As I do believe you've been able to see over the past few days, some of the most important camcorder manufacturers have rolled out a bevy of new, improved and HD-enabled models at CES 2008, targeting just about every segment of the CE market. Furthermore, some of the respective cameras (like the ones from Canon or Sony, for example), offer hybrid recording systems, allowing users to choose between HDD/DVD and memory cards as the storage format of choice.

Thus, following Sony's announcement regarding its 16 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo memory card, SanDisk has also unveiled a series of high-capacity memory cards designed especially for camcorders, which has been dubbed Video HD. This new lineup includes SDHC (high-capacity) and Memory Stick PRO Duo formats.

"The SanDisk Video HD line takes the mystery out of selecting the proper memory for these new camcorders," said Susan Park, senior product marketing manager for SanDisk's Cards and Accessories Division. "The bright red packaging and the bold labeling of recording times give consumers an easy way to select memory cards for video." The cards are designed to be high performance and optimized for high-definition camcorders, but they can also be used in recording standard video. Further, the cards work well in point-and-shoot digital still cameras that have video capabilities, she added.

Obviously, one of the most important technical features that must be mentioned in the case of such storage products is the available capacity. Thus, the SDHC Video HD memory card (8 GB) can record up to 80 minutes of HD content at 13 Mbps, up to 120 minutes of standard HD (9 Mbps) and up to 180 minutes at 6 Mbps, while its Memory Stick PRO Duo counterpart can provide the same recording times, albeit at different bit rates (15, 9 and 5 Mbps respectively).

"Until now, it has been difficult for consumers to select the memory card that is the most suitable for their camcorders, and equally difficult to calculate the amount of recording time they have available from the various resolution settings," said Park. Echoing the familiar messaging of analog video tape, the SanDisk Video HD card packaging offers a chart that shows the approximate number of minutes for HD High, HD Standard and HD Extended settings.

The SanDisk Video HD cards are expected to be available starting March for North America and shortly afterwards for Europe. Suggested retail prices are $79.99 and $139.99, respectively, for the 4GB and 8GB SDHC cards, and $79.99 and $149.99, respectively, for the Memory Stick PRO Duo cards.

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