As the high definition camcorder market continues to grow, more manufacturers are turning to producing high definition hard disk, DVD and DV models.  Now, with another potential boost for the Blu-ray format, Hitachi has unveiled the world's first Blu-ray Disc camcorder, the DZ-BD7H, which is set to go on sale on August 31st in Japan and overseas in October.  The camcorder also features the world's first 8cm Blu-ray drive.  Unlike many early HD camcorders that capture at up to 1440 x 1080, this camcorder captures full HD of 1920 x 1080 either directly to an 8cm Blu-ray disc or to its internal 30GB hard drive.

It features a capacity of up to 4 hours of full HD recording or up to 8 hours of 1440 x 1080 HD recording.  When using an 8cm Blu-ray disc, it will hold up to one hour of full HD or two hours of 1440 x 1080 HD video.  Recordings made to its HDD can also be copied over to an 8cm BD disc without the need for a PC or any external device.  Other features include a 5.3 megapixel progressive CMOS image sensor, with 2.07 effective megapixels for video or 4.32 effective megapixels for still photos.

Like the drop in VHS sales, tape based camcorders now only account for a small fraction of the market, with over 80% of the market now consisting of DVD, HDD and other tapeless camcorders.  High definition camcorders already account for 30% of the camcorder market. 

As there does not seem to be any sign of a HD DVD camcorder yet, it looks like the camcorder market may help boost the Blu-ray format even for set-top players.  For example, DVD camcorder sales have soared due to the simplicity of watching back home footage in a DVD player without the hassle of transferring it from one medium to another.  However, in order for Blu-ray camcorders to give the same advantage, consumers will need to have a Blu-ray DVD player.  So, if the market for Blu-ray disc camcorders grows quick enough, consumers who have a Blu-ray camcorder, but not a set-top player may think twice of a HD DVD player if they realise how much hassle it would be to convert all their footage to the HD DVD format.