Panasonic debuts 3CCD digital camcorder

Planned for retail introduction in late Spring, Panasonic’s new Ultra-Compact Palmcorder Multicam digital camcorder/digital still camera is the definitive “pro-sumer” product.

Model PV-GS70 is a high-performance, digital camcorder/digital still camera with professional-quality features such as 3 CCD technology, a Leica Dicomar lens and a built-in 1.23 mega pixel digitalstill camera.  The legendary Leica Dicomar lens is renowned for its ability to bring out detail and texture, while the 3 CCD system separates the reds, greens and blues that compose an image,resulting in true-to-life color and broadcast-quality clarity.  Incredibly small and lightweight, the ergonomically designed PV-GS70 easily fits in the palm of your hand for convenientoperation.

“This totally integrated, three-in-one mini DV camcorder/digital still camera can capture high-quality digital video and still images, and can also serve as a web camera,” said Andrew Nelkin, Vice President of Panasonic’s Optical Group.  “It is the first compact 3 CCD camcorder we’ve targeted for under one thousand dollars MSRP, and it offers an unsurpassed combination of high-end features. We’ve given the consumer a professional quality camcorder at an affordable price.”

The PV-GS70 combines the easy handling of Panasonic Palmcorder camcorders with the latest digital imaging technology and sophisticated features.

Equipped with the same type of 3 CCD (charge-coupled device) camera system used in Panasonic professional broadcasting equipment, the new PV-GS70 is engineered to produce pristine, high resolution video with up to 510 lines of horizontal resolution¹.

A single CCD captures only black-and-white images, which are then passed through red, green and blue filters in order to reproduce color.  The Panasonic PV-GS70 utilizes three separate 1/6-inch (460,000-pixel) CCDs to separate the color spectrum into red, green and blue for digital processing by the camera.  The delicate hues, tones and gradations are then faithfully reproduced, resulting in a vivid, realistic image. 

The camcorder’s sophisticated Leica Dicomar lens captures and finely renders the most subtle nuances of light and shade with remarkable depth and presence for crisp, vivid, digital video images and breathtaking still photos.

To faithfully reproduce natural skin tones, the camcorder features the new Soft Skin Detail function, which detects skin’s different tones and softens the focus to create a realistic blend.

To add drama to a scene, Panasonic’s new, specially designed Macro Zoom feature lets users shoot extreme close-ups at distances as close as 40cm.

With a built-in USB SD Memory Card reader/writer and IEEE 1394 digital interface,  the PV-GS70 offers flexible computer interface options, allowing image data to be quickly and easily transferred to a PC from the included SD Memory Card.  In addition, when the camcorder is connected to a PC via a USB cable, users can start up Windows NetMeeting to turn the PV-GS70 into a web camera.

The PV-GS70 also features MPEG-4 Movie recording ¾ which lets users easily transfer MPEG-4 video clips with audio to a PC to create clip libraries and presentations, or to attach to an e-mail; digital electronic image stabilization; Quick Start function that begins recording in just 1.7 seconds; high-definition 10x optical/700x digital zoom**; SD voice recorder function⁴; zoom microphone; Cinema Mode 16:9 aspect ratio recording; 8 MB SD Memory Card; two-hour battery; 2.5-inch color LCD screen and included ArcSoftä photo editing software.