Panasonic goes big on flat screens and digital

By PETER GRIFFIN

Electronics maker Panasonic has unveiled its product line-up for the rest of the year: recordable DVD drives, LCD television screens and a wide range of digital photography products pointing the way ahead.

Recordable DVD


The days of the VCR are just about numbered, and the only thing preventing the changeover to DVD recorders is the hefty price-tag.

Take Panasonic's new high-end DVD-RAM recorder, the HS2 ($2800), for example. Based on the DVD-RAM standard, the device records programmes on a DVD disk - up to six hours on a single disk in extended play, and a further 52 hours on to the in-built 40GB hard disk.

You can simultaneously play and record programmes and display JPEG images on your TV screen.

But the device's best feature allows "time-shifting". Basically, this means you can pause live TV.

The hard drive records while you are away. When you return you can pick up the programme where you left off and it continues recording the rest - similar to the TiVo-type devices popular in the US.

Photography

The DMC-FZ1 "Mega Zoom" will be the flagship camera for Panasonic at the low end of the market. Although it offers reasonably low definition at 2 megapixels, it is enough to satisfy the amateur snapper. And the FZ1 ($1200) features 12x optical zoom - the largest zoom on the market.

Most of the digital camera-makers have now set the minimum entry-level standard at 3 megapixels - anything below will become the reserve of camera-phones and camera attachments for handheld computers.

At the top end of the market, Panasonic will introduce the LC43, a 4-megapixel, 3x optical zoom camera, and the DMC-F1, a compact 3.3-megapixel model ($1000).

All are based on SD memory cards, but although Panasonic generally regards 128MB cards as the standard size these days, the cameras mentioned above are stingy on storage, with just 8MB or 16MB cards supplied.

The company will also release a digital photo printer, the SV-AP10, which accepts SD cards and when plugged into a TV set can perform a photo album slideshow.

The printer's thermal head evaporates ink on to the photographic paper, meaning the pictures will not smudge as easily as those printed on an inkjet printer.

The unit sells for $700, and high-quality prints can be run off at a cost of $1.30 a shot.

The SV-P20 is a miniaturised printer that produces high-quality, credit card-size pictures ($700).

LCD television


Liquid crystal display monitors are becoming popular among PC buyers, as much for the space they save as the high-quality pictures they provide. But LCD is making progress in television as well.

Panasonic has 15.2-inch ($2500) and 22-inch ($5000) LCD TVs already available.

The advantage of LCD is its fast refresh rate - 16 milliseconds in Panasonic's case. That means sharp, clear pictures. The screens also adjust backlighting and image contrast based on ambient light.

Home theatre enthusiasts are also taking greater interest in projectors for DVD playback. Panasonic projectors cost from $4000 to $6000.

Personal gadgets

The Multi AV device ($700) is aimed at the youth market and doubles as an audio player and video-capture device. Transfer a stack of MP3 files across from your computer - up to three hours of music.

The SD slot allows you to add high-capacity cards. The video feature will not provide you with high-quality footage, but it is good enough for low-capacity clips that you may want to email to friends.

Also coming is a 5GB portable hard drive that opens to reveal a removable PC card, which can be slotted into a laptop to transfer large files or top up hard-drive storage.

Similar in size to the Apple iPod but solely a storage device, the portable hard drive will enter the market above the $1000 mark.

Video cameras

The most interesting feature in this category is Panasonic's DVD-RAM camcorder, a video camera that allows you to record footage straight to 8cm DVD disks.

The disk holds 120 minutes of high-quality recording, or about 2000 still images.

More images can be stored on an SD card. The M30 will be available from July for $2500.