Panasonic unveils hand-held solid-state memory HD Camcorder

Panasonic have unveiled a quantum leap in camera-recorder technology at NAB with their AG-HVX200, 1080i/720p/480i multi-format camera-recorder.
The versatile AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD P2 hand-held camera-recorder provides 1080i and 720p recording at 100 Mbps DVCPRO HD. The AG-HVX200 shoots on a P2 card in 1080/ 50i, 25p, in 720/ 50p, 25p; and in DVCPRO50 or DVCPRO or DV. By eliminating all moving parts from the camera recording path when shooting on a P2 card, Panasonic hails the AG-HVX200 as “extremely reliable and resistant to environmental hazards”, such as the shock, vibration, and humidity that threaten camera-recorders based on mechanical recording transports.
"Television viewers have been promised that high definition will deliver beautiful, widescreen image and audio quality into their homes. To deliver on this promise, pro video users need to shoot with a cost-effective HD camera-recorder that is not bit rate starved or suffering from motion artefacts," said John Baisley, President, Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Company. "The AG-HVX200 is the revolutionary HD camera users have been dreaming about, and have also come to expect from Panasonic. The AG-HVX200 inherits many of the functions of our popular, shoulder-mount AJ-HDC27 VariCam camera-recorder, including exceptional DVCPRO HD quality images, variable frame rates to capture fast-speed and slow-speed action, and a cine-like gamma curve and cine-like colour matrix to emulate the look of film. In addition, AG-HVX200 has Mini DV tape recording capability which allows customers to shoot 16:9 image on DV tape and edit with existing workflow."
Norwegian public broadcaster, NRK, has decided to purchase DVCPRO-HD P2 handheld camera-recorder AG-HVX200 which combines a native progressive 16:9 3-CCD high definition imaging system and a HD-quality Leica Dicomar wide-angle zoom lens with a super-smooth, cam-driven manual zoom, focus ring, and aperture dial in a rugged package.
On the newly-announced 8G P2 card, the AG-HVX200 records for 32 minutes in DVCPRO or DV, 20 minutes in 720p/24, 16 minutes in DVCPRO50, and eight minutes in 1080i/60 and 720p/60.
The camera-recorder includes two P2 card slots to permit continuous recording, and the cards are hot swappable to assure non-stop recording.
(SP/GB)