The first live 3D Olympic Games for London 2012 ended with great praise and excitement. Panasonic Corporation has contributed to realizing the 3D broadcast of the Olympic Games based on partnership agreement with Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS).

OBS utilized 18 units of AG-3DP1 which Panasonic Corporation developed and manufactured to create more than 230 hours of programs including opening ceremony, closing ceremony, athletics, gymnastics, diving, canoeing, swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, equestrian, judo, cycling, wrestling and more.

The AG-3DP1s which are the integrated twin-lens 3D camera recorders and different from a conventional rig-type 3D camera system using two cameras and a rig, were installed into OBS’s three OB vans and used as the cameras in multi-camera system with the rig-type 3D cameras. In addition, AG-3DP1s were also utilized by OBS’s six ENG crews to shoot the events requiring the mobility and speed which rig-type 3D system can’t meet.

“The mobility of AG-3DP1 was very good. It could shoot like as the same as a conventional 2D camera. Actually, I was much more impressed about its operability and image quality against 3D rig-type camera system when using it in multi-camera system. If we have not had AG-3DP1 mobility and speed, it would be a quite difficult to deliver such a huge hours of 3D programs” said Manolo Romeo, Managing Director of OBS.

The 3D programs were carried by BBC (UK), CCTV (China), Sky Italia (Italy), Channel Nine (Australia), France TV (France), NBC (USA), Eurosport (France) and more to deliver the passion and realism of London Olympic Games to their audience. “We are proud of contributing to realize the broadcast of the first 3D Olympic Game with our products and technology. Next, we would like to convey this precious experience and Know-how under very serious and hard condition not allowing any mistakes, to our customers as much as possible” said Kunihiko Miyagi, Director of Professional AV Business Unit which is in charge of developing and manufacturing the broadcasting products at Panasonic. He concluded “Panasonic will contribute more for supporting the growth of 3D contents industry.”

About AG-3DP1


The 3DP1 incorporates two pairs of 1/3 type full-HD 2.2 megapixel 3-MOS imagers with enhanced sensitivity and a 20 bit Digital Signal Processor to acquire full production quality, native 1920 x 1080 resolution images. As with the 3DA1, the 3DP1 incorporates stereoscopic adjustment controls making it easier to use and operate. The twin-lens system adopted in the camera recorder’s optical section allows the convergence point to be adjusted. Functions for automatically correcting horizontal and vertical displacement are also provided. Conventional 3D camera systems require these adjustments to be made by means of a PC or an external video processor. Panasonic’s integrated professional 3D camera recorders, however, automatically recalibrate without any need for external equipment, allowing immediate 3D image capture.



Improvements in the 3DP1’s suite of 3D controls include a new convergence assist function, whereby parallax can be easily adjusted while confirming the safety area through the display of the amount of dashing out/ drawing in on the LCD screen in the shape of waves. The 3DP1 records in AVC-Intra 100/50 and is 50Hz/60Hz switchable, an added benefit to producers with global clients. In AVC-Intra 100/50, it records in 1080 at 59.94i, 29.97pN, 23.98pN, 50i and 25pN and in 720p at 59.94p and 50p, 29.97pN, 23.98pN, 25pN. For creative flexibility, the 3DP1 has variable frame rate recording for creating fast and slow motion effects. In 720p mode, a user can choose from 20 variable frame steps between 12 and 60 frames per second.



The 3DP1 is equipped with dual optical, wide 17X zoom lenses and can record for up to 80 minutes on dual 64GB P2 cards in AVC-Intra 100 1080/24pN. The camcorder offers professional interfaces including dual HD SDI outs, HDMI (3D compatible) out, and two XLR connectors. It offers genlock and timecode inputs for multi-camera operation. It is also equipped with a remote terminal for focus iris, zoom, REC start/stop and convergence point. Its 8.1 cm (3.2 inches) LCD screen provides the option to switch from Left, Right or overlay image display that facilitates reviewing depth information without the need for external tools.



The 3DP1 offers all the benefits of a familiar, fast, file-based P2 HD workflow including such recording features as instant recording startup, clip thumbnail view for immediate access to video content on all cards, and a host of time-saving recording modes including continuous recording and interval recording.

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