Panasonic Displays Prototype 3 CCD, 16:9 24 Frames Progressive Flash Memory (SD Card) Prosumer Camcorder at NAB

by News Editor
Published on Apr 5, 2003 12:00 AM



At today's Panasonic press conference at the National Association of Brodcasters annual convention in Las Vegas, the Panasonic Director of Development for AV Systems displayed a small, prototype flash memory prosumer camcorder. Very few details were given about the model which does not have a name. The camcorder was shown because it records only to SD cards, and includes no tape recording parts.

The prototype model was about twelve inches long, six inches high, and only three inches wide. The camcorder includes a 16:9 LCD screen, and Panasonic representatives at NAB said that the camcorder does record at a 16:9 aspect ratio. We do not now whether or not the camcorder includes 16:9 native CCDs, however if it includes a 16:9 LCD screen it is very likely that it will include 16:9 native CCDs. Panasonic representatives stateded that the camcorder would include three CCDs and record 24 frames per second progressive video.

The prototype camcorder is said to only record to SD memory cards, which currently come in sizes up to 1 GB, however the company has plans to eventually release up to a 16 GB model. Panasonic said that the camcorder would record MPEG video to the SD cards, however currently the 1 GB card can only hold 18 minutes of video. Panasonic representatives stressed that because the camcorder has no tape, it includes very few moving parts and can operate in much harsher conditions than many of today's camcorders.

When asked for pricing information, the Panasonic representatives were reluctant, however they stated the camcorder would be priced around, or slightly higher than the AG-DVX100. If the camcorder does include 16:9 CCDs, it would solve one of the weaknesses of the popular Panasonic AG-DVX100 - also a 24 frames progressive camcorder. The camcorder is also much smaller than the AG-DVX100. However, it is hard to make any solid conclusions about the prototype camcorder because the model which was displayed was not working and is most likely very far from production. If Panasonic does announce a flash memory recording, 24 frames progressive, 16:9 native, three CCD camcorder it will be a major development in the industry and most likely be a hugely popular camcorder.