Sony VRD-MC1 burns photos and videos without PC

Sony has debuted a new DVDirect DVD recorder which wan burn both digital photos and home videos to DVD discs without the need for a computer. Like the presently available VRD-VC20 model, the new VRD-MC1 recorder can transfer home video footage in real-time from a camcorder or VCR tape to a DVD without a computer, and also enables "computer free" recording of digital still images directly from memory cards to DVD as a slideshow for playback on most home DVD players and PC DVD-ROM drives.

The new recorder can also be directly connected to PictBridge compatible photo printers for printing individual digital pictures from a memory card or from a DVD disc.

One side of the new DVDirect model incorporates digital and analog video/audio inputs, enabling direct connection of a camcorder or VCR to transfer tape-based videos to DVD. On the other side, it sports slots for five of the most popular digital camera memory cards, allowing you to take pictures from your digital camera and create a slideshow on a DVD disc, all without a computer.

For home video transfers, the VRD-MC1 includes a digital video (DV) input (i.LINK/FireWire/IEEE 1394) that allows for quick and easy high-quality video transfers from a digital camcorder, including full camcorder control from the DVDirect recorder in synchronized recording mode. It also has analog S-Video and Composite Video inputs.

The new model can record digital still images directly from a Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo storage media, Compact Flash, Secure Digital (SD), and xD cards to a DVD, creating a slideshow that can be played back on a DVD player, or simply used as a backup DVD of the images for storage or printing. When recording digital images, the DVDirect recorder keeps the JPEG files in their original high resolution format, and is capable of printing them directly from a photo DVD to a PictBridge-enabled printer.

The VRD-MC1 features a two-inch color LCD screen for previewing video and images when used in stand-alone mode. It can burn up to 12 hours of high-quality hardware encoded MPEG-2 video on DVD+R DL Double Layer discs, or up to six hours of video or up to 2,000 photos onto supported standard single layer discs. These discs can then be played back and enjoyed on most home DVD players or computer DVD-ROM drives.

The new DVDirect recorder (model VRD-MC1) will be available early next month for $299. Pre-orders are now being accepted on SonyStyle.com. Sony will continue to offer the existing video-only VRD-VC20 model for about $230.