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Panasonic VDR-D230 News Release Summary:
Panasonic Adds Optical Image Stabilizer, Widescreen and Dual Layer Recording to DVD Camcorders

LAS VEGAS, NV, January 8, 2007 – Panasonic today unveiled an upgraded line of DVD camcorders featuring advances in image stabilizer technology, increased optical zoom range and enhanced usability.

"Panasonic’s 2007 models are the next generation of our existing gold-standard DVD camcorder line," said Rudy Vitti, Panasonic's national marketing manager for camcorders. "Since there wasn't anything broken, we had nothing to fix … which enabled us to devote all our resources and attention to packing more performance, features and value into each model."

According to Vitti, the most substantial 2007 upgrade is the addition of Panasonic's Optical Image Stabilizer (O.I.S.) system to the value-priced D210 and mid-level D230 models.

"There really is no way to overstate the advantages O.I.S. in protecting against loss of quality from hand-shake over a wide compensation range, " Vitti noted. “It eliminates the possibility of electronic artifacts or distortion being added to the image, light-loss is almost immeasurable, and it does its work before the image reaches the CCD, enabling it to support major magnification without blurring – a crucial factor with more and more users displaying their pictures on big-screen HDTVs. Frankly, there is no way we could have increased the zoom range of the D210 and D230 to 32x had we not integrated O.I.S. into them."

Other features on selected DVD Camcorder models include one-touch navigation and joystick control for easy, one-handed shooting, high-speed shutters, 2.7-inch wide LCDs for enhanced 16:9 video composition, multi-format (DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/-R DL) DVD recording, MPEG 2 VBR (variable bit range) compression technology based on Panasonic's high-end DIGA DVD recorder system, and still-picture recording.

"DVD Camcorders are all about cost-effectiveness and convenience," Vitti noted, "Users can take the disc right out of the camcorder, pop it into their computer or a DVD player connected to anything from a conventional CRT TV to a 103-inch Panasonic Plasma display, and enjoy their movies with minimal fuss and bother."

VDR-D230
Optical Image Stabilizer, 32x optical zoom, MPEG 2 VBR compression, LED illumination system, one-touch navigation & joystick control, SD Card slot, 2.7" wide LCD, 16:9 movie mode, high-shutter speed (1/60-1/8000, disc mode; 1/60-1/500, card mode), still-picture recording, multi-format recording (DVD-RAM/-RW/-R/-R DL), USB HS port, DVDfunStudio 2.5, DVD-Movie-AlbumSE 4.3, ImageMixer3, VCD/DVD 2.0 (Mac) applications
February 2007
$499.95