WDR Opts For Panasonic P2 System

Panasonic’s tapeless P2 system has made another inroad into news production.
Germany’s Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) will now use solid-state P2 camcorders to produce its own news programming and contributions for political programs shown on the ARD national public television network.
The move follows on the adoption of P2 camcorders by ARD’s bureau in Brussels, where the Panasonic system has scored a major hit with both engineering and on-camera staff.
“In Brussels we have implemented a non-linear workflow for newsgathering and reporting with the P2 system, which is completely tapeless and allows us to have direct access to our recorded material,” said Jürgen Fischer, the program group leader for ARD’s bureaus outside Germany. “It also helps us to perform editing on mobile trucks without additional equipment. If necessary the camera can be connected to the NLE via the USB 2.0.”
With the P2 system additional equipment can be kept to a minimum, since data from the P2 cards or the final edit can be played out to a mobile truck transmitter directly from a notebook computer.
“It is fantastic to be able to view the recorded scenes on location without having to shuttle backwards and forwards through tapes,” said Rolf-Dieter Krause, an ARD correspondent based in Brussels. “I can see immediately if I am satisfied with my take for the evening news and quickly delete unwanted material to prepare for the next shoot.”
Panasonic’s P2 is the industry’s first and only entirely solid-state recording system, with no mechanical parts. The user can select from recoding data rates of 25, 50, and 100 Mbps depending on camera type and requirements, delivering the same proven quality as Panasonic’s DVCPRO, DVCPRO50, and DVCPRO- DVCPRO HD recording formats.
Fully compatible with existing tape-based equipment, Panasonic’s P2 allows broadcasters to gradually transition to an IT-based workflow as budgets permit.
(SP)