses 1280×960 effective pixels for each RGB colour.) The broader dynamic range delivers videos with bright realistic colours and photo-quality digital stills up to 2560 x 1920 pixels for beautiful A4 prints.
Other image-enhancing features
To fully capitalize on the cameraas inherent picture performance, JVCCs Megabrid Imaging Engine separately processes video and still signals, providing optimal processing for each. Megabrid technology assures high sensitivity and a high signal-to-noise ratio for moving pictures, and clear, high resolution progressive still images. The GZ-MG505 is also the first model to feature new processing that increases chroma saturation and luminosity, which together provide an exceptional picture with brilliant colours, especially noticeable in more natural-looking flesh tones and greens.
Also present is JVCCs 3D NR (3-Dimension Noise Reduction). Conventional 3D noise reduction offers limited accuracy since it compares field A and field B that make up a frame with different sets of odd and even scanning lines to compensate for noise. JVCCs 3D NR technology compares field A to field A, and field B to field B across two frames so that the scanning lines are identical and noise can be reduced more accurately. As a result, the signal-to-noise ratio is improved by 2 dB and noise reduced by about 30 percent. Flicker is eliminated and colour reproduction is improved, enhancing overall picture quality.
The Everio GZ-MG505 also features a high resolution 10x optical zoom (8x for stills) JVC lens, with one of the widest 16:9 angles available for video 35mm equivalent to 41.2mm (43mm for 4:3 stills). To achieve 3CCD high-resolution images, the zoom lens is a seven group ten element system developed originally by JVC. Chromatic aberration is decreased by using low dispersion glass lens materials.
A combination of ultra-high-density and miniaturization was achieved with three aspheric elements. In addition, highly accurate 3 CCD registration and multi-angle glass fixation technology developed by Fujinon for broadcast cameras are also used.
MPEG-2 Video Recording for DVD-movie quality footage
JVC is a leader in MPEG-2 encoding technology for both professional and consumer camcorder applications. The Everio G Series GZ-MG505 offers seven hours storage at 9 Mbps, which is close to the maximum bit rate for DVD movie quality recording, or 10.5 hours at 6 Mbps, comparable to DVD Cam recordings. Either way, the high quality MPEG-2 recordings are in the same format used in DVD so there will be no quality loss when burning them to DVD, and no time and quality wasting conversion. Two more modes are available for even more recording time, offering sufficient quality for normal TV-connected viewing or for uploading to the internet.
Easy access to recordings
The benefits of recording video to a hard disk are the same benefits that have made hard disk-based audio players so popular – random access to quickly locate desired material, the ability to effortlessly delete unwanted material, and easily rearrange the playback sequence. Whatts more, therees no danger of mistakenly recording over something you want to keep.
A new feature for this yearrs Everio G Series is Event Selection. In addition to accessing video clips by Thumbnail image or Date, with Event Selection the user can pre-assign while shooting or later assign a convenient topical category with Icon. Simply calling up the event type, like Birthdayy, brings up all events associated with it. Event categories can also help make playlists for in cameraa video programmes or for burning to DVD. And with remote control operation, it is possible to connect the Everio G camcorder to a TV and operate it from a distance, just like a DVD deck.
Hard disk protection and stability
A challenge in designing and building a hard disk camcorder is protecting the disk from shocks and vibrations. One way this is done in the Everio G camcorders is through a unique floating suspension system only found on JVCCs Everio HDD Camcorders that effectively dampens vibrations through advanced polymer shock absorbers. Another security measure familiar to notebook PC users is its gravity (G) force sensor system that automatically senses sudden acceleration such as in a free fall situation, and turns off the power to defend the hard disk so that a head crash can be avoided even when the unit is dropped. For those of us who prefer to keep recording even in the midst of a fall or drop, this feature can be turned off, but itts important to note that it is safer to keep this feature turned on so there is greater chance of your footage being retrieved should your camcorder be in an unfortunate accident.
Make full-length DVDs easily, with or without a computer
Everio GZ-MG505 offers built-in DVD burner control allowing it to be directly connected to the optional JVC DVD burner, the CU-VD10 SHARE STATION. The camcorder connects to the burner via a USB cable and the burner is easily controlled by the camcorder. The Everio converts its .mod video files to DVD Video format so the SHARE STATION can create long playing full size 12 cm DVD-R discs that play on most DVD players.
Advanced interfaces for PCs and printing
For use with Windowss, the GZ-MG505 comes with CyberLinkks PowerProducerr 3 NE for authoring DVDs, PowerDirectorr Express NE for editing, and PowerDVD 5 NE for playback. For Macintosh users, JVC provides PIXELAAs Capty MPEG Edit EX for simple editing and file conversion to popular editing formats, and mono DVDD for easy DVD authoring. An available option is Capty DVD/VCD 2 for enhanced function DVD authoring.
For quick downloading to a PC, simply connect the camera via its USB 2.0 interface. All transfer is digital-to-digital so there is no quality lost in the process. The accelerated transfer speed for this yearrs Everio G 7 Series including the GZ-MG505 is 12-times real-time speed, so a top-quality Ultra mode 60-minute (4GB) video clip can be transferred in about 5 minutes. And since the camera supports PictBridge, it can be connected by its USB terminal to a compatible printer for easily printing of stills directly from the camera.
This model also has an SD Memory Card slot for direct transfer of digital still image data. DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) support allows the menus on the camera screen to be used to conveniently select images and quantity before giving removable media to a printing service. The JPEG images themselves conform to DCF, PIM 3 and Exif 2.2 for optimised print quality.
Source: Ambertech
