Despite the fact that the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show officially closed its gates on Sunday, the sheer volume of product announcements was so overwhelming that we'll still provide you with info regarding some of the hottest products to take stage in Las Vegas for the next couple of days. That being said, we'll move to yet another interesting announcement from Sony, this time related to its latest camcorders.

Hence, the Japanese company has introduced four new high-definition Handycam video cameras at CES, namely the HDR-XR520V, HDR-XR500V, HDR-XR200V and HDR-XR100, all of which use a HDD (hard-disk drive) as the solution of choice for storing recorded video. Furthermore, Sony has also brought three standard-definition devices to the market, namely the DCR-SR87, DCR-SR67 and DCR-SR47 models.

In order to keep things clear, we'll first talk about the HD units. As mentioned earlier, all of these camcorders used hard-disk drives for storage, namely 240GB, 120GB, 120GB and 80GB units, respectively. Furthermore, beside the built-in hard drive, the models can record content to optional Memory Stick PRO Duo media.

As expected, all of the new models sport some of the most advanced technologies developed by Sony, such as Smile Shutter, which automatically detects faces and takes photos as the subject smiles, and Face Detection technology. Moreover, all of these video recording devices include Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound recording, a built-in zoom microphone and up to 3.2-inch wide (measured diagonally) touch-panel LCD screens.

Even if all of the four models are very similar, there are also some differences, apart from the storage space, that is. Hence, the HDR-XR520V and HDR-XR500V models are the first camcorders to use a back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor, which, according to Sony, offers seriously improved low light performance with approximately twice the sensitivity compared to Sony’s existing front-illuminated CMOS sensor at F2.0.

Additionally, these two camcorders feature a Sony G lens that incorporates advanced optics and low-dispersion aspheric glass elements, while a six-blade iris produces circular “bokeh” defocus effects. Furthermore, all of these camcorders incorporate a high-speed BIONZ imaging processor.

The top-range models from Sony's new product lineup also pack a built-in GPS antenna and NAVTEQ digital maps for video and photo geo-tagging. The Geo-tagged content is marked by a push pin at each shot location and can be played back on the camcorder map index display or enjoyed on the PC using the included Picture Motion Browser software.

Unlike the case of some of its other products, Sony's more generous as far as its pricing and availability details of the fresh HD cameras are concerned. Thus, according to the company, the HDR-XR520V, HDR-XR500V, HDR-XR200V and HDR-XR100 are slated to arrive in stores at some point in mid-March and will retail for around $1500, $1300, $1000 and $750, respectively.

As mentioned earlier, Sony's new camcorder lineup includes three standard-definition (SD) models, the 80GB DCR-SR87, 80GB DCR-SR67 and 60GB DCR-SR47 (which also used HDDs for recording purposes). All of these models offer users up to 60X optical zoom, hybrid movie recording to Memory Stick PRO Duo media, as well as and 2.7-inch wide LCD touch panel screens for viewing and control purposes. The SD Handycam models will arrive in stores over the course of February and will sell for around $500, $450 and $400, respectively.


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