Sony announced four new HD camcorders at CES, although two have a counterintuitive twist: they record HD footage on DVD. The catch is that the discs are playable only on Blu-ray players and PCs. Both cams — the HDR-UX7 ($1,300) and the "economy" model, the HDR-UX5 (shown, $1,000) — have HDMI outputs, though so you can play directly from them, too. For the extra $200, the UX7 records audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.

Sony also showed us its new tape HD cams, the HDR-HC5 ($1,100), which replaces the HC3, and the HDR-HC7 ($1,400), a similar model that can also shoot 6-MP stills and includes optical image stabilization. — Peter Pachal