NEW YORK – Panasonic announced delivery and pricing for its new microP2 series, which it describes as “the world’s first UHS-II compliant memory cards,” (as of March 2013). The company also rolled at a microP2 adapter to assure that the new micro cards work in legacy P2 hardware with a firmware upgrade.

The AJ-P2M064A 64GB and AJ-P2M032A 32 GB microP2 cards will be available next month with suggested list prices of $380 and $250, respectively. The AJ-P2AD1 microP2 adapter will likewise be available in April, with a suggested list price of $199. The AJ-MPD1 microP2 drive will ship in April, with a suggested list price of $350.
 
Panasonic has at the same time introduced two new products, the AJ-PX5000 P2 HD camcorder (See “Panasonic Unveils 2/3-inch 3 MOS P2 Camera Among NAB Debutantes”) and AJ-PD500 half-rack recorder (See “Panasonic to Debut P2 HD Recorder With Native AVC-Ultra, microP2 Slots.”), both with built-in microP2 slots and AVC-Ultra, which will be available in fall 2013. The microP2 cards will guarantee data writing up to the class200 mode of AVC-Ultra, the company’s newest codec. microP2 cards have an SD card form factor, accommodate all P2 codecs, formats and frame rates.
 
The microP2 card’s double-layered UHS-II interface facilitates transfer speeds of 2.0 Gpbs—1.7 times faster than standard P2 media, and 12x faster than ordinary SD media, according to the vendor. A lifetime counter provides a notification when the card approaches the end of its life cycle, which is defined as reusable for up to five years when recorded on once daily, at full capacity. It has 100 percent screened flash memory, a password content protection system, and a QR code for scanning and identification.
 
P2 hardware can be upgraded to microP2 use on the following schedule: in April 2013, the AJ-HPX3100, AG-HPX250, AG-HPX255, AG-HPX600 camcorders, AG-HPD24 deck, and AJ-PCD20, AJ-PCD35, AJ-PCD30, AJ-PCD2 drives; in June 2013, the AG-HPX370 camcorder and AG-HPG20 recorder; in August 2013, the AJ-HPX2000 camcorder, and AJ-HPM200 and AJ-HPD2500 recorders. The free upgrade is available at http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en.