Sony’s DV Direct DVD recorder lets you transfer HD video from a Sony hard drive camcorder onto DVDs that can be played back on a Blu-ray player. It looks like Sony got a little pissed when it saw JVC doing something like this with its $400 Everio HD Share Station DVD recorder, but that one can only play back the resulting discs from itself. This Sony VRD-MC5 records on a DVD that can hold 95 minutes of that AVCHD video that’s becoming steadily more popular these days, or 2,000 still pics. Hey, this could be useful.
Sony’s latest DVDirect external burner now supports the company’s high-def line of camcorders. The VRD-MC5 (big brother to the VRD-MC3 and VRD-VC30) is the first unit capable of burning DVDs from any of Sony’s AVCHD cameras. Like previous burners, it’ll also come with a memory card slot (it reads all the usual suspects like SD, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, etc) and a nice 2.5-inch LCD. It’s debuting in Japan first for about $246. – Louis Ramirez
Press Release (Japanese)
