Another alternative P2 card at DVinfo.net

Gene Crucean · May 1st, 2007, 10:32 AM

Has anyone tried this? Haha. Does anyone know what actually prevents it from working? I'm guessing Panasonic is pulling a "Sony Style" on the internals of P2 cards.

I know this seems like I might be kidding but wouldn't it be nice to be able to swap extremely cheap 4gb SD cards? Two sd to pcmcia card readers and a truck load of 150x 4gb (30-40 bones at newegg) to do the superbowl shuffle.

Speed wise 150x sd cards write/read at 22.5MB/s which is about twice the bandwidth needed. 100mbit/s dvcpro HD equals about 12.5MB/s.

Chris Hurd · May 1st, 2007, 10:51 AM

Sorry, won't work, as the HVX200 won't recognize it as a P2 card.

Gene Crucean · May 1st, 2007, 11:33 AM

Right. If you look at the LCD you'll see that it doesn't work.

Why though?

Robert Lane · May 1st, 2007, 12:17 PM

When the HVX was first released P2 cards were a precious commodity and very hard to get, so creative crazies like myself tried multiple methods of "home grown" P2 to no avail.

Unlike simple RAM, P2 cards actually have an on-board RAID controller built into the card - because P2 is in fact (4) SD-RAM modules in a RAID-0 array. Hence, the cameras software is specifically looking for communication protocols coming from the P2 card itself, which is something simple RAM does not provide. That's one of the reasons 3rd party P2 devices like the Cineporter and now Hoodman's version of P2 has taken so long to come to market, they've got to be sure the card and camera communicate properly.

Trust me, the notion of cheaper, easier-to-get media for the P2 cameras has been pondered, tested, and been the subject of philosophical debate ever since the 200 was released. "It is what it is" seems to fit.

May 1st, 2007, 10:32 AM	#1
Gene Crucean Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 295	Another alternative P2 card Has anyone tried this? Haha. Does anyone know what actually prevents it from working? I'm guessing Panasonic is pulling a "Sony Style" on the internals of P2 cards. I know this seems like I might be kidding but wouldn't it be nice to be able to swap extremely cheap 4gb SD cards? Two sd to pcmcia card readers and a truck load of 150x 4gb (30-40 bones at newegg) to do the superbowl shuffle. Speed wise 150x sd cards write/read at 22.5MB/s which is about twice the bandwidth needed. 100mbit/s dvcpro HD equals about 12.5MB/s. Attached Thumbnails

May 1st, 2007, 10:51 AM	#2
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Sorry, won't work, as the HVX200 won't recognize it as a P2 card. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

May 1st, 2007, 11:33 AM	#3
Gene Crucean Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 295	Right. If you look at the LCD you'll see that it doesn't work. Why though?

May 1st, 2007, 12:17 PM	#4
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,825 Images: 15	When the HVX was first released P2 cards were a precious commodity and very hard to get, so creative crazies like myself tried multiple methods of "home grown" P2 to no avail. Unlike simple RAM, P2 cards actually have an on-board RAID controller built into the card - because P2 is in fact (4) SD-RAM modules in a RAID-0 array. Hence, the cameras software is specifically looking for communication protocols coming from the P2 card itself, which is something simple RAM does not provide. That's one of the reasons 3rd party P2 devices like the Cineporter and now Hoodman's version of P2 has taken so long to come to market, they've got to be sure the card and camera communicate properly. Trust me, the notion of cheaper, easier-to-get media for the P2 cameras has been pondered, tested, and been the subject of philosophical debate ever since the 200 was released. "It is what it is" seems to fit.