Mike Schell
September 9th, 2008, 06:09 PM
In case you're not on our mailing list, here's the latest newsletter and update:
Dear Video Professional-
Below is a brief update on our progress on Flash XDR and nanoFlash, the first Compact Flash based HD/SD portable recorder/players.
Just as a quick reminder, the Flash XDR has four CF card slots and analog audio I/O, while the lower cost nanoFlash only has two CF card slots and only SDI embedded audio (no analog audio). Flash XDR also offers the potential upgrade to uncompressed, while both products offer the same high-quality 50/100/160 4:2:2 MPEG2 compression using the excellent Sony CODEC.
See Flash XDR at IBC
Flash XDR units will be on display at the IBC show later this week in Amsterdam. Flash XDRs can be found at the Polecam booth (Stand 10.C49) and also at our EU distributor (Symbiosis) booth (Stand 7.A08E). I will be available at one of these booths for questions and discussion. We will be showing some awesome Flash XDR footage from OnBoard Images of a wing-walker and a stunt bi-plane.
Flash XDR Alpha Units Shipped
We have shipped a number of Flash XDR units and posted numerous firmware updates in the last 2 weeks. The record and playback reliability has greatly improved with some recent code revisions. Currently, we are supporting 1080i59.94/50, 1080p29.97/25/23.98 and 720p59.94/50 at 50 Mbps 4:2:2. The 1080i formats also work at 100 Mbps. We hope to have a firmware update for the 100 Mbps support for 1080p and 720p formats shortly. Line-level analog audio I/O was also recently enabled, as well as in-the-box formatting of the CF cards.
Over the next 4 weeks, we will be concentrating our engineering efforts on Quicktime/MXF support and completion of ASI I/O. After these updates are complete, we will then add other features, such as standard-def support, pull-down removal, image flip, time-lapse recording, and uncompressed record and playback. We will also add new menu displays, such as card level indicators, total time remaining across all cards and running time-code display, among others.
Production quantities of Flash XDR will begin shipping this week to selected customers.
QuickTime and MXF Update
We expect to start Quicktime file format debug starting Thursday of this week, with a goal of delivery before the end of this month. This new firmware will write .mov files directly to the CF cards. So, you will be able to edit footage directly from the card without transcode or re-wrap of the file whatsoever.
MXF file support is scheduled for October release.
ASI Update
The ASI (MPEG2 transport-stream over SDI) code is complete and now in simulation and debug. We have targeted initial deployment by the end of September.
nanoFlash Update
The nanoFlash board design should be complete by the end of this month. We are a little behind on the nanoFlash design, as efforts have been diverted to debug some of the Flash XDR initial issues. However, we do expect to have prototype units by late October.
Compact Flash Card Prices Continue to Fall
The Transcend 133X 32GB card is now priced at US $115 at mydigitaldiscount.com, or US $114 at newegg.com We expect 64 GB CF cards will be available by year-end. microdia.com has already announced a 64GB CF card, mass production is still waiting for delivery of the new Flash chips from Samsung.
Dear Video Professional-
Below is a brief update on our progress on Flash XDR and nanoFlash, the first Compact Flash based HD/SD portable recorder/players.
Just as a quick reminder, the Flash XDR has four CF card slots and analog audio I/O, while the lower cost nanoFlash only has two CF card slots and only SDI embedded audio (no analog audio). Flash XDR also offers the potential upgrade to uncompressed, while both products offer the same high-quality 50/100/160 4:2:2 MPEG2 compression using the excellent Sony CODEC.
See Flash XDR at IBC
Flash XDR units will be on display at the IBC show later this week in Amsterdam. Flash XDRs can be found at the Polecam booth (Stand 10.C49) and also at our EU distributor (Symbiosis) booth (Stand 7.A08E). I will be available at one of these booths for questions and discussion. We will be showing some awesome Flash XDR footage from OnBoard Images of a wing-walker and a stunt bi-plane.
Flash XDR Alpha Units Shipped
We have shipped a number of Flash XDR units and posted numerous firmware updates in the last 2 weeks. The record and playback reliability has greatly improved with some recent code revisions. Currently, we are supporting 1080i59.94/50, 1080p29.97/25/23.98 and 720p59.94/50 at 50 Mbps 4:2:2. The 1080i formats also work at 100 Mbps. We hope to have a firmware update for the 100 Mbps support for 1080p and 720p formats shortly. Line-level analog audio I/O was also recently enabled, as well as in-the-box formatting of the CF cards.
Over the next 4 weeks, we will be concentrating our engineering efforts on Quicktime/MXF support and completion of ASI I/O. After these updates are complete, we will then add other features, such as standard-def support, pull-down removal, image flip, time-lapse recording, and uncompressed record and playback. We will also add new menu displays, such as card level indicators, total time remaining across all cards and running time-code display, among others.
Production quantities of Flash XDR will begin shipping this week to selected customers.
QuickTime and MXF Update
We expect to start Quicktime file format debug starting Thursday of this week, with a goal of delivery before the end of this month. This new firmware will write .mov files directly to the CF cards. So, you will be able to edit footage directly from the card without transcode or re-wrap of the file whatsoever.
MXF file support is scheduled for October release.
ASI Update
The ASI (MPEG2 transport-stream over SDI) code is complete and now in simulation and debug. We have targeted initial deployment by the end of September.
nanoFlash Update
The nanoFlash board design should be complete by the end of this month. We are a little behind on the nanoFlash design, as efforts have been diverted to debug some of the Flash XDR initial issues. However, we do expect to have prototype units by late October.
Compact Flash Card Prices Continue to Fall
The Transcend 133X 32GB card is now priced at US $115 at mydigitaldiscount.com, or US $114 at newegg.com We expect 64 GB CF cards will be available by year-end. microdia.com has already announced a 64GB CF card, mass production is still waiting for delivery of the new Flash chips from Samsung.