Sony announces new HD-to-DVD recorder
updated 11:35 am EDT, Wed July 18, 2007
Sony VRD-MC5 recorder
Sony has announced the VRD-MC5, a direct-to-DVD recorder being brought to North America. Its most notable feature is the ability to copy AVCHD videos, which are burned to DVD in their native 1080i format; the tradeoff is that they can only be played by Blu-Ray drives, whether they are PC, PlayStation 3 or stand-alone models. Burned SD videos can be played on any conventional DVD drive. A DVD+R or RW disc can hold 95 minutes of AVCHD or six hours of SD.
Inputs on the MC5 include DV, USB, S-Video and composite ports. Additionally, there are slots for CF, SD, SDHC, xD and Memory Stick cards, mainly for the purpose of creating DVD slideshows, which can include MP3 files as soundtracks. A 2.5-inch LCD lets users preview up to six images at a time. The MC5 will officially go on sale in August, at a cost of $230.
