Hitachi Announces World's First Blu-ray Disc DVD Camcorders

[Jerry Jones]

Some details about the new DZ-BD7H and the DZ-BD70 here:

http://www.jonesgroup.net/?p=36

There's no mention of any external microphone inputs for either model.

Does anybody know if they have (or do not have) such inputs?

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

It took some more searching, but I found the information about the external microphone inputs.

Hitachi's two new Blu-ray Disc camcorders apparently do feature external microphone inputs, according to this "DZBD70A" full specifications PDF here:

http://www.hitachi.us/supportingdocs/forhome/ubcg/bluray_camcorders/DZBD70A.pdf

It also indicates the video format utilized for the highest quality high definition recording is "AVC H.264."

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[paulw]

But will the new Blu-ray players mentioned in your other post be able to play these disks?? It would be ironic if they didn't..

[Jerry Jones]

Absolutely right.

I don't know the answer to that question.

If it's true that newer model "Blu-ray Disc" player models don't support BD-R or BD-RE, then I suspect this format is in for a rough ride.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

But will the new Blu-ray players mentioned in your other post be able to play these disks?? It would be ironic if they didn't..

[Dr Mordrid]

Could be those folks aren't setting he proper book type, or their burners are incapable of doing so.

[Technoid]

Could be those folks aren't setting he proper book type, or their burners are incapable of doing so.

I'd bet money on the latter

I've used NEC burners for a while just becase they allowed me to set booktype

[Jerry Jones]

Doc,

I went back through those forum posts and my understanding is that these newer "Blu-ray Disc" players may, indeed, play the discs recorded by the Hitachi camcorders because the Hitachi camcorders appear to be utilizing the so-called "BDAV" (no menu) method of recording to the 8cm "Blu-ray Disc" BD-R and BD-RE consumer-recordable discs.

The problem those forum participants seem to be describing appears to relate specifically to the home-authored Blu-ray Discs that feature Java-based menus... and these are apparently called the "BDMV" type of Blu-ray Disc (also recorded to BD-R and BD-RE consumer-grade discs).

The forum chatter suggests Sony may have decided to pressure the manufacturers to withhold support for BDMV (menu) home-authored "Blu-ray Discs" as a means of thwarting the copying of Hollywood movies.

Don't know if this is true, but it's a fascinating new twist that definitely merits some attention in the weeks ahead.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

Could be those folks aren't setting he proper book type, or their burners are incapable of doing so.

[Dr Mordrid]

If that's true than it shows stupidity on Sony's part; people could just copy the movie & other content without the menu's.

[Jerry Jones]

Here are the links to those two threads:

Link #1: http://tinyurl.com/25wnqe
Link #2: http://tinyurl.com/yp9f5f

I'm going to be watching this issue very carefully to find out if there's any truth there.

I wouldn't mind going Blu-ray Disc, myself, if I could be sure that I'm not going to run into the kinds of compatibility issues described in those threads.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Just found the PDF manual for the new Sony model BDP-S300 "Blu-ray Disc" stand alone player.

http://www.sonystyle.com/wcsstore/SonyStyleStorefrontAssetStore/pdf/BDPS300.pdf

Sure enough.

On page 6, the manual clearly states "this player cannot play" BD-Rs/BD-REs.

This suggests not even the Hitachi camcorder discs could be played in this particular player.

Why would they do that?

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

If that's true than it shows stupidity on Sony's part; people could just copy the movie & other content without the menu's.

[Jerry Jones]

Meanwhile, Amazon is selling the Toshiba "HD DVD" model HD-A2 player for $230 and it plays both DVD-R and DVD-RW that contain "HD DVD-R" images.

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-HD-A2-HD-DVD-Player/dp/B000IJV4BC/ref=pd_bbs_4/103-5419705-7422268?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1186526381&sr=8-4

It works.

I tested one this past weekend.

"HD DVD" definitely has a major price advantage, at this point, and it seems the playback of consumer-burned media doesn't seem to suffer from the issues that we seem to be observing on the Blu-ray Disc side of the equation.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[paulw]

And if your a Star trek fan.

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/store/news/article/2303263.html?page=1

[Jerry Jones]

The great irony of all this is that the Sony BDP-S300, which costs an expensive $499, apparently can't play BD-R/BD-RE discs from the Hitachi Blu-ray Disc camcorders, but it *can* play the DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW discs with AVCHD content recorded in AVCHD camcorders.

It's just too ironic.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

By the way, the Sony isn't the only model without decent support for consumer-authored BD-R/BD-RE discs.

Panasonic also seems to have screwed up in the same way.

Example is the Panasonic Blu-ray Disc player... model DMP-BD10AK.

If you visit the Panasonic Web site page for that model...

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?storeId=15001&catalogId=13401&itemId=131058&catGroupId=47054&modelNo=DMP-BD10AK&surfModel=DMP-BD10AK&cacheProgram=11002&cachePartner=7000000000000005702

...look down on the page to the SUPPORT AND RESOURCES TAB.

Click that tab.

Now you should see the link to the OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS PDF.

Open that PDF manual and then go to page 5.

Panasonic clearly states the DMP-BD10AK Blu-ray Disc stand alone player can't play "BD-R/BD-RE v1/v2."

Go to the Pioneer Web page.

Go to the Web page of every Blu-ray Disc player manufacturer.

Some models *do* offer decent support; some models -- many newer models -- don't.

It's a disaster, in my opinion.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net