Sony of Canada Ltd. has announced what it deems to be the "industry's first" 1080i high-definition videoconferencing system. Called the PCS-XG80, the $9,000 system offers a frame rate of 60 fields-per-second, while users can share PC data at 30 fps.

The PCS-XG80 has dual stream functionality, which means that users can send two streams of live, HD information simultaneously, like a live camera view and animated PowerPoint presentation.

It comes equipped with six-site, multi-point conferencing, allowing users to call up to five other remote sites to meet simultaneously. There is multi-language support for 20 different languages; and wide band stereo audio.

"We believe that the PCS-XG80 delivers the best available video and audio quality on the market for those large corporate organizations as well as small-to-medium enterprises, healthcare institutions, education establishments and government bodies that are looking for cost-effective, best-of-breed and proven communication technologies," said Rick Perkins, Marketing Manager Videoconferencing, Public Displays and Digital Signage, Broadcast Communication Solutions Group, Sony of Canada Ltd. "In addition to the high quality and great performance of the PCS-XG80, we have also designed it to offer an unrivalled collaborative environment, where people can engage face-to-face, without incurring the financial, environmental and human costs of what is essentially unnecessary travel in today's global business environment."

Additional features include BrightFace technology; video annotation; and RF remote functionality.  Users can connect to high bandwidth connections, or even through older "legacy" sustems via IP and/or ISDN.