Panasonic unveils AVC-I codec board

Panasonic has introduced the AJ-YBX200 codec board, which allows both the AJ-HPX2100 production camcorder and the AJ-HPM100 field edit and playback device to operate in the new AVC-I codec.

Since its debut, Panasonic has intended to incorporate AVC-I, an intra-frame-only, H.264 codec, into selected equipment alongside the DVCPRO HD format.

The AVC-I codec enables producers to create content in two bit rates, one offering greater economy in storage space, the other offering higher-resolution images. In 50m mode, the AJ-HPX2100 can record content close to DVCPRO HD quality at half the bit rate, effectively doubling storage capacity. In 100m mode, the AJ-HPX2100 can record images at near HDD5 quality.

The inclusion of the AVC-I codec provides the AJ-HPX2100 and the AJ-HPM100 field editor with a better compression scheme. It also offers DVCPRO HD quality at one-half the bandwidth. This means that a single 32GB P2 card can record more than one hour of HD content.

For more information, visit www.panasonic-broadcast.com.