Olympic Games

“But will it make the boat go faster?”

Yes, that’s exactly what Panasonic’s kit will do, as Britain’s rowing and sailing teams train for major events – including this year’s Olympic Games

Panasonic has been an Official Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games for 20 years, and will be there for 2008, 2012 and beyond. All the events in this year’s Olympic Games will be captured on Panasonic’s HD broadcast cameras. The high-tech experts will also supply the venues’ massive screens and sound systems, and if you’re watching at home you couldn’t improve on Panasonic’s pin-sharp Viera TV range.

Panasonic UK’s helping Britain’s athletes too, currently training for the Olympic Games. It’s a Technical Partner with the governing bodies of our most successful Olympic Games sports — cycling, sailing and rowing. So how is Panasonic’s AV gear increasing our chance of coming home with a haul of gold medals?

Shooting and Sailing

That’s not a determined paparazzo chasing a 49er training with the British sailing squad. It’s Development Squad coach Harvey Hillary shooting with Panasonic’s SDR-SW20, a camcorder rugged enough to survive an ocean battering. Dust-proof, drop-proof and salt-waterproof to 1.5m, it records straight to SD card. Using solid-state memory like SD makes the camcorder super-reliable, and footage can easily be transferred to a PC for detailed analysis.

Harvey will be able to make out the sweat on his crew’s brows thanks to the 10x optical zoom, and see just what he’s captured on the move thanks to the big, bright 2.7in LCD. The instant feedback is vital for the sailors, too. This unique camcorder lets you shoot where you’ve never shot before.

Back at base it’s time to review the day over the Panasonic PT-LB60NT, a compact data projector with plug-and-play easy set-up. At 3,200 lumens it’s more than bright enough for salt-stung eyes, and as the world’s fastest wireless transmission projector it can take feeds from up to 16 PCs at a time.

The rowing show

Britain’s rowers get to see all their training video in ‘full HD’ detail, thanks to Panasonic’s HDC-SD9. The world’s smallest 3CCD high-definition camcorder records in glorious 1080p, with advanced image stabilisation on board for rock-solid images. Again, SD card recording ensures that there’s no delicate moving parts to jam as GB Rowing’s High Performance Coach, Robin Williams, gives instant feedback to Helen Casey. And that feedback has never looked sharper or more colourful. Image capture is via Panasonic’s 3CCD system — the sort of kit you find in their pro equipment. Add in the Leica Dicomar lens and Dolby 5.1 channel sound and the SD9 combines professional quality with the ease of use and portability of a consumer camcorder.

Only the best TV will do when it comes to reproducing the camcorder’s fantastic footage. That TV is Panasonic’s 32in Viera LCD, the TX-32LXD85. High-definition video can be piped in through one of three HDMIDMI slots, which also allows the camcorder to be controlled by the TV’s remote using Viera Link. Then let the flat panel’s 100MHz ‘Motion Picture Pro’ processing handle the fast-moving rowing action – and the set’s 178º wide viewing angle means the whole team can watch the footage.