Shown top to bottom, Panasonic's VDR-M30, Hitachi's Digital DZ-MV380A, and Sony's DCR-DVD200 Handycam.  All of these record video directly onto digital video discs.

Three major camcorder makers offer camcorders that record directly onto blank 8cm DVDs. The discs can then be immediately placed into a DVD player for viewing. Manufacturers also promise that the video won't deteriorate over time (certainly the format is more durable than tape).

The DVD boom is not the only reason for the camcorders. In the past five years, camcorder sales have grown 66 percent. Such surging sales figures have encouraged manufacturers to keep churning out new designs.

The Hi8 and MiniDV video cameras record a clearer picture and generally are much smaller - about the size of a paperback novel - than the original straight-to-VHS camcorders. The digital video from the MiniDV can even be downloaded directly to a computer. But both models lack a key feature: The tapes they use cannot be played in a VCR or DVD player. In order to view the footage, users often must connect the camera to their television using audio-video cables.

DVD camcorders, say manufacturers, bridge the divide between the old and the new. They record up to two hours of video onto a single disc. The user needn't hook up the camera to the TV in order to view the footage.

With DVD players now in more than 60 million American homes, manufacturers believe consumers want a camcorder to match. People are looking for the convenience of taking media out of a camcorder and playing it back right away.

Both Hitachi and Panasonic have offered DVD camcorders for a while but the devices have not been made widely available or sold at a price most consumers can afford. Panasonic did mark down its DVD camcorder from $2,500 to $900. Hitachi's DZ-MV350A also sells for around $900.

Sony has introduced three Handycam DVD camcorders, the least expensive of which will cost less than $1,000.

Some camcorders likely to debut in the next few years include models that record video onto built-in hard drives. Other camcorders will record video onto flash cards like those used in digital cameras. The cards can then be taken out of the camera and inserted in a PC or DVD player.