The new Intel/Apple thunderbolt interface is much simpler and potentially cheaper than previous high-speed solutions. It's also much more versatile, with a display interface built-in; on-set data wrangling, for example, stands to become a more straightforward and more compact operation with thunderbolt. At Amsterdam's IBC tradeshow this weekend, each of the leading video hardware companies introduced new thunderbolt interfaces:
Blackmagic Introduces Thunderbolt Intensity Extreme for $299
The $299 Intensity Extreme has a price point for DIY filmmakers and the features to match -- meaning, it lacks high-end HD-SDI connectors and is based primarily around HDMI. But, it's $299, plugs in through thunderbolt, and captures and outputs when working with Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro 7, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop and other QuickTime-based applications. The Intensity Extreme is also thunderbolt-powered (no A/C adapter required), which makes it nice for on-set use, and captures/plays back the following codecs: DV25, DVCPRO HD, HDV-MPEG2, Online JPEG, and ProRes (10-bit) along with uncompressed video. It also has component video, s-video and composite video connectors. Shipping Q4. Blackmagic also introduced the higher-end thunderbolt I/O device, Ultrastudio 3D.
Matrox Adds Thunderbolt to MXO2 Devices
Matrox originally announced a $299 adapter for their existing MXO2 family of adapters at NAB, but has since lowered the price to $199 (possibly because of Blackmagic's price point above). Here's a presentation from NAB in April; more details at ProVideo Coalition.
AJA Debuts Io XT Interface with Thunderbolt Connectivity
The front of of the Io XT (which sort of looks like a typo when written out) can be seen at the top of this post; the connectivity is just above. Here's the official description of the $1,500 device, which should ship in Q4: "Io XT connects to your Mac with a single Thunderbolt cable and provides a second Thunderbolt connector for daisy-chaining other Thunderbolt-enabled devices, such as storage, making it perfect for on set, or in the edit suite.
Compact, portable and powerful, it's loaded with high-end features including 3G/Dual-link/HD/SD-SDI, Component Analog, and HDMI connectivity. AJA's industry-proven OS X software and drivers connect the hardware to extensive codec and media support.
Pair Io XT with a MacBook Pro and Thunderbolt-based storage solution and you've got a no-compromise, fast editing system -portable enough to fit in a backpack.
Io XT features full 10-bit, broadcast-quality, motion-adaptive SD to HD up-conversion, HD to HD cross-conversion, HD to SD down-conversion, and automatic HD/SD 12-bit component analog output. Since all conversion functionality on the Io XT is hardware-based, it's available all the time on ingest or playback."
More details at AJA's page.
Finally, G-technology demonstrated new Thunderbolt storage products, which join Promise's Thunderbolt offerings in the thunderbolt storage universe.
[via ProVideo Coalition]
