New Panasonic recorders bring HDTV to DVD, HDD, VHS

Turning its attention from its CES releases, Panasonic on Friday released two entries in its DIGA high-defnition video recorder lines. The XP12 and XP22V are both capable of transcoding HDTV from their digital over-the-air tuners into the more efficient AVCHD (H.264) video format, allowing more video to fit on either DVR's 250GB hard drives without losing perceived quality. Each can also record this video at its full HD size to single- and dual-layer DVD-R discs to preserve them for later viewing on the recorder or any other device that can play AVCHD from normal discs. The XP22V adds VHS recording, Panasonic says, though whether these videos will remain at HD sizes is unknown.

The two recorders can connect to a set through HDMI and support the CEC spec (dubbed Viera Link by Panasonic) for controlling basic TV functions automatically through the DIGA systems' remotes. Both also sport analog tuners as well as D4 (component equivalent), RCA, and S-video for handling analog video output. Panasonic ships both recorders to its home country on Feburary 5th at flexible prices that are estimated to reach roughly $689 for the XP12 and $919 for the tape-equipped XP22V. Releases for the US are unknown but would have to switch from D4 to a component output to be useful in the Western country. [via Impress]

XP12

XP22V