At an event at NAB today, Panasonic announced a free firmware upgrade for the recently-released AG-HPX300 10-bit, 4:2:2 P2 HD camcorder that will enhance its performance compared to the growing number of products now utilizing MOS imagers.

The $10,700 HPX300 is a 10-bit, 4:2:2 professional HD camcorder that provides master-quality, full 1920x1080 resolution AVC-Intra recording and professional features such as variable frame rates. It incorporates advanced 1/3-inch 2.2-megapixel 3-MOS image sensors to acquire full native resolution 1920x1080 HD images. These 3-MOS imagers provide exceptional image quality while minimizing flare.


The Flash Band Compensation firmware upgrade compensates for the “flash band” effect experienced by most MOS-based imagers. (As there is still a possibility for the appearance of discontinuous motion with excessive camera movement or when recording very high-speed objects, care should be taken in these shooting conditions.) As these imagers utilize rolling shutter, which records images line by line instead of simultaneously, as with global shutter technology, they tend to be susceptible to image variance when a light flashes during shooting. A light band (flash band) can appear in the continuous two frames when a flash occurs, similar to that from a still camera or strobe light.

The free firmware upgrade enables the camera to use a newly developed LSI signal process that removes the flash artifact. It detects the “flash band” frame and combines it with the previous unaffected frame image to compensate for divided flash band frames and maintain the natural frame sequence.

The Flash Band Compensation firmware upgrade for the HPX300 will be available on the download section of the Panasonic Broadcast Web site, www.panasonic.com/broadcast, this summer.