JVC has announced new additions to the Everio G series of hard drive based camcorders for 2006. The new camcorders feature several new innovations including direct DVD burning without the need for a PC using a new JVC DVD burner or JVC recommended burners from other manufacturers. Some of the new features include higher transfer speeds, 32x optical zoom lens, 2.7 inch widescreen displays, and an F1.2 lens.

In short, JVC is introducing two new 20GB models and two new 30GB models. The new 20 GB models are the GZ-MG21 and GZ-MG27. The two new 30GB models are the GZ-MG37 and the GZ-MG77. All four camcorders feature 16:9 video mode and widescreen mode, PictBridge compatibility, SD card slot, USB mass storage compability, Data Battery, remote control, and Power Linked operations. The top three models – the GZ-MG27, GZ-MG37 and GZ-MG77 – offer built in DVD burner control which allows them to connect and burn to DVD burners directly. These models also feature 680k resolution CCDs, 32x optical zoom lens, 640 x 480 digital stills, and 2.5″ – 2.7″ LCD displays. The GZ-MG77 is a 30GB model featuring a 10x optical zoom lens, 1632 x 1224 digital still pics, and a 2.7 inch LCD display.

Here’s a list of the models and how much they cost and when they’re coming out:

GZ-MG21  $600  February

GZ-MG27  $700  February

GZ-MG37  $800  February

GZ-MG77  TBD  March

AWARD-WINNING JVC EVERIO HARD DRIVE CAMCORDERS ENHANCED FOR 2006

New line offers direct DVD burning with optional JVC burner.

ORLANDO, February 25, 2006 – JVC’s breakthrough Everio G Series of hard drive camcorders gets even better for 2006, with new features that deliver enhanced performance and make hard drive video recording more attractive than ever.

Among the Everio innovations for this year is direct DVD burning, making it possible to create DVDs without a PC using a new JVC DVD burner or JVC-recommended burners from other manufacturers (compatible models will be posted to the JVC website). In addition, the transfer speed has been significantly increased, and a 32X optical zoom, a 2.7-inch widescreen LCD and an F1.2 lens are available on selected models.

JVC’s Everio G Series camcorders, the world’s first hard drive camcorders, eliminate the need to carry tapes, discs or any media at all, yet can record up to seven hours of DVD movie-quality video or more than 10 hours at DVD camcorder-quality on a built-in hard disc drive. Other advantages of hard drive video recording include the ability to quickly locate desired material, to effortlessly delete unwanted material and to easily rearrange playback sequence. The ground-breaking Everio G Series garnered several awards, including the Sound & Vision Editors’ Choice Award, Men’s Health 100 Best New Products For Men, Popular Science “Best of What’s New” and the CES Innovations 2006 Design & Engineering award.

For 2006, JVC is introducing two new 20GB models and two new 30GB models. Each is compact, exceptionally lightweight and includes easy-to-use editing and DVD burning software. The two 20GB models, GZ-MG21 and GZ-MG27, and the GZ-MG37 30GB model feature a 1/6-inch 680,000-pixel CCD, 32X optical zoom, Auto Illumi Light and can capture 640 x 480 stills. Thanks to new processing, these models also offer improved low light performance and reduced noise levels. The 30GB GZ-MG77 offers a 1/3.9-inch 2.2-megapixel CCD, F1.2 lens, 10X optical zoom, auto flash and 1632 x 1224 stills. It also offers JVC’s Low Light Plus, which combines the F1.2 lens with JVC’s 3D Noise Reduction (3D NR) that reduces video noise by approximately 30 percent and minimizes edge flicker. The top three models – GZ-MG27, GZ-MG37 and GZ-MG77 – include a 2.7-inch widescreen LCD. All four new Everio G Series camcorders include a 16:9 video mode and 16:9 widescreen mode, PictBridge compatibility for direct printing, SD card slot, USB mass storage compatibility, Data Battery that displays recording time remaining, remote control and Power-Linked Operation, which powers up the camcorder and engages the standby mode simply by opening the LCD. Operation has also been enhanced with a new four-way controller mounted on the outside edge of the LCD. Pressing the four “compass” points on the circular control operates menu settings, manual controls and playback control.

The top three models – GZ-MG27, GZ-MG37 and GZ-MG77 – offer built-in DVD burner control allowing them to be directly connected to an optional JVC DVD burner, the CU-VD10 SHARE STATION. The camcorders connect to the burner via a USB cable and the burner is easily controlled by the camcorder. Everio .mod files are converted to the DVD Video format and the SHARE STATION creates discs that can be played on most DVD players.

When transferring Everio footage to a computer, transfer speed has been significantly improved for 2006, taking approximately half as long to transfer data as the original Everio G Series models. One hour of Ultra model video, about 4GB, now takes about five minutes to transfer.

For use with PCs, Everio camcorders come with CyberLink’s PowerDirector Express NE for editing, PowerProducer 3 NE for authoring and PowerDVD 5 NE for playback. For Macintosh users, JVC provides Pixela’s Capty MPEG Edit EX for simple editing and file conversion to popular editing formats, and “mono DVD” for easy DVD authoring. An available option is Capty DVD for full function DVD authoring.
Feature Comparison
 GZ-MG21  GZ-MG27  GZ-MG37  GZ-MG77*
Hard Drive  20GB  20GB  30GB  30GB
CCD  1/6” 680k  1/6” 680k  1/6” 680k  1/3.9” 2.2M
Optical Zoom  32x  32x  32x  10x
Max. Digital Still  640×480  640×480  640×480  1632×1224
Clear LC Monitor  2.5“  2.7“  2.7“  2.7“
* Also offers Low Light Plus: F1.2 lens and 3D NR.
Shooting Time
Mode  GZ-MG21/27  GZ-MG37/77  Average Bit Rate (Mbps*)
Ultra (DVD Movie)  4.5 hours  7 hours  9
Fine (DVD Cam)  7 hours  10.5 hours  6
Norm (TV)  9 hours  14 hours  4.5
Eco (Internet)  25 hours  37 hours  1.7
* Combined A/V rates; video bit rate is variable for all modes.

Pricing and availability:
 Approximate
Model  Retail Price  Available
GZ-MG21  $600  February
GZ-MG27  $700  February
GZ-MG37  $800  February
GZ-MG77  TBD  March

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