Today's production teams face an immense challenge. Audiences expect cinema-quality immersive experiences everywhere, from corporate conferences to college basketball games. The problem is that budgets aren't always expanding to match those requirements. The gap between expectation and reality keeps widening, resulting in growing demand for immersive experience events that production teams can pull off without needing twice the staff. In short, modern production crews have to do the impossible.
That's just what happened at GTC 2025, NVIDIA's flagship event. NVIDIA tasked production company Creative Technology with managing the event, which involved recording and streaming multi-room general assembly meetings and breakout sessions to a global audience. One operator for the company used Panasonic's Media Production Suite to manage 20 Panasonic PTZ cameras from Henderson, Nevada — 500 miles away from the event in San Jose. This exemplifies how an industry has evolved to deliver high-level production values by remotely managing events using tighter, leaner teams.
Panasonic Video and Audio Systems North America operates as part of Panasonic Entertainment & Communication Co., Ltd., which formed during the company's 2022 reorganization into separate operating companies. However, Panasonic's expertise in AV goes back far further than that year.
The company's customer base spans many industries and applications, from theme parks creating projection-mapped environments to NBA venues capturing every angle of the game to university campuses streaming lectures. Houses of worship also represent a large market, while museums are increasingly deploying sophisticated audiovisual solutions for immersive exhibitions.
Panasonic's mission to enrich lives through entertainment and communication solutions means solving the problems that production teams face every day. The company is focused on helping professionals deliver world-class immersive entertainment without needing engineering degrees to operate AV tech equipment. This capability becomes more critical as audiovisual technology gets more complex.
Building a future-proof production ecosystem for immersive live events starts with AV technology that production teams can get excited about. The AG-CX370 camcorder, announced at NAB 2025, appeals to broadcasters with 12G-SDI output for high-quality streaming, GENLOCK input for broadcast-quality synchronization across multi-camera systems, and four-channel audio input. The AK-UCX100 4K studio camera delivers 2,000 TV lines of horizontal resolution. PTZ cameras with NDI High Bandwidth also support remote production without the traditional headaches of trying to coordinate distributed crews across time zones.
Then there's KAIROS. Panasonic's live production platform is rewriting assumptions about what's possible with live video switching. Version 1.8 introduced Multiple Core Control, which lets operators control two KAIROS mainframes from a single control panel. The software-defined architecture breaks old hardware rules by allowing teams to reconfigure systems using software instead of physical rewiring. That saves time and eliminates the inevitable debugging sessions when cables don't cooperate.
Native SMPTE ST 2110 support provides an upgrade path for facilities still running SDI infrastructure. KAIROS handles mixed HD and UHD sources, which matters because mixed sources are still the reality in modern production environments. Not every camera operates at the same resolution, and budgets don't always stretch to replace everything at once.
Additions to the Media Production Suite were showcased at NAB Show 2025. AI Keying removes backgrounds without requiring green screens, while Advanced Auto Framing delivers results that look more smooth and natural than before.
The NVIDIA GTC production pulled off what would have seemed impossible a few years ago, marking the first live deployment of Advanced Auto Framing technology in an event setting. The technology handled the complexity of simultaneous sessions without the latency issues that usually plague remote production setups. That's especially important when dealing with a tech conference where the audience would notice even slight delays.
Cisco went even bigger with its deployment of Panasonic equipment for its Cisco Live event, turning session capture into something closer to a television production operation. The event leveraged 63 Panasonic AW-UE70W/K 4K/HD PTZ cameras with AW-SF200 Auto Tracking software to capture over 700 sessions.
The traditional approach for an event the size of Cisco Live would have required at least 15–20 camera operators plus technical directors. The auto-tracking capability enabled cameras to follow speakers naturally across stages without requiring constant manual adjustment, freeing operators to focus on shot composition and switching rather than basic camera movements. It was key in enabling just eight operators to manage the entire operation, showing how well-designed audiovisual solutions scale across large events while maintaining immersive experiences.
The power of immersive production extends beyond tech events, as the shift toward IP-based production changes who can afford to create professional content. Regional sports networks that couldn't justify the cost of traditional broadcast trucks now can produce games with quality that rivals national networks.
Sports venues are betting on IP-based production as they build infrastructure for the next decade instead of just addressing immediate needs. That is prompting them to invest in future-proof audiovisual technology.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment opened its SMPTE ST 2110 IP-based production facility in March 2024, representing a complete shift from traditional baseband video to IP infrastructure. The facility handles production for multiple venues and teams, which wouldn't be practical with traditional routing and switching equipment.
Pacers Sports & Entertainment also implemented Panasonic equipment at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, focusing on fan engagement through multiple video boards and social media content creation that happens in real time during games. The company installed seven Panasonic AW-UE150 UHD 4K PTZ cameras, bringing the total number of PTZ cameras to 10, and centralized its control room while introducing the KAIROS live video production platform.
GlobeStream Media also demonstrated the potential of remote production by controlling USA Softball games in Oklahoma from its Dallas control room. The geographic separation didn't impact the company's ability to deliver broadcast-quality coverage, and the cost savings compared to sending a full crew to every game location made covering more events financially viable. This model opens up sports broadcasting for leagues and teams that couldn't previously afford comprehensive coverage.
Today's educational institutions can stream lectures and events with production values that would have required dedicated broadcast facilities a decade ago.
Ferris State University's use of Panasonic technology in its Center for Virtual Learning shows how educational institutions deploy professional-grade systems for both sports broadcasting and academic programs without breaking the bank. The same equipment that captures hockey games also supports communication classes and live-streamed campus events, maximizing the return on investment in ways that single-purpose systems never could.
Even small venues such as performing arts centers, community theaters, and corporate event or business collaboration spaces deploy technology systems that create immersive experiences for both in-person and remote audiences. The democratization of broadcast-quality production technology means the limiting factor is no longer equipment cost but rather the expertise to design and operate these systems effectively.
Panasonic's partnership with Diversified and Monumental Sports & Entertainment demonstrates how systems integrators and venue operators can collaborate on these complex deployments. Diversified's expertise in network infrastructure and production workflows, along with its use of KAIROS, revolutionized how Monumental delivers its pre- and post-game sports content.
Panasonic partners with manufacturers through its KAIROS Alliance Partner network, which now includes over 50 companies. These technology partner organizations support KAIROS by verifying its connection to their devices and working with Panasonic on tight product integration. This network exists because KAIROS uses IT ecosystems based on commercial off-the-shelf technology. It expands functions by adding application software rather than proprietary hardware that locks you into a single vendor's ecosystem.
EIZO also brought value to the table as a technology partner for Panasonic via its 30.5-inch ColorEdge PROMINENCE CG1 HDR monitor. This is the first EIZO monitor supporting ST 2110, improving workflows by enabling easier video input and output within the ST 2110 ecosystem. It gives production teams a more flexible, higher-quality video production environment with measurable workflow improvements.
Thanks to partnerships like these, Panasonic graphics platforms integrate without drama. Singular.live's Emmy-winning graphics platform works with KAIROS through straightforward integration. It makes live production simpler rather than adding complexity. Viz Flowics offers similar capabilities, while another partner, SKAARHOJ, offers control surfaces that operators already know how to use, reducing training time when facilities upgrade their systems.
Close technical cooperation differentiates these partnerships. Partners disclose device connection verification to users and provide technical cooperation for more integrated system control communication. Panasonic will keep updating the partner list as new integrations prove themselves in actual production environments.
The demand for immersive experiences isn't slowing down anytime soon. Theme parks want more sophisticated projection mapping that responds to guests in real time. Sports venues need every angle covered for replay and social content, because fans expect to see things from new perspectives. Houses of worship want streaming services that rival network production quality. Museums aim to create environments where visitors go beyond observation to participation, blurring the line between exhibit and experience.
Meanwhile, outside broadcast trucks will become less common as IP production takes over. The technology exists to produce broadcast-quality content from anywhere with sufficient network infrastructure.
As production teams adapt to these new workflows, Panasonic Video and Audio Systems North America will keep innovating. The company is dissolving the traditional barriers around remote production so that what seemed exceptional just a few years ago can become standard practice.
However, the shift in capabilities isn't just technical; it's operational, financial, and cultural. Panasonic's holistic approach connects hardware, software, and partnerships to form a complete AV ecosystem. This addresses the fundamental challenge of making immersive experiences achievable.
That's where the industry stands now. Production quality that required dedicated facilities and specialized crews five years ago now can run from hotel conference centers and university lecture halls. The technology works. The question is how quickly organizations can adapt their workflows and training to match what's possible, and whether they can do it quickly enough to match evolving audience expectations.