True 1080 HDV camera from Canon
updated 08:50 am EDT, Wed August 2, 2006
Canon 1080 Camera
While Sony has been boasting about its HDV cameras and generally leading the charge with increasingly more affordable gear, the company has had a dirty secret: all their mainstream cameras record at 1440x1080, not the 1920x1080 you need for widescreen 1080i or 1080p. What good is your monster 60" TV when your camera's sharpest resolution uses a 4:3 ratio? Canon believes it has the cure, as today it announced the iVIS HV100, which uses the DIGIC DV II processor from the XL H1 pro camera to achieve its full HD resolution. It uses a 1/2.7 CMOS capable of 2.96 megapixels. Though the announcement is for Japan, the announced price of about 1000 Euros ($1278 US) suggests that it's only a matter of time before North Americans are boring their families to tears with vacation footage in HD quality.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2006
Not 1920x1080
The chip used in the XL-H1 prosumer camera is also 1440x1080. It uses non-square pixels to record the signal at 1920x1080 so your footage will be in the proper 16x9 aspect ratio. The only thing special about this camera is that it is using a proven high-quality chip in a cheap consumer camera.