Panasonic has been resolutely sticking with CCD technology for its camcorders, where even JVC has switched over to CMOS sensors for its latest GZ-HD10 and GZ-HD40. Now, with the HDC-SD100, even this last bastion is making the switch. But instead of moving from its former three-CCD to a single larger CMOS like the rest, Panasonic has opted for three-CMOS instead, which it is calling 3MOS.

The trio of CMOSes in the HDC-SD100’s 3MOS system are 1/6in in size, so as small as the CCDs in previous models such as the HDC-SD9. These also only offer 610,000 pixels each, so you’re not getting the full resolution of HD for each colour channel as you do with professional three-chip camcorders. But Panasonic has augmented the 3MOS with a new HD Crystal Engine image processor, to make the most out of the new sensor array.

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