P2 (P2 is a short form for "Professional Plug-In") is a professional

digital recording In digital recording, an audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is saved to a storage de ...

solid-state memory storage media format introduced by

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

in 2004, and especially tailored to

electronic news-gathering Electronic news-gathering (ENG) or electronic journalism (EJ) is usage of electronic video and audio technologies by reporters to gather and present news instead of using film cameras. The term was coined during the rise of videotape techn ...

(ENG) applications. It features tapeless (non-linear) recording of DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO25, DVCPRO50, DVCPRO-HD, or

AVC-Intra AVC-Intra is a type of video coding developed by Panasonic, and then supported in products made by other companies. AVC-Intra is available in Panasonic's high definition broadcast products, such as, for example, their P2 card equipped broadcast c ...

streams on a

solid-state Solid state, or solid matter, is one of the four fundamental states of matter. Solid state may also refer to: Electronics * Solid-state electronics, circuits built of solid materials * Solid state ionics, study of ionic conductors and their use ...

flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...

. The P2 card is essentially a

RAID Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

Secure Digital Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary format, proprietary non-volatile memory, non-volatile Flash memory, flash memory card format developed by the SD Association, SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The s ...

(SD) memory cards with an LSI controller tightly packaged in a

die-cast Die casting is a metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into shape and work similarly t ...

PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) enclosure, so data transfer rate increases as memory capacity increases. The system includes cameras, decks as drop-in replacements for

videocassette recorder A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette Videotape is magnetic tape ...

s (VCR), and a special 5.25-inch computer drive for

random-access Random access (more precisely and more generally called direct access) is the ability to access an arbitrary element of a sequence in equal time or any datum from a population of addressable elements roughly as easily and efficiently as any othe ...

integration with

non-linear editing system Non-linear editing is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by specialized sof ...

s (NLE). The cards can also be used directly where a PC card (PCMCIA) slot is available, as in most older

notebook computer A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

s, as a normal

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

, although a custom software driver must first be loaded. As of early 2010, P2 cards are available in capacities of 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 GB. At introduction, P2 cards offered low recording capacity compared to competing,

video tape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...

-based formats (a

miniDV DV refers to a family of codecs and videotape, tape formats used for storing digital video, launched in 1995 by a consortium of camcorder, video camera manufacturers led by Sony and Panasonic. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DV was strongly ...

tape holds roughly 13 GB of data, and an S-size

HDCAM HDCAM is a high-definition video digital recording videocassette version of Digital Betacam introduced in 1997 that uses an 8-bit discrete cosine transform (DCT) compressed 3:1:1 recording, in 1080i-compatible down-sampled resolution of 14 ...

tape holds 50 GB). To solve this, camcorders and decks using P2 media employ multiple card slots, with the ability to span the recording over all slots. Cards are recorded in sequence, and when a card is full, it can be swapped out while another card is recording. This limits recording time only by power supply and the available number of cards. If a card is partially full, the deck will record only until it is full. Unlike video tape, old video cannot be recorded over accidentally; old footage must be manually deleted. P2 cards are of a ruggedized PCMCIA type with the fastest transfer speeds currently available through this format. The card also contains a processor that organizes and safeguards the files and the case is developed and crafted to "military" (according to Panasonic) specifications, making P2 cards tough and reliable. The first pieces of equipment released by Panasonic which use the P2 format included the AJ-SPX800 (a 2/3" broadcast camcorder for ENG and EFP applications), the studio recorder AJ-SPD850, the AJ-PCD10 offload device (basically, a five-slot PC card reader with USB interface designed to fit a 5-1/4" IT systems bay), and the memory cards themselves – AJ-P2C004 (4 GB) and AJ-P2C002 (2 GB). Panasonic is currently shipping a wide range of camcorders that support the P2 format, including the

professional video camera A professional video camera (often called a television camera even though its use has spread beyond television) is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images (as opposed to a movie camera, that earlier recorded the images on film). O ...

AG-HVX200 HD handheld camcorder, and the high-end, or broadcast professional shoulder-mount AG-HPX500, AJ-HPX2000, and AJ-HPX3000 camcorders. Panasonic has also announced the P2-based AG-HPX170 handheld HD

tapeless camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swa ...

. The HPX170 is very similar to the HVX200 and the HVX200A, the main difference being the lack of a video tape drive on the 170. The latest products to feature P2 technology are the well-received recently launched AJ-HPX2700 and AH-HPX3700 "Varicam" high end cameras. On April 15, 2012, Panasonic introduced the "

MicroP2 MicroP2 is a memory card format introduced by Panasonic. The cards were announced in April 2012 and shipped in March 2013. Physically, MicroP2 is a SDXC/SDHC card conforming to UHS-II ( Ultra High Speed bus), and can be read by common SDHC/SDXC ...

" system, an entirely different format based on

SDHC Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanD ...

SDXC Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...

conforming to UHS-II (Ultra-High Speed) bus mode. Most (but not all) current P2 products can use MicroP2 (UHS-II) and SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I/UHS-II) cards through a MicroP2 card adapter, with some requiring a firmware update. Some P2 products (such as the AG-HPX500E camera) are not able to use MicroP2 at all. On February 27, 2014, Panasonic has announced a new generation of P2 media, the expressP2 card, designed to accommodate high frame rate 1080 HDAVC-ULTRA recording (above 60fps) as well as 4K capture.

Specifications

* File format:

MXF MXF or mxf may refer to: * Material Exchange Format, a container format for professional digital video and audio media * MXF, the IATA and FAA LID code for Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, United States * mxf, the ISO 639-3 code for Malgbe language ...

* Maximum datarate: 1.22 Gbit/s * Available sizes: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 GB * Form factor: PC card (PCMCIA) type II

P2 card run times timetable

Panasonic recently published a slightly more complicated version of this table for 16 and 32 GB cards.

P2 camera range

Handheld models

AG-HPX170 (NTSC version) * Compact, lightweight HD/SD camera-recorder * 13× zoom lens with 28mm wide-angle AG-HPX171 (European version) * Compact, lightweight HD/SD camera-recorder * 13× zoom lens with 28mm wide-angle * Improved ergonomics, features and image quality compared to its predecessor AG-HVX200 * Progressive native 16:9 HD 3CCD imaging system * HD quality Leica Dicomar wide-angle zoom lens * Progressive modes supported AG-HPX250 AG-HVX202AEN HD DVC-PRO

Shoulder mount models

AG-HPX300/HPX301 * 3 pieces of 1/3-inch MOS image sensor (1920×1080 pixels each) * Removable 1/3-inch lens * AVC-Intra 50/100 and DVCPRO HD/50/25 codecs compatible * Variable Frame Rate * LCoS viewfinder * Two P2 slots AG-HPX370/371 * New 2,2MPx MAICO CMOS sensor with improved sensitivity F11 * Other features as above HPX301 AG-HPX500/HPX555 * 3 pieces of 2/3-inch CCD image sensor (960×540 pixels each) * DVCPRO HD/50/25 codecs compatible * Variable Frame rate function * Four P2 slots AJ-HPX2000(AJ-HPX2100 in Europe) * 3 pieces of 2/3-inch CCD image sensor (1280×720 pixels each) * DVCPRO HD codecs compatible * AVC-Intra 50 and 100 codecs as an option * 10 bit/4:2:2 Recording with Full Sampling as an option * Variable Frame rate function * Five P2 slots AJ-HPX2700 * One of the new P2

Varicam Varicam, originally stylized as VariCam, is a brand name associated with specialized Panasonic video cameras that are mostly used to imitate the look and feel of motion picture cameras. They have been used to record scenes for many feature films. ...

range * Variable Frame Rate of 1 frame/s to 60 frame/s * 10 bit/4:2:2 Recording with Full Sampling * AVC-Intra codec recording system AJ-HPX3000 * DVCPRO HD/AVC-Intra codecs compatible * Native 1080p 4:2:2 10-bit * Newly developed high-resolution 2.2-megapixel CCD AJ-HPX3700 * Super High-End HD Camera-Recorder for Cinema Production, part of the P2

range * RGB 4:4:4 and 24PsF output * AVC-Intra codec recording system

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:P2 (Storage Media) Video storage Solid-state computer storage media