Canon: New photo viewers
By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource
(Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 06:43 EDT)
Canon Inc. has today announced two new handheld multimedia storage viewer devices that are closely related, with the exception of storage capacity.
The Canon Media Storage M30 and M80 are designed to offer a user interface that will be familiar to users of Canon's digital cameras, and both feature a 3.7" TFT LCD display capable of displaying 262,000 colors with 160 degree viewing angle, 300cd/m2 brightness and 250:1 contrast ratio. The only differences between the units relates to the choice of hard disk. The Canon Media Storage M80 includes an 80GB hard disk with 74.31GB available, and weighs 370g with battery. The Media Storage M30 uses a smaller 30GB hard disk with 27.74GB available, and is just slightly lighter at 360g ready to use. Both devices use 1.8" hard disks which operate at 4200rpm. Images can be transferred to the devices from a CompactFlash slot at 4.1MB/second, or from an SD / MMC card slot (SDHC compatibility unknown) at 3.8MB/second. From there, they can be offloaded to a Windows or Mac OS computer at 7.5MB/second via a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection. The devices accept images in JPEG or TIFF format, as well as RAW files from Canon DSLRs only - users of other brands of digital camera (and indeed, users of non-DSLR cameras from Canon that offer RAW files) will find them unsupported. There's also support for video files in MPEG 1 / 2 / 4 formats as well as MotionJPEG, and for MP3 / WAVE audio files. Audio is catered for with a headphone connection, and a built-in speaker. The devices can be password protected to prevent data, draw power from a BP-511A Lithium Ion rechargeable, and offer enough battery life to download 30-40GB of data from 1GB CompactFlash or Secure Digital cards on a single charge. There's also NTSC / PAL compliant video out connectivity to allow images to be displayed on your TV. Pricing and availability will be announced in early October. |
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Media Storage M30
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Media Storage M80
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Hard Disk
| | Capacity | 30GB | 80GB | | Available Storage Space | 27.74GB | 74.31GB | | Hard Disk Size |
1.8" | | Revolutions per Minute |
4200 RPM | |
LCD
| | Size |
3.7" TFT | | Resolution |
VGA (640 x 480) | | Viewing Angle |
160° | | Number of Colors | 18 bit (262,144 colors) | | Contrast Ratio |
250:1 | | Brightness |
300 cd/m2
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Data Transfer Speed
| | CF Memory Card to Hard Disk | 4.1MB / second | | SD Memory Card to Hard Disk |
3.8MB / second | | Hard Disk to PC | 7.5MB / second | |
Supported Data Types
| | Still Image |
JPEG, TIFF, Canon RAW
(Only compatible with RAW images from Canon DSLRs, not with RAW images from other Canon cameras) | | Movie | MPEG 1 / 2 / 4, Motion JPEG | | Audio | MP3, WAVE | |
Battery Life (at 20°C with fully-charged BP-511A battery)
| | Download from CF Memory Card | Up to 37 1GB memory cards
(Using Sandisk Extreme III 1GB CF memory cards) | | Download from SD Memory Card |
Up to 32 1GB memory cards
(Using Sandisk Extreme III 1GB SD memory cards) | | Slideshow | 3.5 hours | | Movie Playback | 2.6 hours | | Audio Playback, Speaker On | 4.3 hours | | Audio Playback, Speaker Off |
4.8 hours | |
Interface
| | Input | CF / Microdrive Memory Card Slot, SD/MMC Memory Card Slot (SDHC compatibility not yet confirmed), USB 2.0 Hi-Speed | | Output | USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, AV (NTSC/PAL), Headphones | | Speaker | Yes | | Pictbridge |
Yes | | Still Image Playback Modes | Image, Image w/ info, Index, Slideshow | | Security | 4 to 8 digit password | | Languages | 16 (English, French, German, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Greek, Portuguese, Japanese, Traditional Chinese) | | User Upgradeable Firmware |
Yes | | Supported Operating Systems | Windows XP (Home / Professional Edition), Windows 2000 (SP4) /Mac OS X (10.2 - 10.4) | |
Operating Environment
| | Temperature | 5°C - 35°C | | Humidity | 10% - 85% | |
Power Supply
| | Battery |
Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery BP-511A | | AC Adapter | Yes (optional) | |
General
| | Approx. Dimensions | 139.5 x 80.5 x 33.5mm | | Weight (without batteries) | Approx. 280g | Approx. 290g | | Weight (without batteries) |
Approx. 360g | Approx. 370g | |
Accessories
| | Included Accessories (may vary) | Li-ion Battery BP-511A, Battery Charger CB-5L | | Optional Accessories | Power Pack CA-570, Battery Charger CG-570, Car Battery Charger CR-560 | |
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