Panasonic Unveils New Generation of Solid State Recording Media: The F Series P2 Cards

Panasonic has announced a new generation of P2 solid-state recording media, the F series,  including support of recording up to AVC-Intra Class 200 of the AVC-ULTRA codec family. Immediately available, the F series of 64GB, 32GB and 16GB P2 cards (models AJ-P2E064FG, AJ-P2E032FG and AJ-P2E016FG) carries suggested list prices of $730, $499 and $399, respectively.

In addition to AVC-Intra Class 200, the new F Series supports all currently available codecs from existing P2 cameras and recorders, including AVC-Intra 100/50, as well as DVCPRO-HD/50/25. Panasonic camcorders that will support AVC-Intra Class 200, such as the previously announced AG-HPX600 P2 HD shoulder-mount, are currently under development. For ultra high-end mastering and mezzanine workflows, AVC-Intra Class 200 will produce visually lossless compression, ideal for migrating current HD tape masters to a file-based format without degradation, and with a far smaller file size than many platform-specific mezzanine formats.

F Series P2 cards offer fast transfer speeds (up to 1.2Gbps), which is substantially faster than most professional solid-state memory cards offered by other manufacturers.  Also, the F Series P2 media contain a flash memory error correction system, equivalent to a RAID system, to greatly strengthen data retention reliability. All P2 cards use high-quality solid-state memory, extremely durable, die-cast aluminum construction and impact-proof connectors. This is in direct contrast to other solid-state memory card products, which often feature breakable, plastic casing with less reliable connectors. Additionally, P2 cards offer dependable performance during recording in all types of environments, as well as instant access and complete data compatibility in all P2 camcorders and workflow tools.