Grass Valley Infiinity Series
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Grass Valley recently unveiled the Infinity series, an SD/HD camera and recorder that uses storage media that can be purchased from a local computer store. The Infinity camcorder records directly onto either an Iomega REV disk or Compact Flash memory or both at the same time.
A slew of video formats, including 1008i50/60, 720p50/60, 625i50 and 525i60 are supported by the Infinity camera. Choices of encoding formats are DV25 (which is compatible with both DVCam and DVCPRO), MPEG-2, and JPEG 2000. JPEG 2000 is a new format that allows for 100 Megabit HD recording. On top of that, the special characteristics of JPEG 2000 allow you to create SD video of any format from the original HD material without any re-encoding.
While standard REV disks will work in the camera, Grass Valley commissioned Iomega to produce a very high grade version of the 35GB REV disk called REV-PRO. Fully compatible with a REV drive, the REV-PRO disk is built for the constant demands of HD recording. In addition, this disk allows for recording and playback simultaneously. Therefore, the Infinity camera has the ability to transfer files over USB or FireWire even while the camera is recording. Compact Flash memory is the other recording medium. Either medium can record any of the formats, but given the small capacity of Compact Flash – it is commonly available in 4GB and 8GB sizes – this medium will typically be used only for SD recording. Both REV-PRO and Compact Flash eliminate the ingest step – recorded material is instantly available for editing.
The other product in the Infinity series is the Digital Media Recorder. This device essentially acts as a VTR, except that it accepts both Compact Flash memory and REV-PRO disks and provides the corresponding ability to access any point in the recording without waiting for fast-forwarding.
The Grass Valley Infinity Digital Media Camcorder and the Infinity Digital Media Recorder will sell for approximately $20,000 and $10,000 respectively. Prices vary for Compact Flash memory, but the 4GB and 8GB sizes cost around $100 per gigabyte. REV-PRO disks are currently available through Grass Valley, although the company claims that they will eventually be widely available on the consumer market. The disks, which can store over two hours of SD video or around 45 minutes of high-quality HD video, will sell for $70 each in packs of ten.
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