The march towards freedom from camcorder tapes continues. Sony just announced their own set of tape-free HD models. The previous leaders in this arena were the Panasonic HDC-SD1, which uses SD (Secure Digital) cards and the Sony HDR-SR1, which stores video on a 30 GB hard drive. The SR-1 has been due to for an upgrade, and fortunately that is what Sony is about to deliver.

The Sony HDR-CX7 records high-definition video to Memory Stick Pro Duos (Sony’s version of the SD card). Interesting features include smooth slow record, which records 3-second bursts of high frame-rate video (records 240 frames per second instead of the standard 60 frames per second). The result is that, when you play this video back at the regular frame rate, it appears to be in slow motion without the usual jerkiness associated with this. Still shots are possible, but I don’t recommend video cameras for still pictures. The 4 GB Memory Sticks can hold abut 30 minutes of HD-video, which is reasonable given the easy of uploading and the ability to carry several sticks with you.

Sony also announced two hard disk-based HD camcorders: the HDR-SR5 and the HDR-SR7. The SR5 has a 40 GB drive for up to 5 hours of HD video, while the more spacious SR7 offers a 60 GB drive for up to 8 hours. Other features are fairly similar, though the SR7 also has a higher quality sensor.

The CZ7 will set you back about $1199 (list price) while the SR5 can be had for $1099. The SR7 is a bit more pricey at $1399. All three of these cameras use the poorly supported AVCHD format, so hold off until better software is available for managing and editing this video.

You may now have seen ads for the Apple TV, Apple’s latest attempt to advance the iPod universe. The Apple TV is essential a simple box that connects to your TV (preferably HDTV, though minimal support for standard def is there) to allow you to play audio and video from your computer. Like the iPod, audio and video files are managed via iTunes. Your Apple TV can sync with your computer (either Mac or PC) over a wireless network and store the media on its 40 GB hard disk. Alternatively, it can stream the material over the network.

Is the Apple TV for you? It is useful if you regularly download video via iTunes and want to display it on your TV. A less advertised, and potentially more important use, could be for playback of digitize camcorder videos. Instead of hooking your camcorder up to your TV and fiddling with tapes, upload the video to your computer and stream it to the Apple TV on demand.

The major downsides right now that may be dealbreakers are twofold: apparent lack of surround sound support and limited availability of HD content available for download. Apple sells movies via the iTunes store, but these are inferior even to DVD, let alone the HD quality that Blu-Ray and HD DVD provide. I have no doubt that Apple will add these capabilities in the future, but for now, these drawbacks limit the appeal of this device.

Though these limitations are real, the device still has appeal for those less concerned with HD quality and surround sound. It’s moderately priced and easy to set up, and seems a more viable solution than Microsoft’s Media Center.

Bottom Line: Marginally Recommended

What better place to hold an international conference on vitamin D than Barcelona, Spain? It could have been anyhwere, given that I spent most of my two days in the country stuck in a dark conference room, learning about the broad range of health benefits that have been attributed to vitamin D. I was able to try to get a bit of vitamin D myself, with a 2 hour rapid tour of the impressive city.

Fortunately, the conference was a good one, though primarily of interest to vitamin D researchers. Hopefully, I can return to Spain some time. I was able to enjoy some interesting seafood. Barcelona is apparently not known for type of food most people typically associate with Spain. Still, I am a fan of all good cuisine, and was able to enjoy an all-seafood meal with multiple courses that did not feel repetitious.

Looking to buy a new camcorder? Excited by the possibility of HD recording?

While camcorders have been around for a long time, the combination of HDTV capabilities with home camcorders has recently become more complicated for two reasons: storage formats and video formats.

Let’s start with storage formats. Traditional camcorders have used tapes. Early models used bulky VHS takes. which were superseded by the compact Hi-8 and VHS-C formats. As digital camcorders became mainstream, the MiniDV format caught on. Most early HD camcorders used the MiniDV format to record HDV video. Even though these cameras feature high video quality and all sorts of bells and whistles, they still inherent the same limitations inherent in tape-based recording. You cannot instantly jump to a clip of video recorded 30 minutes earlier. Importing into a computer takes as long as your video runs. These restrictions may not be problematic for those who tend to play video directly from their camcorder to their TV without editing, but the advantages of digital recording (including computer editing and simplified backup) are then lost.

Fortunately, manufacturers are beginning to realize this. Many cameras record to DVD or some miniaturized version thereof. This simplifies playback and computer transfer, but DVDs are not HD and tricks to record HD video onto them limit compatibility. Hard disk based recording is promising, offering potentially large amounts of storage in a compact package. The primary disadvantage is that you can’t bring a second hard disk with you if are on a trip and don’t have an opportunity to upload the video from your camera when you run out of space.

SD (Secure Digital, not Standard Definition) cards are wildly popular in digital cameras, but traditionally have not been used for video (particularly HD video) because of their limited data capacity. They are solid-state memory, with no moving parts to wear out. They offer rapid data access, a compact size, and easy transfer to a computer. Additional SD cards can be carried for a long trip. As a result of their speed, SD-based camcorders can often start recording within a second or two of being switched on.

SD sounds like the ideal format for video cameras, but adoption has been limited by the high price and relatively small storage capacity of SD. New SDHC (high capacity) cards promise to address the issue of limited capacity, but sizes above 8 GB are uncommon at this time. As of this writing, the two most popular SD-based camcorders are the Sanyo VLC-HD2 and the Panasonic HDC-SD1. The Sanyo model is limited to the lower-resolution 720p HD format, and reviews of its predecessor were lukewarm, particularly with respect to image quality. This model is still new, and detailed reviews are not readily available. The Panasonic can compete with tape-based models, but some feel the quality still a step behind, due to the AVCHD format it uses.

AVCHD is a form of video encoding that is more efficient than the traditional HDV format, but reviews have criticized early AVCHD cameras for their quality. The main drawback of AVCHD is that computer software for editing AVCHD is still rather limited. It is expected that Apple will upgrade its video editing software to support AVCHD within the coming months, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Advice? If you are not bothered by (or prefer) a tape-based video recording system, then there are a wide range of options on the table, with the canon leading the pack. If you are interested in moving to either hard disk or SD-card based recording, I would advise waiting to see how the AVCHD software support fares over the coming months. While the Sanyo VLC-HD2 avoids this format, the quality of video it offers is not yet known.

EMI, one of the major music publishers worldwide, annouced today that they would offer their music free of digital rights management (DRM), a form of copy protection that has become commonplace in the industry. While compact discs have generally remained free of DRM, most digital music sold online comes protected. This means that you cannot easily copy your music from one computer to another. Apple, with its iTunes and iPod combo, allows you to synchronize your iPod with a single computer, and allows you to place your music on up to 5 computers. This is a reasnoable restriction for many, but can still be inconvenient to maintain as computers are upgraded. Furtermore, there are several copy protection schemes out there, and they are not interoperable. Microsoft alone has two incompatible systems. Apple’s iTunes DRM (called FairPlay) works only with iTunes and iPods. This means that copy protected tracks cannot be copied to cell phones and other non-Apple devices. Similarly, tracks protected with Microsoft’s DRM cannot be used in iTunes or on iPods. This essentially locks you into a single companies products for electronic music purchases. Despite being enforced by companies like Apple that sell the music, it has primarily been the music companies that have demanded this copy protection.

EMI announced today that they would allow companies like Apple to sell their music free of any DRM. Apple announced that they would start selling these tracks in May along with the traditional copy-protected tracks. The DRM-free music will be slightly more expensive ($1.29 vs $0.99) per track, but cost the same if an entire album is purchased. Those with existing EMI tracks can upgrade to the DRM-free version for $0.30 per track. The DRM-free versions will have the added bonus of having higher sound quality; this is not a result of removing the DRM, but helps to justify to the increased cost.

Does this mean you can now allow your friends to freely music you purchase? While this may now be technically easier to accomplish, it is still illegal, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been on a lawsuit rampage target music copiers.

Bottom line: Tech Recs recommends spending the extra money to buy the music free of DRM to ensure you can use it on any device you choose in the future.