The new compact and lightweight AVCHD Handycam® camcorders with up to 100GB of built-in hard disk drive can capture more colours in x.v.Colour and up to 6.1 mega pixels of still images

Following the successful launch of Sony’s AVCHD Handycam® SR1, Handycam® UX series and Handycam® HC series that record videos on various storage media, Sony is announcing the latest member in the AVCHD range, the new hard disk drive Handycam® SR series. The generous hard disk memory capacity of 100GB in Handycam® SR8 allows recording of up to 38 hours and 10 mins in high definition. The range also includes the 60GB Handycam® SR7 and the 40GB Handycam® SR5 that capture about 22 hours and 50mins and 15 hours and 10mins respectively of non-stop moments in high definition. Based on the new xvYCC international standard, x.v.Colour technology assures supremely life-like colour reproduction. Compared to conventional camcorders, x.v.Colour approximately doubles the range of colours that can be reproduced, close to what the human eye can see.

One of the most compact and lightweight AVCHD hard disk camcorders in the market, the Handycam® SR8, SR7 weighs only 580 grams and Handycam® SR5 is 520 grams

“We are delighted to announce our latest generation of hard disk drive AVCHD Handycam® SR series in Asia Pacific. With these easy-to-handle and compact camcorders, consumers can record longer and continuous videos in greater details and store them in the camcorders to share with family and friends anytime, anywhere. This additional range offers consumers more choices in choosing the most suitable camcorder among our wide high-definition Handycam® camcorders range in different media recording to suit their lifestyle,” said Mr. Taku Taguchi, General Manager of Product Marketing Division of Sony Malaysia.

With the new Enhanced Imaging Processor and Sony’s original ClearVid CMOS Sensor, these Handycam® camcorders can record detailed videos in high definition or shoot up to 6.1 mega pixels of still images like a digital camera. The camcorders can also capture Smooth Slow Recording with audio recording functions for slow-motion recording of object movements too fast for the human eye to perceive. When utilising the dual recording feature, the camcorders can capture high precision still images of up to 4.6 mega pixels in video mode for Handycam® SR8 and SR7 and up to 2.3 mega pixels for Handycam® SR5. These new camcorders can shoot clear movies in dim conditions of minimum illumination of only 2 lux (with the auto slow shutter “ON”) and playback of clear and detailed videos can be watched on the large 2.7” wide 16:9 Clear Photo LCD Plus, with easy navigation on the touch panel. Users can even expand their high definition experience by connecting to any HDMI-ready television via an optional mini-HDMI cable. The Handycam® SR8 and SR7 also implement the Super SteadyShot™ optical image stabilization technology for stable videos and sharp still images.

With the capability to store a generous amount of videos, searching for a particular video with direct is made easy with the various search functions available. On top, the “Home Menu” and “Option Menu” are designed for easier access to vary shooting functions. After transferring the videos to the PC, the videos can be neatly organised and viewed in the calendar view of Picture Motion Browser. Besides the conventional visual index and date index search, users can also search with the new film roll index function by displaying thumbnails of scene captures at specific intervals or the new face index function that displays faces detected by the face detection engine . To create a copy of the latest video, the Handycam® SR series features a one-touch “Disc Burn” button which enables transfer of videos directly to an AVCHD format or DVD disc to be played on a PLAYSTATION®3 console or an AVCHD-compatible Blu-ray player. With the bundled Picture Motion Browser software installed, user can extract still images up to 3 mega pixels from video content, edit videos and save them in an AVCHD or a DVD disc.

The new Handycam® SR series will be available in Malaysia in July 2007.

Fact Sheet

“x.v.Colour"
To enable wider colour reproduction, a new international standard “xvYCC” (IEC61966-2-4) for wide colour space within moving images was accepted and issued by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in January 2006. This enables the current colour data range to be expanded approximately twice when compared to the conventional sRGB standard that current broadcast stations are using. Existing video content such as TV broadcasts and DVD software are created within the standard colour range, “sRGB” for optimum output on conventional CRT TVs. “x.v.Colour” is a brand name established by Sony to be used for products which applies “xvYCC” standard and it aims to promote this name actively within the industry. Sony will seek to create an environment where consumers can film, record, store, edit, transmit and playback contents using this full colour range.

AVCHD Format
The new AVCHD format delivers high-definition image recording and playback using a variety of media including 8cm DVD, hard disk and memory card. The AVCHD uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec for video compression that is twice as efficient as MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 technologies. Dolby® Digital is used for audio codec and enables 5.1channel recording.

ClearVid™ CMOS Sensor and Enhanced Imaging Processor
The new HD camcorders feature Sony’s originally-developedClearVid™ CMOS sensor and the Enhanced Imaging Processor to deliver high picture quality images. These models deliver higher resolution, higher sensitivity, and record movies with bright colours and fine details. Advanced functions such as dual recording (simultaneous recording of video and still images) and smooth slow recording with audio recording function are also achieved. Advantages of the ClearVid CMOS Sensor are high resolution, high sensitivity, low noise, smear-free and wide dynamic range. These are realised by the Enhanced Imaging Processor Enhanced Imaging Processor is Sony’s own signal processing circuit developed by utilizing advanced signal processing technology which Sony has accumulated through the years. It processes large amounts of data that the ClearVid CMOS sensor reads to record precise and clear images.

Smooth Slow Recording with Audio Recording Function
By capturing at a field rate four times of the normal recording mode*, quick motions that the human eye cannot capture can now be recorded in smooth slow motion mode. This feature is achieved by the ClearVid™ CMOS sensor and the high-speed signal processing technology, Enhanced Imaging Processor. The instance a bat hits the ball, the drops of water as water splashes, or the moment the child reaches the finishing line at a sports festival can be captured as film-like scenes in slow motion mode. With 240 field/second* high speed recording, a three-second video can be recorded as a smooth 12-second slow-motion video. An audio recording function is newly added. If the audio recording function is turned “On” (the default setting is “Off”), it records sound while writing the slow motion movie file on media. Moments such as golf swings, baseball hits and children scoring goals at sports festivals can be captured in slow motion like a movie scene. *240 (NTSC) / 200 (PAL) fields per second

Dual Recording (Simultaneous Recording of Movie and Still Images)
Dual recording enables the capture of up to 4.6 mega pixels still images for HDR-SR8 and HDR-SR7 (at 2848 x 1602, 16:9), and up to 2.3 mega pixels still images for HDR-SR5 even while recording in movie mode. Dual recording function has been achieved through the Enhanced Imaging Processor which processes huge amount of pixel data that the ClearVid™ CMOS sensor reads.

Film Roll Index
One press of the body-mounted Film Roll button makes it possible to preview the beginning of scenes and create scene indexes set at specified display intervals (3, 6, or 12 seconds and 1 or 5 minutes) to find the desired scenes more easily.

Face Index
Incorporating face detection technology, the function helps the user to search easily by displaying index of faces detected by the face detection engine .
*6 The MSAC-MMD adapter must be attached to use Memory Stick Micro™ media in a slot for Duo size Memory Stick™ Pro media.
*7 Handycam® SR8, SR7 and SR5 do not support AV IN

“Handycam”, “Super SteadyShot”, “PlayStation” and “Memory Stick” are trademarks of the Sony Corporation.All other trade names mentioned in this publication are trademarks of their respective holders.