Panasonic poised to ship 8GB P2 Cards

Announced at NAB in April this year, Panasonic are poised to release 8GB P2 card in Europe in December.
Panasonic point to P2’s simplified workflow and potential savings in time and budget over tape formats. Quality control and rugged construction are key to this product and Panasonic are confident that this new addition to the range will stand up to at least 100,000 re-writes, claiming that it out performs any re-recordable format currently available. High capacity data storage devices are becoming more and more cost effective with production companies and broadcasters alike looking at this solution as a serious alternative to tape.
P2 gives the production industry a seamless and truly IT workflow with the adaptability to be mastered or archived any way the producer wants.
With new products in the range like the AJ-SPC700 Camcorder making acquisition on P2 more affordable and the AJ-PCS060 60GB ruggedised P2 store making on the move storage more accessible, Panasonic see P2 becoming a major player as production companies and broadcasters realise long-term savings.
Since the launch of P2 as a format the industry has eagerly awaited larger capacity cards to increase the usability of the Camcorders available. Now with 5 x 8GB card a total of 40GB of storage can be used in the camera at one time. This equates to 40 minutes at DVCPRO HD, 80 minutes at DVCPRO 50 and 160 minutes at DVCPRO quality.
Footage on the P2 cards can be transferred to a storage device at up to 20 times real-time, quickly freeing them up for new shots.
With the inclusion of the new 60GB P2 Store a production can shoot and store nearly seven hours of DVCPRO footage.
Panasonic have challenged broadcasters to find an application that P2 will not be able to handle, claiming ENG, drama, soaps, commercials, promos and corporate videos can all benefit from the key operational advantages of the P2 system.
Lower running costs, enhanced workflows, cheaper and safer data storage and more robust camera equipment make Panasonic’s P2 system a winner on all levels.
With the migration toward larger capacity P2 cards shooting HD onto P2 is now a reality. The inclusion of the AG-HVX200 and later of shoulder mounted camcorders shooting HD to P2 gives Panasonic confidence that the seamless workflows and massive savings possible with P2 will win fans from every production genre.
Panasonic Broadcast, www.panasonic-broadcast.com
(SP)