Panasonic AG-5710P
Description
The Panasonic AG-5710P is a professional S-VHS desktop editor VCR designed for post-production facilities and professional editing workflows. It is the "twin sister" to the Panasonic AG-1980P, sharing identical tape transport, playback performance, TBC, and DNR circuits.
The AG-5710P features a robust 4-head system with amorphous video heads for superior playback quality. Its internal full-field Time Base Corrector (TBC) stabilizes video output, making it particularly effective for capturing footage from worn or damaged tapes. The 3-D Y/C separation circuit provides excellent color reproduction and reduced dot crawl.
Key differences from the AG-1980P include the absence of a TV tuner, no wireless remote capability, and the addition of an RS-232C (25-pin) serial interface for connection to professional editing controllers such as the AG-A571. The AG-5710P also features a special time code circuit not found on the AG-1980P.
Because the AG-5710P was sold exclusively through professional equipment vendors at roughly double the price of the AG-1980P, it is considerably rarer. However, it occasionally appears at lower prices than the AG-1980P due to its relative obscurity among collectors who are more familiar with the consumer-oriented model.
Known issues on aging units are the same as the AG-1980P: dim vacuum fluorescent displays, failing capacitors on the power supply and Y/C boards, and worn tape transport mechanisms (particularly the loading mechanism). The AG-1980P service manual covers repair of the AG-5710P since they share the same K-Mechanism tape transport.
Control Interfaces
Unlike the consumer-oriented Panasonic AG-1980P, the AG-5710P features professional control interfaces:
- RS-232C (25-pin) — Serial interface for connection to professional editing controllers such as the Panasonic AG-A571 editing controller
- Analog Remote — Standard Panasonic 5-pin remote connector for edit control
The RS-232C interface enables assemble editing, insert editing, and the addition of narration or other audio tracks when paired with compatible editing systems.
Related Models
The Panasonic AG-1980P is the consumer counterpart to the AG-5710P, featuring a 181-channel TV tuner and wireless remote capability instead of the RS-232C interface. The two models share 95% of their components including the K-Mechanism tape transport, TBC, DNR, and video head assembly.
The Panasonic AG-1970P is the predecessor/step-down model, sharing similar physical construction but lacking the advanced full-field TBC and digital noise reduction circuits.
