Lateral chromatic aberrations are inherent to all optics and must be compensated for in the optical design. The trend to smaller imager formats and less-expensive optics had meant compromises in image performance without an alternative solution to this problem. The concept of modeling the aberrations of a lens and applying real-time electronic correction provides a very significant increase in image quality and permits lower cost-cameras and optics to create better images. Panasonic has incorporated this technology into its HD handheld cameras from the    AG-HVX200 to the AG-HPX255 and in shoulder mount camcorders, through a feature it calls Chromatic Aberration Compensation (CAC), in its high-end P2 HD production cameras, including the new AJ-PX5000G (with AVC-ULTRA recording), the AG-HPX600, AJ-HPX3100 and the VariCam™ shoulder-mount series.

“Panasonic is honored to receive the coveted technical Emmy for its pioneering efforts in the development of Chromatic Aberration Compensation,” said Michael Bergeron, Business Development Manager, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America (PSCNA). “This technology has helped us maintain high-quality imaging while making improvements in size, weight and affordability, and now combined with master-quality AVC-ULTRA recording and native 1920 x 1080 imagers, CAC has contributed to new benchmarks for HD acquisition, getting around inherent limitations of optics.”

Launched in 1948, the Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards honor development and innovation in broadcast technology and recognize companies, organizations and individuals for breakthroughs in technology that have a significant effect on television engineering. Panasonic has won a total of 17 Emmys, 13 of them for advancements in the area of digital video technology.