Panasonic AG-HVX200

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The Panasonic AG-HVX200.

The Panasonic AG HVX200 is a low-cost professional fixed lens HD camera released in December 2005 (NTSC) and April 2006 (PAL). By utilizing solid state P2 cards for high-bitrate recording instead of a MiniDV drive for DV recording, the HVX200 is able to offer unique abilities, like variable frame rates (used for slow motion & fast motion cinematography) and a 4x higher bit rate (100 Mbit/s) than mini-DV. With these features and an affordable price ($6000 USD), the camera is widely sought after by independent filmmakers.

The camera uses three 1/3" 960x540 pixel progressive scan CCD's to capture the image, and although the resolution seems low, it manages to achieve HD resolution by employing both horizontal and vertical spatial offset (aka. pixel shift). The green CCD in the array is physically shifted 1/2 pixel biaxially to achieve up to 50% higher horizontal and vertical resolution. This would make the theoretical maximum resolution of the image, 1440 x 810 pixels, even though each CCD has only 960 x 540 photosites. Regardless of the physical resolution of the CCD's and the recording format, the analog output of the CCD's are always 1920x1080, which is then used by the DSP for the Offset image reconstruction.

The HVX200's resolution is recorded at 960 x 720 for 720P mode, and 1280 x 1080 for 1080p mode in 60Hz territories; in 50Hz (PAL) regions it is recorded at 1440x1080. The sensors employ variable scanning rates from 2Hz to 50Hz (NTSC version) or 60Hz (PAL version) and are always capturing progressive images. The images are always scanned from the chips at a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Those images are then downsampled to a size appropriate for the recording format (for DVCPRO or DVCPRO that means 720x480 NTSC or 720x576 PAL; for DVCPRO HD it means 960 x 720 for 720p or 1280 x 1080 for US/NTSC 1080i/p, or 1440x1080 for EU/PAL 1080i/p.

HD resolution is generally defined as 1280x720 and above. The good thing about a lower res imager is improved sensitivity, greater dynamic range and better color reproduction, all properties which can be limited on a small size sensor.

1 Features
- 1.1 Competitors
- 1.2 Digital Cinema and Videography
2 External links

[edit] Features

The front of the Panasonic AG-HVX200.

The rear of the Panasonic AG-HVX200.

The successor to the Panasonic DVX100 supports:

Variable frame rates and resolutions, including (in the NTSC version):
- 1080: 60i, 30p, 24p
- 720: 60p, 48p, 36p, 32p, 30p, 26p, 24p, 22p, 20p, 18p, 12p
- 480: 60i, 30p, 24p
- the camera also contains the following unsupported frame rates that can be reached with a hack ([1] [2]):
  - 720: 2,3,4,6,8,10,14,16,23,24.9,27,28,34,38,40,42,44,46,50,52,54,56,58 fps.
  - Beware, though: unsupported may mean that unexpected behaviour might occur when using the outlined procedures.
Professional/Robust format (DVCPRO-HD)
Tapeless recording (P2 memory cards) and Hardisk recording device has also been announced by a 3rd-party vendors (FS-100 Firestore, Shining Corp's Citidisk HD and Cineporter from Spec-Comm).
Professional Audio (48 kHz 16-bit 4-channel PCM audio, 2xXLR)

Based on the specs provided by Panasonic, this camcorder's recording format DVCPROHD seems vastly superior to HDV format recorded by current crop of prosumer HD cameras. HDV with its limit of 25 Mbit/s recording limit with DV tapes is inherently limited in terms of quality and frame rates. In-depth reviews, however, still remain to be seen.

[edit] Competitors

The left side of the Panasonic AG-HVX200.

In the field of semiprofessional HDTV cameras, the main competitors of the HVX200 (all of which use the HDV format) are (as of September 2006):

Sony HVR-Z1
Sony HVR-V1
Canon XL H1
JVC HD100

[edit] Digital Cinema and Videography

The right side of the Panasonic AG-HVX200.

While film and video professionals have been in continual disagreement on whether the HDV or DVCPRO HD codec is superior, it is clear that they both have different goals in mind.

HDV is more cost effective, as it is typically recorded to miniDV tape, and uses only 25Mbits per second. In 720p mode it also records in a higher native resolution without rasterizing the image. However, the image is quite highly compressed, having more pixels to store, and less space to store it.

DVCPRO HD uses 100Mbits per second for a lower resolution image (once rasterized), and therefore is less compressed and starved for bandwidth.

HDV and DVCPRO HD have two disparate uses in mind, however. HDV is targeted at the videography market with higher resolution, crisper images, and lower bandwidth. The price for this is a lower dynamic range, artifacting from compression, and less color space. DVCPRO HD addresses these concerns.

Stock footage videographers the world over have embraced the HVX200 with its combination of low price and small form factor to produce stunning imagery.

Digital artifacts, and low dynamic range intimate that the image was shot digitally; something a filmmaker may want to avoid.