Panasonic Rolls Out New F Series P2 Cards

SECAUCUS, N.J.: Panasonic has announced a new generation of P2 cards that support the AVC-Intra Class 200 of the AVC-ultra codec family. Immediately available, the F series of 64, 32 and 16 GB 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. Panasonic says AVC-Intra Class 200 will produce visually lossless compression, a feature targeting migration of HD tape masters to a file-based format.

F Series P2 cards offer transfer speeds up to 1.2 Gbps, Panasonic says. Also, the F Series P2 media contain a flash memory error correction system, equivalent to a RAID system. All P2 cards comprise solid-state memory, die-cast aluminum construction and impact-proof connectors.