By Martin Vedris in Tokyo
TOKYO, JAPAN: Panasonic has unveiled three new Diga Blu-ray Disc recorders and three high-definition Diga DVD recorders at the Ceatec show, some with one terabyte hard disks built in, offering the world’s longest full HD recording capability.
Available in Japan from next month, and utilising Matsushita Electric Industrial Co’s UniPhier processor technology, the new recorders can store up to 18 hours of full HD video onto a 50 gigabyte (GB) double-layer Blu-ray Disc, or up to 381 hours of full HD video onto a 1 terabyte (TB) built-in hard disk drive (HDD).
“We are happy to bring you new high definition recorders that maximise the full quality potential of BD video and high-definition broadcasts,” said Panasonic director – corporate marketing division, Shiro Nishiguchi.
“Together with our full HD Viera TVs and camcorders, the new Digas will play an integral part of a high definition lifestyle we call ‘Living in High Definition’.”
Panasonic achieved the storage capacity levels using its new generation UniPhier system LSI and mpeg4 HD video compression technology.
The new BD recorders are the DMR-BW900 with 1 TB HDD, the DMR-BW800 with 500 GB HDD and the DMR-BW700 with 250 GB HDD.
The DMR-BW900 and the DMR-BW800 have a 1080p HD playback capability with a frame rate of 24 frames per second, the same rate as motion films. This means that consumers can achieve a movie theatre quality picture when connected with a 1080/24p compatible TV.
The recorders are also environmentally friendly. The new BD recorders as well as the DRM-XW300 and DMR-XW100 DVD recorders consume 0.3W of standby energy, the smallest in the industry.