Panasonic's AG-HMC151E Wins STAR Award At IBC2008

Panasonic PBITS Professional & Broadcast Systems won a 2008 STAR (Superior Technology Award Recipient) Award from the editorial staff of TV Technology Europe magazine for the recently launched AG-HMC151E AVCCAM camcorder.
The STAR Award is designed to celebrate and showcase the preeminent technological innovations available to the broadcast industry.
TV Technology Europe editors and writers reviewed a variety of products, examined the technical applications and their overall contribution to the industry and then chose 25 winners.
Part of Panasonic's AVCCAM series of products, the AG-HMC151E incorporates the design concept of the highly regarded DVX100 and features a newly developed 13x Leica Dicomar 28mm wide-angle zoom lens that provides the widest angle of any 1/3-inch camcorder. At 1.7kg, the AG-HMC151 is also the lightest 1/3-inch camcorder on the market.
Nela Pertl, European Provideo Product Manager, Panasonic PBITS, said: "It's great to receive this award right at the start of the campaign to bring our new AVCCAM product line to the professional and prosumer market.
"The AG-HMC151E is an outstanding camcorder that offers quality and features never before seen at this price point."
The AG-HMC151E's AVCCAM format allows the camera to record HD digital A/V data on SD/SDHC memory cards with the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec, providing the robust and convenient tapeless operation proven in Panasonic's P2 range of professional cameras.
Without the need for a motor drive and other moving parts, the camera is instantly ready for recording and free from problems such as condensation, dropouts, head clogging and wear. Footage shot with the AG-HMC151E is recorded as files and can be transferred at high speed for immediate use on a PC or Mac, without the need for digitisation.
For the highest recording quality in 720p or 1080p progressive format, the AG-HMC151E offers the professional high-quality (PH) mode exclusively designed for AVCCAM camcorders. Operational at between 50 Hz and 60 Hz, the AG-HMC151E can be used easily anywhere in the world.
The AVCHD recording format allows HD video to be recorded in the form of 8-bit digital component video using 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. The AG-HMC151E's "high-profile" implementation of the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 standard provides improved compression efficiency and supports full-pixel HD (1920 x 1080/1280 x 720) 24p, 25p and 30p progressive recording. The AG-HMC151E also supports variable bit rate (VBR) recording, significantly reducing image-quality degradation in scenes with rapid movement.
In keeping with Panasonic's renowned support packages for its professional products, the AG-HMC151E is backed by a three-year, free-of-charge warranty contract, providing reassurance to users and significantly reducing cost of ownership, as well as a premium, five-day turnaround repair service.
Further information is available at: www.panasonic-broadcast.com.
(KMcA)