The card also uses the FAT32 file system, which makes the card compatible with both Macintosh and Windows systems. The current generation of E-Series P2 cards doesn’t use individual SD memory cards it uses multiple core memory components. Early P2 cards were manufactured using actual SD memory cards in a striped RAID array. The card can be used to manage the data files, and it even does a write-verification step for every byte of memory that gets written to the card, thus assuring fault-free operation. P2 cards include microcomputers with their own processors, firmware, a RAID controller and zero-fault, solid-state memory chips. The P2 card is reusable, up to roughly 1000 times, and connects with laptops and nonlinear editing systems via a special adapter or a Panasonic P2 player hooked up to a computer. We’re already achieving a greater throughput than the PCMCIA spec is getting.”įacchini added, “It doesn’t mean that the format will never change, but it won't change unless there’s a reason for it to change.”Įach P2 card consists of four SD memory cards, packaged in a die-cast frame that weighs 0.099lbs and offers four times the capacity and four times the transfer speed of a single SD card. “We now have adapters going to USB 3.0, and we see that as the way for customers to keep up with the changes in PCs. “We’re committed to the large number of customers out there with cameras with PCMCIA slots in them,” said Mike Bergeron, technical liaison for third-party partnerships at Panasonic. We’ve heard from our customers that P2 card pricing remains a barrier to entry, so we’re addressing that in an aggressive way.” “For all of our solid-state systems, we’re now focused on improving workflow and eliminating barriers to entry (to our P2 system).
“The professional video industry has wholeheartedly embraced solid-state recording, and we like to think we initiated that movement (with P2 in 2004),” said Joe Facchini, vice president of sales and product management for Panasonic. However, the company clearly wants to chip away at the lingering objections some professionals have about the P2 system. The company said 64GB will be the biggest capacity card made for a while because customers have said 320 minutes of 100Mb/s HD record time is “the right size” for most video shoots. In 2007, the 32GB P2 card (model AJ-P2C032RG) had a suggested list price of $1650.
In discussing its new products for the upcoming NAB Show in April that “improve the cost of ownership,” the company has announced an average 20 percent decrease in cost for its P2 cards, stating that the 64GB card is now $695 (30 percent decrease) the 32GB $480 (25 percent decline) and the 16GB cards costs $380 (15 percent decrease).