Panasonic Broadcast has unveiled the AJ-HD1800, a new full-size DVCPRO HD Studio VTR for broadcast, post production, and mobile production. Its features include 720/50 recording, a built-in upconverter and expanded IEEE 1394 interface capabilities.
The multiformat AJ-HD1800 records for 126 minutes at 100 Mbps with 4:2:2 sampling and intra-frame compression on a single XL DVCPRO HD cassette in both 1080i and 720p, including 720/50p. In addition, the VTR features a built-in up/down/cross converter for easy conversion between 1080i and 720p.
The VTR is equipped with front-panel editing controls, a numeric keypad and a high-resolution, built-in 3-inch LCD monitor. In addition to utilizing its built-in IEEE 1394 interface for transfer of HD and SD data without quality loss to an NLE system, this interface also allows the VTR to downconvert the HD-SDI input for uses including offline editing.
It also offers 8 channels of high-quality, digital audio (with 16-bit quantization and 48 kHz sampling) for 5.1 surround sound and SAP or multilanguage programming. The VTR is a 4U-size and fits into a 19-inch rack.
