nanoFlash Progress Update
I am pleased to report that we are making solid progress on the nanoFlash. With Dan Keaton on-board to manage sales and marketing and the progress in code development on the Flash XDR, we can now focus more of our efforts on nanoFlash.
Currently the nanoFlash main board is through PCB (printed circuit board) layout. We should finish the top board by the end of this month, which would allow us to build prototype units in Feb. We are reusing 95% of the code from XDR, so the debug should go very fast. Some highlights of nanoFlash include: 1) Small size: 4.1x3.7x1.25" in size (four nanoFlashes would fit on a single page of paper). 2) Low-Power: 8 Watts (active) and less than 0.4 Watts in standby. 3) Two Compact Flash slots 4) Same very high quality Sony MPEG2 CODEC with 100 Mbps 4:2:2 5) No analog audio I/O (no room in the box), but full embedded support. 6) Remote Start/Stop, Tally Light, RS-232/485 and LTC Input. 7) Most of the same basic capabilities of XDR, such as QT/MXF support, I-Frame only, 24p removal etc. That about sums it up. Oh yes, one other minor detail...nanoFlash will have both HD/SD-SDI as well as HDMI In and Out... Cheers- |
HDMI in and out is such good news!
Thank you for your foresight. I was just about to get a WD TV for viewing and demoing footage, but now the Nano Flash can serve that role even better. Great for monitoring as well. |
Dear Tim,
The HDMI out is great for viewing the footage wherever an HDMI equipped television is available. I can see that this would be great for viewing the days footage, either on set, or back at a hotel. |
.....Hmmmmmm ! HDMI Support ! HMMMMMMMMMMMMM ! I vaguely remember humbly suggesting this feature be added. The response I got from you folks at the time was less than enthusiastic ;-) Glad to see you finally understood the basic need for HDMI support. Especially considering the plan revision and future iterations of the HDMI spec about to come along.
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Hi Mark-
I recall your recommendation. Yes, I response was not overwhelming. It did take us a number of months and lots of head scratching to wedge in the HDMI In and Out, while keeping the same overall box dimensions. So, we did listen to you recommnedations / thoughts, it just took some extra time to implement. Cheers- |
This is GOOD news!!
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Where do you find that the HDMI spec supports full-duplex communication? I have thoroughly read the spec as well as designed both the HDMI In and HDMI Out circuits. HDMI as well as HD/SD-SDI are uni-directional protocols. The extra bandwidth supported in the HDMI spec is great, but since our products are limited to 1.5GHz HD-SDI (1080p30), it's an overkill for our application. Yes, someday, in some future product, we will support 1080p60, which is already allowed in the HDMI 1.3 spec, but not anytime soon. Best- |
Regarding HDMI for recording and editing purposes - I am not sure that this protocol supports much needed timecode addressing of each frame.
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Dear John,
As far as I know, the HDMI output on cameras do not include timecode. However, if one wants to provide external timecode to the nanoFlash, we will incorporate it into our footage. |
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You are absolutely correct, HDMI does not support time-code. However, we can add time-code (via LTC or internally generated) to the QT/MXF file when we capture the video. If you use LTC timeocde, it won't be 100% perfect as no HDMI camera has genlock input, but it should be very close. However, on playback out the HDMI, there is no path to transmit the timecode, but still useful for monitoring. |
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OK, I'll take your word on it, as I have not seen the spec. Until the actual silicon is available, we cannot implement this spec. Yes, we are aware of the multi-channel audio capability and have long-ago implemented this feature in our nanoConnect (HDMI to HD-SDI) box. Cheers- |
The reason I noted one of the drawbacks of the currently available HDMI (1.3) was to point out the positives of HD-SDI and why HDMI is not a better replacement for it as I think was being indicated.
Another superior practical use of HD-SDI is cabling and length of cable runs possible. HD-SDI is many times less expensive and can be run up to 200ft from camera source to switcher or recorder. HDMI cabling is expensive with far less limited runs without extender amplifiers. Then there is the connectors - HDMI is not a solid locking male to female connection compared to BNC used in SDI. There are some hybrid new style locking HDMI connections, but again, they are expensive and limited in cable lengths. And I don't think HDMI connections were intended for routine plug in/out cycles that would be used in a production cycle like BNC connectors on the SDI. As I see it, the HDMI implementation in the Nano is a great added value for monitoring as I think it was meant. It was very interesting to hear that a new upcoming implementation of HDMI 1.4 would be carrying timecode. |
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The MXF file structure language when utilised with HDMI spec is an awesome force of technical flexibility. |
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