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According to TechOn out of Japan, the main difference between the HDC-SD1 versus the HDC-SD3 specifically is the H.264 codec LSI (large scale integration) chip. Prior to the SD3, a powerful enough LSI chip was not available to encode the images in full 1920×1080i in H.264 compression so the image was scaled down to 1440×1080 prior to scaling back up after the compression. The “Full HD” description in the SD3 is describing the inclusion of a newer LSI chip that allows the camera to fully take advantage of the optics without degrading the image quality first. Sounds like to me it is a worth while improvement. I still have not seem any comparisons of actual footage but if you can wait to buy your camcorder, it will probably be worth it.

I guess this is now an official move in the democratic party rule book:

- If you lose a presidential election to George W. Bush, You must write a book about the environment

Because that’s exactly what former presidential candidate John Kerry did. Oh yeah, and don’t forget Al “I own the biggest house in Nashville” Gore. Why not. It worked well for Al. I have not read this book but is it just me or was Kerry not particularly known for his environmental views? I am sure he does care but this just reeks as a me too move by the Massachusetts senator. I suppose if he wants to make another run at this in 4 or 8 years, he’d better start now so he has enough time to start a speaking tour and maybe ink a Hollywood deal in time for 2012 (just in case people don’t buy into the Hilary/Obama ticket).

If I was John Kerry, I would make sure I’ve done everything I can to make sure the world’s biggest food company, which happens to be owned by his co-author/wife Teresa Heinz’s family, is as green as corporately possible…

This guy took the phrase “fully functional” to a whole new level. It is actually a real car made from scratch. If you were a 1/3 scale person, you could get in and drive away.

Another video with more detail in French if you are into that kinda thing

(via BoingBoing and fineartmodels)

Just a couple days after I bought my Panasonic HDC-SD1 they already announced the release of its successor. The HDC-SD3. Looks like it is pretty much the same as the SD1 but with slightly better image quality. watch.impress.co.jp has a write up about the differences in Japanese with lots of photos. In a couple of the photos you can see the external battery pack I mentioned in the last post for extended use. Looks like the accessories will be compatible with both cameras. It still does not look like there are any software improvements to the editing predicament most SD1 owners are currently having to deal with.

I have been shooting a lot of footage with my SD1 and so far I am thoroughly impressed. I can’t imagine the SD3 have any noticeable image quality improvement but if you can wait 6 months maybe the a SD3 is in your future. It claims to have “Full HD 1920″ which means the SD1 achieves its 1920 frame with some kind of software trickery. That’s if you buy into the fact that it 1080 interlaced is “Full HD” versus 1080 progressive (”Fuller” HD?). It gets released in Japan on April 25th with a slightly lower price tag than then the SD1 came out (50 U.S. buckaroos) so look for it around you U.S. neighborhood probably around mid summer. I probably wouldn’t have been able to wait that long anyways to make my purchase so no regrets here. Yet.

Here are some of the photos courtesy of watch.impress.co.jp: