Sony Unveils World's Smallest and Lightest Camcoder Design

Sony today announced the world's smallest and lightest high definition consumer camcorder with full HD resolution based on HDV 1080i.

The ultra-compact HDR-HC1 Handycam camcorder fits comfortably in your hand, while delivering high-definition picture quality and lighting detail on both video and digital still images.

This camcorder's introduction is in response to the growing demand for HDTV.

With more broadcasters transmitting high-definition content, the demand for HD has been steadily increasing.

In fact, the Consumer Electronics Association estimates that nearly 15 million HDTV sets will be in US households by the end of 2005.

"As HDTV becomes more pervasive in American households, it is a natural progression to want to create personal content in high definition," said Linda Vuolo, director for camcorder products at Sony Electronics.

"This introduction is a key step in bringing high-definition video recording to a broad cross-section of consumers. For about $2,000, there is now an easy-to-use solution."

High definition recording requires fast image processing speeds to ensure a clear, detailed picture, with virtually no loss of picture data.

The new HDR-HC1 model features Sony's CMOS imaging sensor technology, designed to deliver faster image processing speeds for richer colors, more vivid detail, an