HDC-SD20:

Full-HD images that bring out all the beauty of your memories.

High Definition vs. Standard Definition: What's the difference?

HD images contain 6 times as much information as standard images. HDTV has 1,080 horizontal scan lines, SDTV has 480. That translates into much higher resolution and much finer detail. With HD images on an HDTV, pictures are so clear and sharp that you can see textures. The shift in the industry from SDTV to HDTV is well underway. For shooting once-in-a-lifetime scenes that you want to capture in full beauty, an HD camcorder is the best choice.

iA (Intelligent Auto) for Smart Control

There's nothing more disappointing than shooting a once-in-a-lifetime event on video, only to discover that the images are blurry or poorly exposed because of backlighting. Panasonic's iA helps avoid problems in difficult shooting situations by automatically making the optimal camera settings and activating certain functions. For example, iA now includes AF Tracking, a new function that "locks" on and follows a subject as it moves, so images are sharply focused and properly exposed. This technology is a huge help for everyone.

Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization)

Panasonic's advanced O.I.S. helps suppress the effects of hand-shake as you shoot, for both motion and still images. This system uses gyrosensors to detect even tiny amounts of hand-shake, then shifts a lens and adjusts the optical axis to compensate - all at an astounding 4,000 times per second. It also covers approximately 3 times the stabilization area of our previous SD9 model. Because the system is optical, there's only minimal loss of image quality even when viewed on a large-screen TV. In addition, to shoot high-resolution still images, the normal O.I.S. Mode 1 is joined by an O.I.S. Mode 2, which has a higher stabilization capability. The O.I.S. corrective lens shifts and stabilizes the image the instant that the shutter button is pressed, to enable greater precision in stabilization. You get all the beauty and minimal blurring.

16x Optical Zoom

The SD20 features a 16x optical zoom. You can zoom close to catch dynamic shots of distant objects. And because the zoom is optical, there's limited image degradation. Also, Panasonic's Advanced O.I.S. helps prevent blurring - typically a big concern when shooting with a zoom. This combination of optical zoom and Advanced O.I.S. gives you the ability to take fantastic zoom shots.

*Information provided by Panasonic's online store page of the HDC-SD20 (April 2nd 2009).*