Sony Releases 8 New "Made For Your Bravia" DVD Recorders

Sony's newly announced European lineup of hard disk drive DVD recorders, marketed as the perfect companion to your Bravia, features 8 new models ranging from the RDR-HX680 with 160 GB of drive space to the RDR-HXD1090 with 500 GB of space. The two flagship models RDR-HXD1090 and the RDR-HX1080 both feature 500 GB of HDD space, enough to record 1420 hours of video, feature both analog and digital tuners, and all models feature a HDD camcorder connection that'll connect to any standard-def Sony Handycam for direct dubbing to your DVD recorder.

X-Pict Story allows you to create personal slideshows with the option to add background music, viewable directly on your TV or burned to a DVD. Time-shifted television shows and other recorded video content is recorded using a high-bit rate HQ+ record mode that reduces image noise and improves the reproduction of moving images.

Owner's of Bravia TV's will be familiar with Bravia Sync which allows you to coordinate your entire home theater, controlled by a single remote control button push. When connected to your Bravia via an HDMI connection, all of the new DVD recorders are compatible with this feature. Check out the full press release from Sony after the jump...

Made for your BRAVIA™ TV: versatile new Hard Disk Drive DVD recorders by Sony

Apr 23, 2008

* HDD Camcorder connection for direct digital dubbing*
* X-Pict Story for creation of enhanced slideshows with music
* One remote controls your complete home cinema system with BRAVIA™ Sync
* Superior picture quality with HQ+ recording and 1080p upscaling

23rd April 2008 - The perfect partner for your BRAVIA™ television, the new range of Hard Disk Drive DVD recorders from Sony gives even greater control over your favourite TV shows.

The beautifully styled new recorders make it supremely easy to time shift your favourite shows, pause live broadcasts and chase playback. Brilliantly easy to use, they're the perfect way to make sure you never miss your favourite programme again.

What's more, the new recorders' high capacity hard drive has ample space to manage the biggest digital media collections. Alongside TV programmes, you can store digital photos, camcorder footage and even MP3 music files and CDs.

The new Hard Disk Drive DVD recorder line-up offers a wide choice of storage capacities to suit everyone's viewing needs.

The flagship RDX-HX1080 features a massive 500GB drive - enough for up to 1420 hours** of TV.

The flagship RDX-HXD1090 features a massive 500GB drive - enough for up to 1420 hours** of TV. Alongside an analogue TV tuner for recording standard terrestrial channels, all HXD Series models feature an integrated DVB-T tuner for viewing and recording digital broadcasts. There's also a choice of HX Series models that include an analogue tuner only.[CBS2]

New for 2008, HDD camcorder connection with all models allows direct digital dubbing from any Standard Definition Handycam® Hard Disk Drive camcorder by Sony. There's no quality loss during digital transfers via USB. Whole dubbing mode transfers everything that's stored on the camcorder's hard drive. Alternatively, incremental dubbing transfers only new footage that hasn't already been recorded onto the Hard Disk Drive DVD recorder.

Also new this year, X-Pict Story is a powerful yet easy-to-use feature for creating your own personal slideshows. Using your remote, slide shows can be built up in moments from images stored on the recorder's hard drive. A choice of transition effects adds extra sparkle to slide shows, along with your own selection of musical soundtrack from stored music files. The results can be viewed directly on your TV or burned to DVD for sharing or storing.

Music recorded to the hard disk drive from audio CDs or USB flash drives can also be played jukebox-style via the TV screen.

Recorded picture quality is superb. High bit-rate HQ+ record mode reducing on-screen image noise and improving reproduction of moving images.

For maximum viewing comfort and convenience, BRAVIA™ Sync simplifies one-touch control of your complete home entertainment system. Connected via HDMI to your BRAVIA™ TV, the Hard Disk Drive DVD recorder can be controlled directly from the television's remote, along with other compatible Sony devices like Blu-ray Disc players.

"Aside from great picture quality and huge storage capacities, the latest generation of Hard Disk Drive DVD recorders makes the ideal partner for your BRAVIA™ television", says Stuart Kemp, Business Manager, Home Video Group, Sony Europe. "And now with advanced features like BRAVIA™ Sync, these brilliant recorders can be integrated seamlessly into your complete home entertainment set-up - all controlled from a single remote".

* With Standard Definition Hard Disk Drive Handycam® by Sony
** Maximum recording time depends on selected recording quality

Via Sony

April 22, 2008

Sony Releases 8 New "Made For Your Bravia" DVD Recorders