Sony launches laptops for the HD generation

Sony’s latest notebooks come with a Vista-friendly 2GB of memory and Blu-ray optical drives for those that want to watch high definition films on their laptop.

The company is pushing the quality of the 15.4in screen used on the Vaio FZ series, an X-black LCD. Sony claims the widescreen display can produce vivid, life-like colours, and says this is the most appreciated aspect in customer feedback.

But, in case you don’t to watch your HD movies on a small screen, the laptop has an HDMI port, so that it can be connected to an HDTV. It can edit full HD video and play back the results in 1080p.

Inside the stylish case is an Intel dual core processor, up to a 200GB hard disk, up to 2GB of memory and Nvidia GeForce 8400M GT graphics.

Sony claims world's lightest HD camcorder

Sony is adding two camcorders to its range; one it claims is the world’s smallest, lightest high definition camcorder, while the other is a 100GB hard disc drive model.

The Handycam HDR-CX6EK uses its proprietary Memory Stick for storing images and video – it has no internal hard disk or space for a tape or DVD. While this contributes to its small size and weight of only 370g (without battery), it does mean you’ll need a steady supply of high capacity Memory Sticks, especially if shooting in storage hungry HD.

It shoots video in 1080i and can take still photos at a resolution of 6.1megapixels. You can take 4megapixel photos while it is in Dual Rec mode, which means you can capture both video and stills at the same time. It has a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens with a 10x optical zoom, Super SteadyShot optical image stabilisation to prevent handshake at low light levels and a 2.7in touchscreen widescreen LCD.

Video is recorded using AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) , a format developed by Sony and Panasonic. AVCHD uses the Mpeg-4 AVC video codec, so can apply more compression to captured images while still keeping the quality, which means it uses less space on the Memory Stick when recording.

The HDR-CX6EK comes out in July and there was no indication of price. But you’ll need to factor in the cost of buying expensive (compared to DVD or tape) Memory Sticks. An 8GB Memory Stick Duo Pro costs around £110 upwards, and that in standard definition LP mode this holds just under three hours. Set the mode to HD and it will be closer to an hour, so you’ll need to own several if your plan is to use it on holiday or out and about.

The second camcorder, the HDR-SR8E comes with a whopping (for a camcorder) 100GB internal hard disk, allowing for up to 38 hours of recording – more than enough to bore even your closest friend post-holiday.

Again, its HD (so encourage friends to use this mode on holiday; they’ll be able to record a lot less footage). Other HDD camcorders in the HDR range include the 40GB SR5E and 60GB SR7E (pictured).

The range shares many features with the HDR-CX6EK, including AVCHD compression, lens, zoom, while the SR7E and 8E also have the image stabilisation and Dual Rec features.

Samsung to bring out hybrid high definition player

Samsung has admitted that its rumoured dual format high definition player will come out later this year in the US.

It follows hot on the heels of LG’s dual format player, which was announced in January at CES in Las Vegas.

The Duo HD player (BD-UP5000) will play both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs. Hybrid players and discs will become more common, because they give consumers greater freedom to buy the films they want, particularly as many are released in one format or the other, but not both standards.

But that freedom will come at a cost. Although the company has not revealed the priced, Samsung told Twice that it would be in the same ballpark as LG’s Super Multi Blue (pictured right), which cost around $1,200. There was no news on when it will come out in the UK, but it is unlikely to be until early 2008.

HD sales are now rising rapidly. In the first quarter of this year, around 1.2 million discs were sold, although the bulk of these were of the Blu-ray format. But there is still a great deal of confusion around the standards – and reluctance to make the HD plunge for fear of backing the wrong standard.

Reid Sullivan, marketing VP for Samsung's Digital A/V division, said: “Consumers are hungry for more HD content but are currently confused about competing formats. Samsung's Duo HD player will allow consumers to access to every HD movie title available regardless of the authoring format.”

HD sales break the million barrier

It looks like Blu-ray is currently winning the high definition war, with around 70% of people buying new high def DVDs opting for that format. Combined first quarter sales of both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats broke the one million barrier in the US.

The Blu-ray camp has always been the more aggressive of the two, often releasing bullish figures and claims about it sales. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, the Blu-ray group rolled out execs from the main film makers, and claimed that even by January it was out-selling HD-DVD.

Blu-ray is supported by five of the six major studios, while HD-DVD’s support numbers just three. Two, Paramount Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video, support both standards (Warner announced a hybrid, dual format disc at CES). What this creates is the crazy situation where you have to be a fan of a film format rather than films, because some are not available on both standard.

Hybrid Blu-ray/HD-DVD players are coming out (LG was first to make its move with its Super Multi DVD player – and it is bringing out a dual HD drive for the PC too), giving consumers a comfort blanket in case one format does crash and burn.

Sony, the main backer of Blu-ray, always expected sales of both the players and discs to outstrip those of HD-DVD, but given that its Playstation 3 houses a Blu-ray player, and that it gave buyers of the console a free Blu-ray movie, that’s no surprise.

So news that Blu-ray is becoming the dominant format is good for its backers, but it still doesn’t clear up the confusion over standards in the marketplace, and means some consumers will be making expensive mistakes when they find support for their chosen player fades.