JVC will add to its Everio range of hard-disk drive camcorders with a model that can record high-definition (HD) video, it said Sunday at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The GZ-HD7 can record a widescreen image at 1080i. It packs a 60GB hard-disk drive that holds five hours of video when captured at the highest of several recording modes. The camera records in the MPEG-2 format and capacity can be extended to around seven hours in "SP" mode by cutting down the vertical resolution.



Features include 3CCD (charge coupled device) image sensors, 10X optical zoom, optical image stabilization and USB (Universal Serial Bus), HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) and iLink interfaces. JVC said the USB is primarily for saving data, the HDMI for playback to a high-definition TV and the iLink for streaming. Conventional analog component, S-Video and composite outputs are also installed.

The GZ-HD7 will be available in April in the US and cost around US$1,800. Details of availability in other countries was not announced.

An optional DVD burner will also be available at the same time. The Share Station can be used to archive high-definition video as data files playable on a computer. Conventional DVD Video doesn't support high definition so users won't be able to burn discs that can be played back at full quality in a DVD player. It will cost around $400.