Panasonic World

Sharing the Passion: Panasonic and the Olympics

As an event that commands the focus of the media and the attention of the entire World, the Olympic Games are the premier sporting events on the Planet. The Games reach billions of people in over 200 countries and territories throughout the world and Panasonic is proud to be an Official Worldwide Olympic Partner.

Panasonic's involvement with the Olympics began back in 1984 at the Los Angeles Games as the supplier of the professional sound system and the large video display for the main stadium. Buoyed by this success the company then became a Worldwide Olympic Partner in 1987 when it joined The Olympic Partner (TOP) Programme as a charter member committed to supporting both the Summer and Winter Games.

From The Seoul Olympics in 1988 onwards, Panasonic has provided each Games with state-of-the-art digital audio/visual equipment, such as flat screen TVs, digital video cameras, DVD recorders, and professional audio/video equipment. However, Panasonic has always considered its responsibilty to the Olympics to be vital role of delivering the sights, sounds and unique excitement of the Olympic Games, from the field of play to the spectators through its large on-site video screens and professional audio systems, and to people around the world through broadcasting with its digital broadcast equipment.

Indeed, unknown to most people, because of this extraordinary breadth of expertise in TV technology Panasonic has been responsible for delivering the Olympics to our homes for the past 20 years. Since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Panasonic has exclusively provided professional broadcast cameras, editing consoles, monitors, and assorted recording media to the international Olympic Broadcast Centres which beam images of the games around the world.

With the past 20 years of experience under its belt, Panasonic is now working on the largest and most challenging Olympic project to date: next Year’s Beijing Olympic Games. Beijing 2008 will mark the first time that the entire production of an Olympic games will be done in High Definition – meaning that viewers will be able experience all the events with unparalleled clarity and crispness. Although only 91,000 people will be able to fit into the National Stadium to watch the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony, thanks to Panasonic HD technology millions of people around the world will be able to follow the ceremony and the proceeding games as intensely as if they were there in person! That's why Panasonic's Olympic slogan is "Sharing the Passion"!

The passion of the competing athletes is mirrored by the passion of the Panasonic engineers who constantly strive to develop ever better and more sophisticated Audio/Visual products. Broadcasting the Olympics to the world provides our engineers with a mammoth technical task and a perfect opportunity to hone their skills. However, these learnings are put to good use after the Olympics are over as the knowledge gained is transferred to perfecting other products, such as the award winning range of VIERA Plasma TVs, DIGA DVD Recorders and e.Cam camcorders.

To visit the Global Panasonic Olympic Site, click here.