Camcorder sales continue to soar, marking a significant opportunity for the DVDirect device to help camcorder owners transfer home movies onto DVD without the complexity of using a computer. This allows DVD recording to be extended to a broader group of consumers who might otherwise consider the task too daunting.
The DVDirect burner can also be attached to a PC, and comes with the necessary software for advanced DVD video authoring projects, as well as the creation of data, music, and video DVDs and CDs.
The DVDirect device can burn up to 12 hours of high-quality MPEG-2 video onto compatible double layer DVD+R DL discs or up to six hours onto standard single layer DVD+R or DVD+RW discs. The device can also automatically insert chapters onto DVDs through DVD+Video Recording (+VR), or "start and stop" recording, so users can jump to specific parts of a DVD during playback and edit video footage on the fly.
Unlike computer-attached burners currently on the market that require a separate capture card and a computer to perform the same functions, Sony's DVDirect burner features built-in real-time video capturing and hardware MPEG-2 encoding to quickly deliver high-quality DVDs. Consumers who want to transfer their analog tapes to DVD can save money on extra hardware expenditures by choosing the all-in-one DVDirect device.
When attached to a PC with a USB 2.0 connection, the DVDirect burner also supports dual-format, double-layer burning. With 16X maximum recording speeds for DVD+R, users can burn a full write-once disc in about six minutes. Double layer burning allows consumers to record up to four hours of MPEG-2 video (at 4.7 Mbps) and up to 8.5GB of data onto a single-sided, double layer disc. Additionally, Sony's DVDirect burner can support 4X DVD±RW, 48X CD-R and 24X CD-RW recording speeds, so users can select the speed and media that best suits their needs.
Sony's DVDirect device comes bundled with an award-winning Nero software suite from Ahead for computer-attached operation. The package features DVD video authoring software and DVD/CD burning software, as well as packet-writing software for users to easily record files and folders by dragging them to the icon of a DVD+RW/CD-RW disc. Additional elements include DVD-Video playing software, backup software, virtual disc drive software, management/jukebox software, disc label creation software and drive tool software. All tasks and applications are accessible via the unique Nero StartSmart launcher, which serves as the ultimate command-center, giving the user one-click access to all programs in the package.
The DVDirect burner is expected to ship in November for an estimated selling price of around $300.
