While 4K is everywhere this year at CES, Panasonic is trying something a little different beyond just more pixels with their consumer products.

With new 4K camcorders, the HC-WX970 ($1K) and HC-VX870 ($900), and one new HD camcorder, the HC-V770 ($600), not only have they delivered 1080p frame rates up to 120fps (240fps with frame interpolation), but they've introduced an HDR feature during movie recording (though unfortunately these cameras seem to be limited to consumer frame rates, and don't look to have 24p).

Here is a 4K video sample:

Here's a sample of the HDR mode, and an explanation:

By combining two images taken with different exposure times, the HDR Movie function suppresses blown highlights and blocked shadows for crisper, clearer videos. With HDR you can maintain gradation in your images in difficult shooting situations, like when your subject is back-lit.

Many of you probably don't care much about this announcement, but this sort of technology will usually find its way into other cameras. 4K is nice, though more dynamic range can certainly improve how a scene looks, especially if you're in harsh lighting conditions. As you can see in the video above, the HDR is a huge step up from the standard video, and there don't seem to be any motion artifacts that are too jarring from combining exposures. If Panasonic wants to incorporate this technology into more professional cameras (depending on how they implement it), it could prove to be very useful.

The frame interpolation could also find its way into other cameras, which may give us super high frame rates on cameras that are only capable of 120 or 240:

For a more dramatic slow motion effect, the Crystal Engine's Intelligent Frame Creation interpolates frames to achieve an equivalent of 240 fps. You can easily switch to slow motion while recording with a simple touch on the LCD screen.

There is also a secondary camera on the WX970 (the 870 and 770 both allow the smartphone feature since they don't have two cameras on-board):

This additional camera provides 270° panning and ±20° tilting for recording two angles simultaneously. The twin camera operation also features a narration mode to record ongoing commentary while shooting. For more versatility, you can connect your smartphone via Wi-Fi and use that instead of the built-in secondary camera. With this functionality you can shoot from alternate distances or angles for a variety of picture-in-picture images.

Video is no longer available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zYM4xjpqWE

Video is no longer available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPaXzlu4y9o

If picture-in-picture is the only option, it may prove to be less useful, but if you could record two separate streams at once I could see this being useful for an interview situation where you need two angles very quickly. You could either shoot two of the subject or one of the subject and one of yourself. I'm not sure if this is possible but we'll see.

Beyond that they've introduced two new HD camcorders, the HC-W570 ($450) with secondary 2MP camera and the HC-V270 ($300), and also new UHS Class 3 cards up to 128GB that are better designed for 4K video. For more on the 4K cameras, check out the specs below.

Panasonic HC-WX970 4K UHD Camcorder with Twin Video Camera

Specs:

4K Ultra HD Video and 8MP Still Photos

1/2.3" Back-Illuminated MOS Sensor

3840 x 2160 up to 30fps, 1080p up to 120fps (240fps with interpolation)

Articulating 5.27MP Secondary Camera

20x Optical Zoom / 50x Intelligent Zoom

HYBRID OIS 5-Axis Image Stabilization

HDR (High Dynamic Range) Video Recording

Capture 4K Frame Grabs from Video

Wi-Fi for Remote Operation and Live View

IR Night Mode

Availability: Late February/Early March 2015

Price: $1,000

Panasonic HC-VX870 4K UHD Camcorder

Specs:

4K Ultra HD Video and 8MP Still Photos

1/2.3" Back-Illuminated MOS Sensor

3840 x 2160 up to 30fps, 1080p up to 120fps (240fps with interpolation)

Use Smartphone Camera for Second Angle

20x Optical Zoom / 50x Intelligent Zoom

HYBRID OIS 5-Axis Image Stabilization

1080p Slow Motion Video up to 240 fps

HDR (High Dynamic Range) Video Recording

Capture 4K Frame Grabs from Video

Wi-Fi for Remote Operation and Live View

IR Night Mode

Availability: Late February/Early March 2015

Price: $900

Panasonic SDXC/SDHC UHS-I Class 3 Cards

There are three versions of this card, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB, and they have a constant minimum write speed of 30MB/s, so they will be good enough for most compressed 4K recordings.

Check out the links below for more.