According to a report from Japanese newspaper The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Sony and Matsushita both plan to release Blu-ray recording camcorders in 2005. Blu-ray is a high-density blue laserdisc format intended to succeed DVD media. The discs can hold up to 50GB of data and are designed to hold a high definition video image. Matsushita owns both Panasonic and JVC, two of the four major camcorder manufacturers in the US.
Upon hearing the news, Sony US Press Representative Rosemary Flynn stated that Sony’s future Blu-ray camcorder plans were in fact discussed at a panel at the CEATEC technology show in Japan yesterday. However, according to Sony, the newspaper is incorrect as far as timing. Sony confirms that they will eventually have a Blu-ray camcorder, but Sony spokeswoman Flynn stated that, at this time, they are unable to confirm the validity of the 2005 date.
The report by The Nihon Keizai Shimbun stated that the companies would be releasing Blu-ray recording camcorders some time in 2005. The camcorders will record to 8 cm discs, which are smaller than the Blu-ray standard 12 cm discs. The discs apparently hold about 15GB of information. That disc size is the same as current DVD media, used in DVD recording camcorders produced by Sony, Panasonic, and Hitachi.
The report did not specify whether Panasonic, JVC, or both companies would be releasing DVD camcorders. Although both are owned by Matsushita, they typically use much different technology in their products. A source close to the camcorder division at Matsushita said anonymously that they believe that Panasonic will most likely introduce the Blu-ray camcorder.
CamcorderInfo.com first reported on Sony’s Blu-ray camcorder plans in March. At the National Association of Broadcasters Conference in Las Vegas, Rick Clancy, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications told CamcorderInfo.com that Sony was likely to eventually release a Blu-ray camcorder in the consumer line.
Although technical specifications for the Blu-ray format have not been finalized, there has been a lot of hype surrounding it over the past two years. As seems to be the pattern with new formats, there is a battle among major industry titans over which format will be the next generation to replace DVD. Sony, Matsushita, and Philips and other major manufacturers support Blu-ray, while other companies, including Toshiba, support HD-DVD.