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Panasonic to Deliver Full Line-up of HD Equipment to Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games (27/11/2009)

This marks the company's largest-ever equipment supply for the Winter Games

Panasonic Corporation, the Official Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Audio and Visual Equipment category for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, announced it is providing a full line-up of high-definition (HD) equipment to support the broadcast of the Olympic Games, delivering the largest supply of AV equipment for any Winter Games in the company's history. Through cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), and the Olympic Broadcasting Services Vancouver (OBSV), Panasonic will supply its HD video equipment to the competition venues and broadcasting locations to realize the first Olympic Winter Games in HD format.

Following Beijing 2008, all international video signals for the 2010 Winter Games will be produced and distributed in HD format from the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) to rights-holding broadcasters around the world. In addition, the HD video signals will also be used for the first time for the LED Large Screen Display Systems in the competition venues and BC Place Stadium where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will take place, making the 2010 Winter Games the first "HD Olympic Winter Games" with all the Olympic videos to be delivered completely in HD. At BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver, Panasonic will install three LED video screens with a total display area of 243 m2 (approximately 1.4 times the size used in the Torino 2006 Main Stadium). Together with Panasonic's professional sound systems and plasma display panels, the Panasonic AV systems will deliver spectacular images to add the excitement of the Opening Ceremony.

Panasonic's DVCPRO HD has already been decided upon as the recording format for the 2010 Winter Games. The company will deliver large numbers of broadcasting equipment such as the P2HD series, a solid-state memory news gathering system. The 2010 Winter Games is the ninth Olympic Games in which Panasonic's digital technology has been used as the recording format since the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.

In addition, Panasonic will support a safe and secure Olympic operation by providing high-quality picture and high-sensitivity surveillance camera systems for the indoor and outdoor Olympic facilities, the surrounding areas and highways.

In cooperation with VANOC and Bell, a Premier National Partner and the Exclusive Telecommunications Partner for 2010 Winter Games, Panasonic will also provide an HD Video Conference System as a means to link the two Athletes' Villages in Vancouver and Whistler for the first time. The Panasonic system combining HD video conference units, which will go on sale in Canada next year, with full HD PDP and HD camcorders will link the Villages with H.264 high-resolution images and high sound quality resistant to audio cutoff. The Panasonic HD Video Conference System allows coaches and athletes to communicate without travelling between the Villages by providing vivid images and clear sound that make them feel as if they were in the same room. This system will also be used for the welcome ceremony of the Villages to unite athletes. This will not only save time and money required for the athletes to move between the Villages but also help reduce CO2 emissions, ensuring an effectively-run Olympic Games with environmental considerations.

www.panasonic.net/olympic  

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