Introduction

The AJ-HDC27F is a camera/VTR that supports the SMPTE-296M 1280a720 scanning standard. Integrated in this single unit are an HD color video camera featuring a 1-million pixel IT-CCD unit with on- chip lens as the pickup device, and a DVCPRO HD format VTR incorporating the latest compression technology.

The camera unit supports a variable frame function and film tone gamma function, and it also supports the Ultra Prime lenses for 35 mm film cameras as a standard feature.

Featuring a 100 Mbps recording rate for the VTR as well, this unit is capable of recording images with an extremely high picture quality to achieve the highest performance and most sophisticated functions as an integrated camera/VTR for electronic field production (EFP) applications.

Furthermore, it is compact and lightweight, has low power consumption, and excels in achieving a high level of picture quality, sensitivity, and mobility, and is extremely dust-proof and moisture-proof. These are all attributes which enable the unit to be used for electronic news gathering (ENG) applications as well. Since digital signal processing is provided in both the camera unit and VTR unit, the picture quality is further improved while the unit’s stability is also enhanced.

Small multimedia cards or SD memory cards meeting global standards can be used for the camera and VTR setting data as part of a system which can accomplish data management.

Features

Features of the camera unit

The camera unit of the AJ-HDC27F has the following features.

O High sensitivity: 2000 lux, F12

O Frame rate: 4 fps (frame/sec.) to 60 fps

O High signal-to-noise ratio: 54 dB (standard) O Low smear

O Low flare

O Scan reverse

O Switchable frame frequency: 59.94 Hz or 60.00 Hz

Variable frame rate

Frame-drop (under-cranking) shooting and high-speed (over-cranking) shooting, which are special film shooting techniques, have been achieved for the first time in a video camera.

The variable frame rate function can be set as desired from 4 fps (frame/sec.) to 60 fps.

The shutter speed can also be set from 0.8% of the frame rate (aperture angle: 3 degrees) to 97.2% (aperture angle: 350 degrees), enabling full use to be made of many different presentation techniques.

Along with continually recording at 60 fps, the VTR unit enables specific effective frames alone to be marked with time codes so that off-line editing using a conventional DVCPRO HD VTR is possible. This makes it possible to construct a 24 fps production system with minimal equipment investment.

Film tone gamma function

In the beginning, the first and foremost aspect defining the manifold powers of expression that only the medium of film could achieve was the extent of a film’s latitude (reproduction range). What Panasonic did was to use its resources to develop an exclusive gamma curve for reproducing film tones by means of the CCDs, and this led to the capability of expressing natural gradations and reproducing a rich variety of colors—something that was beyond the means of conventional video cameras. The AJ-HDC27F incorporates a total of three gamma curves—two cine curves (for films/for videos) and the conventional video gamma curve—and it enables the curve that best suits the application at hand to be selected. The powers of expression achieved as a result are comparable to those provided by film. The high sensitivity that is simply superior to film cameras delivers an excellent balance between brightness and high picture quality: indeed, the kind of sensitivity that corresponds to ISO640 enables shooting with the same kind of feel as ultra-fine-grain films.

When the conventional video gamma curve is to be used, set the unit to the video mode using the CAM MENU SEL item on the OPTION screen of FILM (CAM) MAIN MENU 4.

When one of the cine curves is to be used, set the unit to the film mode using the CAM MENU SEL item on the OPTION screen of FILM (CAM) MAIN MENU 4, and then select the desired curve by setting the CINE GAMMA SEL item on the GAMMA screen of FILM MAIN MENU 1.

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