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JVC Everio GZ-HM400 photos

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In some ways, the JVC HD Everio GZ-HM400 is an object lesson in the corners manufacturers have to cut for size. Essentially a larger version of the GZ-X900, the HM400 uses the same large (1/2.33-inch), but overly high-resolution 10.3-megapixel CMOS sensor and low-resolution 2.8-inch LCD, but doubles the zoom to 10X and integrates 32GB onboard memory in addition to an SDHC card slot. In other words, JVC crammed more in (though it's still relatively compact), all for the same price of $999.95.

Granted, at that price, it's still cheaper than its primary competitors, the Sony HDR-CX500V and Canon HF S10, defined as such by the relatively large sensors they use and manual control options. But they have faster (f1.8 vs. f1.9 for the JVC) lenses--the Sony's is also a 12X zoom--and better LCDs. The HM400 does boast a more-shooter-friendly design, however, with a big, pro-like zoom rocker and aperture- and shutter-priority mode buttons. As with the rest of its class, it also sports an accessory shoe and manual control dial, in this case for brightness and focus, plus a headphone jack and minijack mic input. JVC also claims the included battery lasts almost 2.5 hours, which would be pretty nice if true.

The HM400 has a similar feature to Sony's Smooth Slow Record mode, which captures a short, low-resolution clip at up to 600 frames per second, so when it's played back at 30fps it looks like slow motion. The camcorder also integrates JVC's K2 audio technology, which "restores the sound details lost during compression to enable high-quality audio playback that is closer to the original." That I'll reserve judgment on, since it's usually used to decode clean audio, not the low-bitrate, relatively messy audio that comes through a prosumer camcorder's mic.

Still, JVC does enough that's interesting with the GZ-HM400 that I'm looking forward to giving it a shot, so to speak. We've got one here, so the review should be up before you start your holiday shopping.

JVC LT-32WX50

We're not quite sure why HDTV manufacturers feel the need to go keep going thinner, but that hasn't stopped them yet. JVC's new 32-inch LCD, the LT-32WX50, is just a quarter of an inch thick at its slimmest point; the screen only bevels out toward the bottom because of the thickness of the inputs. Here's a quick glance at its feature set.

Key features of the JVC LT-32WX50:

• Edge-lit LED backlighting
• 4000:1 quoted contrast ratio
• Wide color gamut--100% percent of sRGB and 90% of Adobe RGB
• Two HDMI inputs
• VGA-style PC input
• RS-232 port for custom installations
• Available in November | $3,000 list price

JVC is positioning this product as an "LCD monitor for home theater use," but we're having trouble figuring out why anyone would opt for this display over, say, a 50-inch Panasonic TC-P50V10 (street price under $2,000). Another strike against the LT-32WX50 is its use of edge-lit LED backlighting, which we've found it a step behind both local dimming LED backlighting and plasma displays for home theater use. Of course we'd have to do a hands-on review with the LT-32WX50 to see if it's worth the price premium, but $3,000 is a lot of money for a 32-inch LCD, no matter how well it performs.

Not for home use: The JVC SR-HD1500 Blu-ray recorder

(Credit: JVC)

Not a month goes by without us getting an e-mail or two from consumers looking for a set-top Blu-ray recorder. "They're available in Europe and Asia," goes the common refrain. "When will they be coming here?" Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news: JVC has just announced two new Blu-ray set-top recorders for the North American market. The bad news? They're expensive models aimed squarely at professional videographers who are mastering their own HD discs (think wedding photographers and the like). They're not intended for home use and--because of their pro-targeted features--wouldn't really be useful for home recording anyway.

Don't blame JVC for the disappointment here. The reason that consumer Blu-ray recorders don't exist in the U.S. is that they'd be so jammed full of copy-protection schemes (to placate movie studios and TV networks) that they'd be all but unusable for recording TV shows anyway. Video professionals, however, may be interested in the capability to record and master Blu-ray Discs without the need for a PC.

The JVC SR-HD1250 offers an internal 250GB hard drive and a built-in disc burner that can record MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 (H.264) video content to BD-R or BD-RE discs--it can also downconvert HD content for burning to standard DVDs. The step-up SR-HD1500 doubles the size of the hard drive to 500GB, and adds an RS-232C port for external control and support for MOV files (for compatibility with Apple Final Cut Pro).

While the duo of recorders offer HDMI and component video output, the inputs are limited to standard-definition composite and S-Video connections, as well as FireWire, USB, and an SDHC slot. Noncopy protected DVDs and Blu-ray Discs can also be duplicated on the recorders.

Cementing the "professional-only" aspect of these products is the price. The JVC SR-HD1250 will be priced at $1,995 and the SR-HD1500 will cost $2,550 when they are released next month.

The first thing you're likely to do upon obtaining a new MP3 player is load it up with all your favorite music. Once that's done, the next best step is to replace the shoddy earbuds that came packaged with it. Of course, not everyone wants to drop a wad of cash on a new pair of headphones, which is where sets like the JVC Marshmallow come in.

These comfy and colorful earphones have a suggested retail price of just $20 and often list for much less than that, and in addition to providing a more secure fit than stock 'buds, the Marshmallows offer a significant improvement in sound quality.

Read the JVC Marshmallow review.

JVC Marshmallow headphone--photos

(Credit: CNET)

When we last saw JVC's El Kameleon car audio receiver, we awarded it our Editors' Choice award for its innovative interface and expandability. However, we wished that the unit featured a touch screen instead of a touch pad.

With the new El Kameleon KD-AVX77, we get our wish. The new El Kameleon features a superwide touch screen that fills up its entire single-DIN faceplate. But is a bigger screen always better?

I like my wide-screen movies as much as the next guy, but the new El Kameleon's super Cinemascope screen means that most movies will be stretched wide but will only be about as tall as a business card, making it less than ideal for prolonged DVD viewing.

We'd need to see a much bigger screen before we could recommended the new El Kameleon as a standalone multimedia solution. However, the El Kameleon's plethora of inputs and outputs, as well as its customizable interface make it a great starting point for controlling more complex multimedia systems with rear seat entertainment and external amplifiers.

Read the full JVC KD-AVX77 El Kameleon review.

JVC's iPod-friendly LT-P300 series features a flip-out dock that can remain concealed when not in use.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

The Apple iPod phenomenon has invaded not only your ears, but also your car, your home audio system, and now your television.

JVC's LT-P300 series include some of the only TVs on the market designed specifically to work with iPods and iPhones, allowing you to charge your iPod and play back music, videos, and photos via the TV. JVC's integrated dock goes a step beyond the dongles and docks found on AV receivers such as the Pioneer VSX-1019A-HK and TVs such as the Panasonic TX-LX1 series because it actually folds out from the front of the TV for a seamless integration that should please convenience-conscious Apple fans.

The look of the televisions does not hew to the company's strict design canon of flat planes and rounded corners, but given its decent picture quality and good-enough feature set, that's probably the only thing that will deter folks seeking the most Apple-friendly TV available today.

Read the full review of the JVC LT-P300 series.

JVC LT-P300 series photos

(Credit: JVC America)

Having trouble moving your small, overpriced HDTVs? Toss them on the bandwagon of one of the few growing product markets, dSLRs, and hope they fly off the shelves. That seems to be the reasoning behind JVC's marketing of its new Xiview LT-42WX70, a $2,399.95, 42-inch, tunerless TV.

I can't figure out exactly what this thing is appropriate for, especially at its price. On one hand, the specs on the display seem imaging friendly. It's rated at 96 percent Adobe RGB gamut coverage and 100 percent sRGB, with lots of controls for tweaking gamma and individual colors. It has a 12-bit processor, so in theory it would be able to handle the necessary wide-gamut support from a graphics card.

JVC's press release states:

This [array of connectors] allows the user to easily perform various operations such as checking images by connecting directly to an SLR camera compatible with HDMI or component connector, editing stills on the large 42-inch screen by connecting it to a PC via a D-sub 15-pin, or even do a round of onscreen checks in accurate colors prior to outputting images to a high-resolution digital photo printer and thus save on expenses.

But it doesn't have a DVI input, which is necessary for communicating with the graphics card for accurate wide-gamut color reproduction. (VGA output on graphics cards is only 8-bit and color-matching profiles don't operate with HDMI or component.) And at 42 inches, it's clearly not intended for daily computer use--unless you sit more than 5 feet from your desk. And pro imaging displays don't bother to put all that color intelligence in the monitor because all the color matching should be controlled by software anyway.

It also integrates a lot of TV technologies for making motion look better on an LCD, including , 8/10-bit to 12-bit color upconversion, and noise reduction. Those are fine in a TV, but not for editing and proofing video where you need to see the artifacts.

With the exception of the missing DVI, its specs match more reasonably sized wide-gamut displays like the NEC MultiSync LCD2690WUXi2, Eizo CG242W, HP DreamColor LP2480zx Professional Display, and Samsung XL24, though all of those cover more of the Adobe RGB gamut.

Maybe for a photographer or videographer to hang in the office to display a portfolio running off a Blu-ray player? I could see that, but not for $2,400. Or am I missing something? Is this really a brilliant move on JVC's part that I just don't get? If so, please enlighten me.

(Credit: Matthew Fitzgerald/CNET)

JVC joins the rest of the direct-to-Web video party with its Everio X camcorder. It's relatively compact and designed to fit into a jacket pocket. The X has some design novelties, including a 2.8-inch LCD that flips all the way around so that you can view videos while it's closed.

The X incorporates a 1/2.33 10.3-megapixel CMOS to capture 1920x1080 AVCHD video; that's better than most of their higher-end single chip camcorders (which says more about their other camcorders than this one). It can shoot up to 2.4 seconds of 600fps stills for slow-mo playback, such as golf-swing analysis. In addition, burst supports up to 5 shots at 15fps for 9-megapixel stills.

The camcorder debuts a new OIS technology that uses a prism and shifts the outermost lens element for compensation. I'm not quite sure what's going on here yet; I need to read more about it--and test the camcorder, of course--before commenting on it.

The Everio X is slated to ship in late Spring (May/June) for $999. Clearly JVC doesn't understand that the biggest attraction for the pervasive recording market is low price. However, the lens is a pretty short 5x zoom, while its real SD-based competitors--models like the Canon HF series--have more flexible 10X or greater zooms. If it has decent low-light quality it might be able to compete, but that's never been one of the strengths of JVC's consumer products. We'll just have to wait and see.

The Alpine iDA-X100 is so digital audio focused that it doesn't even have a CD slot.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Whether on an iPod, a USB drive, or a cell phone that plays MP3s, more and more drivers are carrying an ever-increasing percentage of their audio on digital audio players.

These users don't want to go back to shuffling CDs when it's time to get behind the wheel, so car stereo manufacturers have responded to the market by including aux-inputs, USB ports, dock connectors, and Bluetooth connections in their stereos. We've compiled a list of some of the best car stereos for use with digital media.

Click here to view the best car stereos for digital media.