What are P2 cards?

P2 Cards are digital video storage for all you video professionals out there. They are a flash memory card and their data transfer rate increases as memory capacity increases.

The P2 card records the same way that digital still cameras record onto memory cards – they store the footage as pre-digitized computer files. Instead of recording the video as video data, the P2 cards record the footage as computer data files. These files are instantly editable and can be transferred to other computer storage devices directly. P2 Cards are recorded in sequence, and when a card is full, it can be swapped out while another card is recording. This limits recording time only by power supply and the available amount of cards.

P2 Cards are still seen in the production world as a maturing format, since storage media is so costly, and little has been done to address archiving tape-less productions. That means, you have to come up with your own way to archive your raw footage. Most of our customers are archiving on tape, like LTO. (Kind of ironic, huh?)

There are various P2 cards out there on the market. So, what is the difference between them all? Well, it’s all about capacity. P2 cards are available in capacities of 4, 8, 16, 32GB and 64GB.

The most popular ones can be broken down as follows:

• 16GB Card delivers long record times, no-moving-parts reliability and the benefits of an IT file-based workflow.
• 32GB provides recording capacity greater than most tape-based and disc-based systems.
• 64 GB memory cards have improved 800 Mbps transfer rates and provide even greater recording capacity with faster transfer and offload performance.