Broadcast Technology Blog

Panasonic Expands Camera Lineup with 1080p HDR Studio Camera, Upgradeable to 4K; New PTZ Camera

In an expansion to its AK series studio and field camera line-up, Panasonic has introduced the cost-effective AK-HC3900 1080p HDR studio camera system, which will be upgradable to native 4K 60p/50p. The new AK-HC3900 is ideal for broadcast, education and corporate markets. It follows in the footsteps of the company’s AK-HC3800, a model that has defined high-quality professional systems and cost-efficient production for close to a decade.

Panasonic’s AK-HC3900 1080p HDR studio camera system will be upgradable to native 4K 60p/50p.

Improvements distinguishing the AK-HC3900 include a full simultaneous HDR/SDR feature set, expanded multi-format capability (1080: 59.94p, 50p, 59.94i, 50i, 29.97PsF, 25PsF, 23.98PsF; 720: 59.94p/50p) and a future upgrade option to 4K 60p/50p production with native 4K video and 2000TV horizontal resolution.

Equipped with a large image sensor, Panasonic says it achieves high resolution, high sensitivity and low noise. It also has lens Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), skew reduction function and Dynamic Range Stretcher (DRS) function.

“The AK-HC3900 represents a cost effective and highly capable professional camera system for broadcast, education and corporate markets that has been future-proofed for long-term use,” says Stefan Hofmann Dipling, Manager Sales Engineering, Panasonic Broadcast & ProAV. “The AK-HC3900GJ/GSJ captures its raw image from an internal 4K imaging system to deliver its stunning HD HDR images with ITU-R BT.2020 wide color space. The Internal 4K capture also means that the future optional 4K system upgrade will yield a full 2000 TV lines horizontal resolution.”

The AK-HC3900 achieves a high sensitivity of F10 at 59.9 Hz (2,000 lx) and a S/N ratio of 62 dB. The camera offers a built-in motorized ND filter.

The new cost effective AK-HCU250 camera control unit (CCU), in combination with the new AK-HRP250 remote operation panel (ROP), will connect the high-grade uncompressed video and control to the camera head via optical fibre or utilize SMPTE Hybrid cable to provide camera power as well.

The new CCU includes all the system features of the HC3800 along with simultaneous output of HDR/SDR, and the HC3900’s expanded multi-format capability and 4K upgrade path. New features include 3G trunk and 3G prompter functions. The new ROP now includes PoE power (no power supply required) for easy installation.

Both the CCU and the ROP are equipped with SD card slots, which can be used for storing various settings or upgrading firmware. Camera operators will have a choice of two electronic viewfinders, either the AK-HVF100GJ nine-type or AK-HVF75G seven-type LCD colour models.

The AK-HC3900, AK-HCU250 and AK-HRP250 will be available in the fourth quarter of CY2020, with pricing to be announced.

Panasonic also introduced the AW-UE100 integrated pan/tilt/zoom camera, which supports a wide variety of IP transmission protocols, including high-bandwidth NDI, high-efficiency NDI|HX and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT). This new PTZ camera has a newly-designed direct drive motor for smooth pan and tilt movement and offers installation flexibility, low noise and high-resolution image capture. It is ideal for high-quality live remote and studio production for broadcast, staging, corporate and sports events.

The UE100 features a 1/2.5-type 4K MOS sensor to produce stunning UHD 4K/60p video and offers a wide variety of interfaces including 12G-SDI, 3G-SDI, HDMI and IP. Suitable for capturing images in tight spaces to large venues, the UE100 has exceptional capabilities. A wide-angle lens with a horizontal view angle of 74.1 degrees enables a wide area to be shot from a limited installation space, and its 24x optical zoom maintains high image quality at high zoom ratios, permitting shooting in large indoor spaces.

For low latency, live video transmissions, the UE100 offers high-bandwidth NDI for transmitting 4K/60p video at speeds of approximately 250 Mbps and for transmitting full HD video at approximately 100 Mbps, all over a single LAN cable. It also offers high-efficiency, low bandwidth NDI|HX to enable video transmission at low bitrates. Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) maintains stability when transmitting high-quality video, even in unstable network environments; and its RTMP/RTMPS function provides direct streaming via a single cable to live broadcasting services such as YouTube Live and Facebook Live.

Its FreeD output enables connection with AR/VR systems and allows camera tracking information (pan/tilt/zoom/focus/iris) to easily build systems without an encoder. The inclusion of a Direct Drive mechanism with roll compensation improves stillness and quietness during pan/tilt operations.

The camera’s panning range is ±175 degrees and tilting range is -30 degrees to 210 degrees. Other key features include a four-position ND filter (Clear, ¼, 1/16, 1/64), a Night Mode for infrared shooting, and PoE++ power supply support.

The AW-UE100 will be available in both black and white versions in third quarter 2020, with pricing to be announced.

For more information on Panasonic, please contact Steve Milley at [email protected].

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