At a press briefing in New York City today, Panasonic showcased the new shoulder-mounted AJ-HPX2000 P2 HD camcorder, supporting the new AVC-Intra codec, which aims to make the solid-state recording format more attractive by effectively doubling the capacity of each P2 card. The AJ-HPX2000 holds up to five hot-swappable P2 cards, and is slated to ship in January at a suggested list price of $27,000.

The AVC-Intra codec runs at two data rates. At 100 Mbps, the same rate as DVCPRO HD footage, Panasonic said you get 10-bit 4:2:2 images at both 1920×1080 i/p and 1280x720p (480i and 576i are also options), comparing the image quality to the D-5 HD format. But the efficiency becomes as compelling as the quality when you run AVC-I at 50 Mbps, matching the quality of existing DVCPRO HD footage while doubling the capacity of your pricey P2 media. (Look for enhanced capacity announcements next year to make this an even more attractive bargain.) Representatives from Avid and Apple were both on hand to pledge support for AVC-I in future versions of their NLE systems.

To underscore the point, Panasonic displayed examples of footage compressed over multiple generations using both MPEG-2 and AVC-I side by side on a large flat panel. The results portrayed MPEG-2 artifacting in a poor light indeed. (Still, it's unclear what direct implications the relative shoddy appearance of footage that's been compressed over five generations might have on working shooters.)

Interestingly, Panasonic executives did not take the opportunity to directly slag the rival codec, which is used in Sony's similarly tapeless XDCAM line-up, which records images to optical discs. Instead, that task fell to an actress on-stage during the presentation, playing a dingy but bubbly blonde newscaster who declared, loudly, "It's toodle-oo to MPEG-2!"

(For its own part, Sony has stressed the maturity of MPEG-2 solutions over their more cutting-edge H.264 counterparts.)

The AVC-I introduction comes at a time when broadcasters are considering upgrading their newsgathering systems. Cox Broadcasting, for example, now plans to convert news operations at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina, and WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, to P2 starting in January.

Also on offer from Panasonic is the new AJ-HPM100 P2 HD mobile recorder, with its six P2 card slots, which is now shipping at a suggested list price of $12,000. Next July, an AVC-Intra board will be available as an option.