Venus Engine - Venus V

Venus V

As of February 2009 (based on all information available at official Panasonic Lumix Web pages), it appears that the LSI hardware chip-set that Panasonic Lumix refers to as the "Venus Engine V" (when describing the DMC-FX40, see Reference #4 below) is (substantially, if not actually) identical to the LSI hardware chip-set that Panasonic Lumix (also) refers to as the "Venus Engine HD" when describing their (released) DMC-G1, as well in all of the current Panasonic Lumix descriptions of the other (to be) released implementations of this image-processing LSI hardware chip-set (see Reference #5 below).

It appears that the Panasonic Lumix marketing department has chosen to refer to this LSI hardware chip-set primarily using the phrase "Venus Engine HD" as a way to draw attention the capabilities of the included "Motion Picture" mode(s) of the upcoming camera models that will contain the LSI hardware chip-set. However, this choice of marketing phraseology does not (according to Panasonic Lumix's information as currently released) appear to indicate any identifiable difference in the LSI hardware chip-set that they have chosen to (also) identify as "Venus Engine V". This use of dual phraseology appears to have generated a degree of (understandable) confusion on the part of consumers and reviewers awaiting the release of several camera models in 2009 that will (in addition to the already released DMC-G1) feature this LSI hardware chip-set. If, in fact, there exists an identifiable difference(s) (on the level of the internal LSI hardware chip-set) between "Venus Engine HD" and "Venus Engine V", Panasonic Lumix has so far failed to identify it (or them).

Why the Panasonic Lumix marketing department (at the United Kingdom location, at least) has chosen to (in the lone case of the DMC-FX40) refer to the LSI hardware chip-set using the alternate descriptive phrase "Venus Engine V" is unclear, since the DMC-FX40 (as is the case with all the other upcoming models with the exception of the already released DMC-G1) is, indeed, advertised as featuring a "Motion Picture" mode that (it appears) will be a very similar implementation to that of all the other upcoming models to be released that will also include this LSI hardware chip-set. Perhaps the reasoning for this is that the Panasonic Lumix marketing department (at the United Kingdom location, at least) is (in part) describing the DMC-FX40 as a "digital still camera" (despite the fact that it is also specifically advertised as including the above described "Motion Picture" mode(s), see Reference #6 below).