Sony's New HD Camcorders Featuring Built-in Projector Introduced at the CES

The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) showed off a variety of fascinating aspects of technology that we can hopefully soon look forward to enjoying. One of the great devices that was introduced at the show was Sony’s newest camcorder technology. Now, the 3D camcorder that Sony introduced was definitely very cool, but according to Consumer Reports’ associate electronics editor Terry Sullivan, this newest piece of technology might be even cooler.

The line of camcorders that Sony introduced at the CES consisted of HD camcorders that come complete with a built-in projector. Sony says that the line will be known as the PJ series. There will be three different models known as the HDR-PJ50V, the HDR-PJ30V, and the HDR-PJ10.

I’m honestly very impressed with this series of camcorders that Sony will be releasing. The devices will all be able to project video and images up to 60 inches in size when standing 18 feet away. Each of the camcorders in the series will have stereo speakers built into them with S-Master digital amplifier and Clear Phase technologies.

They also will all feature very large hard drives, 1080/60p video recording, built-in GPS, Exmor-R image sensors, built-in USB, great optics, and other great features. Prices also aren’t too bad considering all the fantastic features that these camcorders offer. Sony is expected to release two of their camcorders from the PJ line in March with the third device available sometime in April. Here’s the breakdown of each model.

HDR-PJ50V: Available for about $1000 in April

• Built-in video projector and speakers. This offers a brand new way for users to enjoy playback without the need to plug into a TV.
• Projector is integrated into the flip-out 3.0” Wide Clear Photo Plus touch panel LCD screen. It is capable of projecting images up to 60” on a wall, the ceiling, etc.
• Built-in audio system and stereo speakers with S-Master digital amplifier and Clear Phase correction, wind noise reduction, and mic/HP jack
• Full 1920×1080 HD video recording at up to 24Mbps and 7-megapixel still image capture
• 220GB hard disk drive, 1080/60p playback w/ Optical SteadyShot™ w/ Active Mode
• “Exmor-R” CMOS sensor and Wide Angle G Lens w/ 12x optical and 17x Extended Zoom
• Built-in GPS receiver w/ NAVTEQ® maps geo-tags content
• Event Browse for automatic grouping of content by events and Highlight Playback & Share to create highlight reels automatically
• Built-in USB cable and software for easy web upload and quick charge

HDR-PJ30V: Available for about $950 in March

• Built-in video projector and Clear Phase stereo speakers. This offers a brand new way for users to enjoy playback without the need to plug into a TV.
• Projector is integrated into the flip-out 3.0” Wide Clear Photo Plus touch panel LCD screen, capable of projecting images up to 60” onto walls, ceilings, etc.
• Built-in Clear Phase stereo speakers with S-Master digital amplifier, wind noise reduction, and mic/HP jack
• Full 1920×1080 high-definition video recording at up to 24Mbps and 7-megapixel still image capture
• 32GB flash memory, 1080/60p playback w/ Optical SteadyShot™™ w/ Active Mode
• “Exmor-R” CMOS sensor and Wide Angle G Lens w/ 12x optical and 17x Extended Zoom
• Built-in GPS receiver w/ NAVTEQ® maps geo-tags content
• Event Browse for automatic grouping of content by events and Highlight
• Playback & Share to create highlight reels automatically
• Built-in USB cable and software for easy web upload and quick charge

HDR-PJ10: Available for about $700 in March

• Built-in video projector and speakers. This offers a brand new way for users to enjoy playback without the need to plug into a TV.
• Projector is integrated into the flip-out 3.0” Wide Clear Photo Plus touch panel LCD screen, capable of projecting images up to 60” onto walls, ceilings, etc.
• Full 1920×1080 high-definition video recording at up to 24Mbps and 3-megapixel still image capture
• 16GB flash memory, 1080/60p playback w/ Optical SteadyShot™ w/ Active Mode
• “Exmor-R” CMOS sensor and Wide Angle G Lens w/ 30x optical and 42x Extended Zoom
• Event Browse for automatic grouping of content by events and Highlight Playback & Share to create highlight reels automatically
• Built-in USB cable and software for easy web upload and quick charge
• Built-in microphone with wind noise reduction and mic/HP jack

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Newest Projectors from 3M

In the past few months manufacturers have been getting fancy and have started producing hybrid gadgets that include mini-projectors in their design. There were the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj and S1100pj cameras that featured built-in projectors, the LG Expo GW820 smartphone that included an optional projector attachment, and about a month ago, 3M revealed their Shoot ‘n Share camcorder projector.

The Shoot ‘n Share allows you to do just what its name suggests. You can easily capture pictures or videos and project them from the same device that you shot them with, and the great thing is that you can do so instantly. The 3M Camcorder Projector can shoot video at up to 720p at 60 frames per second. The video is shot in a MPEG4 format, and as I said, it can be viewed immediately with its 15-lumen LCOS projector. All you need is a surface on which to project the image. You can view the image at any size ranging from 6 to 65 inches. The Camcorder Projector features a 2.4-inch screen, an embedded speaker, a two hour battery life, and a MicroSD card slot in case you need more than the device's 32MB of internal memory. The Shoot ‘n Share is currently available for $299.

At the same time that 3M released the Shoot ‘n Share camcorder projector they also released two new pico projectors, the MPro180 and the MPro160. The 3M MPro180 has a variety of useful features including: 30 lumens of brightness, SVGA resolution, two hours of battery life, still and video image projection, touchscreen controls, wireless connectivity, MP3 capabilities, Bluetooth compatibility, 4GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot for additional storage, and two 0.75-watt stereo speakers. It also supports Adobe PDFs and Microsoft Office applications including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Normally the smaller a projector, the less features it has, but this little projector is jam-packed with features despite its size. The projector is able project an image at sizes ranging from 10 to 80 inches. It is now available for $399.

The MPro160 is extremely similar to the MPro180 except it’s about $50 less and has a few less features. The MPro160 lacks Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity as well as MP3 capabilities. There also is not an internal memory or card slot which means that it is dependent on an external device such as a MP3 player, laptop, PC, etc. as the image source. This projector is available now for $349.

3M has been releasing some very interesting products lately. The Shoot ‘n Share camcorder projector just seems so convenient. To be able to take pictures or video and then instantly display it is amazing. The pico projectors from 3M are great as well. They offer so many features for their size. The fact that you can surf the Web from the MPro180 is incredible. If you’re looking for a pico projector, the MPro180 and MPro160 are definitely two that you should keep in mind. It will be great to see more projectors emerging from 3M. I think that they have definitely hit some home runs with their latest releases.

Not sure how to take care of your projector? Check out these guidelines and tips.

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