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Panasonic doubles P2 capacity

Panasonic has announced a 64GB P2 solid-state memory card for its line of P2 HD and P2 solid-state camcorders and decks. With the arrival of the 64GB card, Panasonic now allows for over an hour of DVCPRO HD or AVC-Intra 100 to be recorded on a single P2 card, writes Fergal Ringrose.

Panasonic has announced a 64GB P2 solid-state memory card for its line of P2 HD and P2 solid-state camcorders and decks. With the arrival of the 64GB card, Panasonic now allows for over an hour of DVCPRO HD or AVC-Intra 100 to be recorded on a single P2 card, writes Fergal Ringrose.

The 64GB P2 card, designated the AJ-P2C064, is scheduled for initial delivery in Q3 2008 at a price yet to be announced, and will be offered in addition to the current 32GB and 16GB cards.

A 64GB P2 card is capable of storing more than four hours of DVCPRO footage (64GB x 4 minutes per GB), more than two hours of DVCPRO 50 or AVC-Intra 50 (64GB x 2 minutes per GB), or 64 minutes of AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD. With five 64GB P2 cards installed, an AJ-HPX3000 P2 HD camcorder can record for 320 minutes in AVC-Intra 100 or DVCPRO HD, and 640 minutes in AVC-Intra 50 or DVCPRO 50.

“Doubling the capacity of P2 media is an important step in our strategy for spreading the huge benefits of tapeless operation throughout the broadcasting industry,” said Jaume Rey, director of Panasonic PBITS. “With the expanded recording times offered by 64GB P2 cards, professionals working in the field or on longform projects can now take advantage of the most efficient and convenient acquisition platform available.”

A P2 card is comprised of its own processor, firmware, a RAID controller, and gigabytes of high- quality, non-volatile solid-state memory chips. They manage data intelligently, including a write-verification step for every byte of memory that is written to the card for fault-free operation. The P2 card can be connected instantly with laptop PCs and major nonlinear editing systems. Packaged in a rugged die-cast frame, the P2 card is resistant to impact, vibration, shock, dust, and environmental extremes including temperature changes.

The 64GB P2 card will work immediately with all P2 HD camcorders purchased from May 2007 and forward. P2 and P2 HD products purchased prior to that date will need a free, downloadable software upgrade available on the Panasonic website. Customers wanting to connect the card to an ExpressCard slot of a laptop can utilise a low-cost PC card-to-ExpressCard adapter.