JVC Everio GZ-HD40, GZ-HD30 and GZ-HD10: Dual-shootin' HD

JVC has announced three new high-definition additions to its Everio range, including a new record-breaking tiny shooter. The Everio HD10 is aimed at family and consumer use, while JVC is trumpetting the prosumer HD40 and HD30 as the world's first camcorders to record both AVCHD and MPEG-2. The idea is to get the best of both format worlds, drawing on the long play compression of AVCHD with MPEG-2's ease of editing and post-production.

Both are high-definition 1,920x1,080-pixel camcorders recording to hard disk drives. The HD40 records in both formats to a whopping 120GB drive, storing up to 50 hours of AVCHD Full HD video. Each of the camcorders uses a new HD Gigabrid Duo CMOS imaging chip that handles dual formats in the HD30 and HD40, and takes care of noise reduction for all three.

Interesting new features include intelligent grouping, which sorts and groups together similar-themed scenes for easier access, and digest playback, which reportedly creates a trailer of your footage out of a montage of scenes. We'll take a look at how these work when we get our hands on the new models for an in-depth review.

The trio all support 1,920x1,080/50P output via HDMI. The HD40 also comes with a docking station. All three will be out around August, with US prices at $1,299 (£650) for the HD40, $999 (£500) for the HD30, and $799 (£400) for the the HD10. Click through for details of the record-setting GZ-HD30 and the friendly GZ-HD10. -Rich Trenholm

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