Panasonic unveiled a complete range of news gathering products based on its solid-state memory cards using the DVCPRO compression scheme at IBC2003.
P2 card
P2 cam
P2 editor
At the core of the new technology, called ING for IT News Gathering, are SD memory cards, Panasonic’s highly compact, portable high-capacity storage media.
For the broadcast industry, Panasonic has packaged four 1GB SD memory cards onto a single standard PCMCIA card. Called a P2 card, this compact, portable media replaces the role of the videotape cassette in a traditional news environment.
ING offers broadcasters a number of benefits over traditional videotape, including streamlined acquisition and news workflow, significant savings, operational efficiency, increased ruggedness of equipment , reduction in consumable media and lower total cost of ownership.
Panasonic also unveiled a range of DVCPRO P2 series products, including:
- P2 card. A single P2 card storing 18 minutes of DVCPRO at 25Mbps and nine minutes at DVCPRO50. A key feature of the P2 card is the rapid transfer rate.
- P2 cam. With five P2 card slots, P2 cam has a total potential record capacity of 90 minutes with 4GB P2 cards at DVCPRO. With no moving parts, the camcorder is extremely resistant to shock and vibration and has a lower power consumption compared to previous tape systems.
- P2 editor. A laptop editing system based on Panasonic’s Toughbook notebook PC. It comes equipped with a PCMCIA card slot for P2 cards and a non-linear software editing system.
- P2 deck. Links the ING system into the standard broadcast infrastructure. Using a P2 deck capable of handling five P2 cards and with interfaces and operation similar to a VTR, on-air transmission is possible from an OB truck.
- P2 drive. A five P2 card reader/writer equipped with a USB 2.0 interface that links the cards into a PC. Provides one of the routes linking ING to newsroom networks.
For more information, please visit: www.panasonic-broadcast.com.
