(The latest announcement about Flash XDR)
Dear Video Professional-
We are pleased to report solid progress on the debug of Flash XDR, our portable Compact Flash based HD recorder. HD-SDI I/O, MPEG2 compression (at 50 Mbps 4:2:2) and the DDR memory are all working well. We hope to stream compressed MPEG2 out 1394 tomorrow and then to start writing and reading to the Compact Flash cards. We are still targeting to have beta units late this month and production just after NAB. We will post (on our website) comparison images (at various bit-rates) as soon as possible.
Please find attached the latest brochure with the new Flash XDR images…now in Black!
Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2
In addition to the high bit-rate MPEG2 support (up to 100 Mbps 4:2:2 in Long-GOP and 160 Mbps 4:2:2 in I-Frame mode), we will introduce an uncompressed 4:2:2 10-bit capture and playback option! This new mode, available this fall, will be enabled via a simple software upgrade. (Pricing on this feature will be announced by NAB timeframe). We anticipate wide use of this uncompressed mode in compositing work, commercials and stock footage, among others.
The uncompressed mode will initially support 1080p24 / 720p24 video-only capture, but we do intend to expand this list over time. Just as a quick math check, the new 32 GB cards (more info below) coming from Delkin will support 45 MBps read/write speeds, so four of these cards in a RAID0 (stripped) configuration will provide an aggregate bandwidth of 180 MBps! 1080p24 10-bit video has a data payload of 124.4 MBps (1920x1080x2x10/8x24), so we have ample margin for this format.
Four 32-GByte cards (128-GByte in total) will provide enormous recording capacity without the need to swap out cards. In 4:2:2 10-bit 1080p24 mode, you will get 17 minutes of record capacity, while at the 50 Mbps rate, this time increase to 284 minutes (or 4.7 hours!).
32 GByte Compact Flash Cards
32 Gbyte Compact Flash cards are now available from Transcend. These 133x cards should have sufficient R/W speed for 50 Mbps and maybe 100 Mbps. They are priced around US $150, which is an incredible bargain compared to other solid-state video cards.
Delkin currently has the fastest 16 GB CF card (45 MB/sec), with a 32G expected in April (good news for uncompressed support). Pertec has announced a 24 GB CF card with a 50 MB/sec speed, which is expected later this month. We suspect the other major CF card manufacturers: Sandisk, Lexar and Kingston will follow with similar offerings.
We do plan to test a number of these cards in Flash XDR and to publish an extensive summary of capabilities (max bit-rate, etc).
ASI I/O Support
ASI, which is MPEG2 data mapped onto an SDI coax cable will be available as a $995 software upgrade option on Flash XDR. ASI is an important interface for HD ENG, digital signage and IP applications. Since ASI is built on the 270 Mbps SDI transport, most applications can utilize existing coax cabling with lengths exceeding 1000 feet (300 meters). Special HD-SDI cable is generally not required for ASI. Additionally, Flash XDR can be programmed to produce a 19.7 Mbps MPEG2 stream, which is compatible with most microwave links. Both ASI encode and decode will be supported.
MXF Support
We anticipate 100% compatibility with the 50 Mbps 4:2:2 MXF files from the new Sony PDW-700. Since both Apple and Avid plan to support this camera, we should be able to edit our MXF files with these programs. We also plan to send sample 100 Mbps and 160 Mbps files for compatibility testing to Apple and Avid. Both companies indicate that extending their CODEC support to these high bit-rates should be a minor code update.
We have found a simple Windows Media player plugin for MXF support. We are still searching for a similar program for the MAC. More details on these programs will be available when Flash XDR ships.
Flash XDR Pre-Order Form
Attached is a copy of the Flash XDR pre-order form. If you would like to get into the early delivery queue, you should consider pre-ordering a unit. We already have a substantial backlog of orders.
Please forward any questions or concerns to sales@convergent-design.com. There is also a lively discussion on Flash XDR on the dvinfo.net forum site.
Best Regards-
Mike
PS We will be at booth SL7828 at NAB 2008 with Flash XDR in hand.
The latest brochure is located here:
http://www.convergent-design.com/downloads/Flash%20XDR%20Brochure.pdf
