Panasonic said the "tipping point" for digital television has arrived, with the bulk of the industry moving to the next stage in the digital rollout by adjusting the focus toward acquisition and production.
To meet that need, Panasonic has unveiled new recorders, cameras and editing systems, including a glimpse at a prototype technology the company believes has the potential to revolutionize the broadcast industry.
Known as a solid-state memory card-based DVCPRO news system, this next-generation technology utilizes a small memory card to archive audio and video.
With a transfer rate of 640 Mbps, this new architecture is compatible with existing DVCPRO- and DVCPRO50-based nonlinear editing and server systems. It also supports multiple video resolutions for DTV, including HDTV applications.
"Users experience direct editing from their PCs and high-speed data transfer to networked servers," said John Baisley, president of Panasonic Broadcast. "These capabilities will significantly improve the workflow of news production."
Products incorporating this memory card technology -- including cameras and recorders -- have the potential to replace tape-based equipment.
Companies working with Panasonic to provide development assistance on the new technology include CBS, Fox Entertainment Group and Raycom Media.
At NAB2003, Panasonic displayed prototypes of its initial solid-state memory card-based camcorders. The first product in the prototype line is scheduled to be available in spring 2004.
"With this new integrated [product] development ... we can see that the broadcast business has fundamentally changed," said Katsuhiko Yamamoto, vice president of AVC-Co., Matsushita Electric Industrial.
Copyright 2003 NAB
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