Photographer’s Best Friend? the New Panasonic 4K Tablet

Earlier this year during the CES show in Las Vegas, Panasonic displayed a prototype of a new large screen tablet. Today, this tablet was officially announced (it will reach the stores this January). So what is so special about the Panasonic Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 – after all there are a million other tablets on the market competing for you love (and $).

 

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The short answer is the huge 20″ display with an amazing 4k (or 3840×2560 pixel) resolution. When you want to work with images and even more so to display them the larger and more pixel you have the better it should look and the new Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 has almost 10 MegaPixels worth – more than almost any consumer display you can buy on the market today (than again – its not exactly a consumer product as the price indicates).

The Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 also has some series muscles under the hood – here is a short specs list:

  • CPU: Intel® Core i5-3437U vProâ„¢1.9 GHz Processor.
  • OS: Windows 8.1 Pro.
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 745M Graphics.
  • LCD: 20″ IPS multi touch display with up to 10 finger recognition; 4K (3840 X 2560 pixel) Ultra high resolution, 230ppi and 15:10 aspect ratio.
  • RAM: 4 or 8 GB.
  • Storage: 256 GB SSD
  • Size and weight: 2.35 kg (5.07 lbs) 12.5 mm (~4.5 inch) thickness.
  • Ports: Built-in USB 3.0 port, SDXC card slot, Headphone Jack and Docking connector (optional Smart Card Reader) and a optional cradle with 1x LAN, 1x HDMI and 3x USB 3.0.
  • Camera: HD Front camera.
  • Battery: 2 Hours.
  • Price: $6000 (available from January 2014).

With this sort of price tag Panasonic is aiming this at professionals – high-end graphic designers, video editors and production companies, architects and maybe some gadget loving photographers with very deep pockets.

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Apart from the price – the big problem seems to be the battery life – but with a 20″ display and 4K resolution in a relatively  thin form factor Panasonic is already struggling. We do hope that Panasonic will come up with some sort of an external battery accessory which will make the tablet slightly thicker but extend the battery life to something more realistic – otherwise users will be more or less forced to work with this connected to the power at all times.

More info can be found on Panasonic’s website.

Below is a hands on video shot in CES 2013 with the prototype Toughpad 4K UT-MB5

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahO_L3uqrEc[/youtube]

Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.

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