News

Convergent Design Announces DVD/Blu-ray Encoding Upgrade for nanoFlash Hand-Held Recorder (24/9/2009)

Convergent Design announced today a major firmware upgrade to their popular hand-held recorder, nanoFlash.  The new firmware (vr 1.0.64) adds DVD/Blu-Ray encoding file formats (MPG and M2V) as well as 24p pulldown removal and standard-def Quicktime support.

nanoFlash, the world’s smallest professional HD/SD recorder/player, features HD/SD-SDI, HDMI and analog audio in a small (4.2”x3.7”x1.4”), lightweight (under 1lb), low-power (under 6 Watts) package.  nanoFlash utilizes the very high-quality Sony XDCAM 422 CODEC to record visually lossless HD/SD footage to affordable Compact Flash cards at bit-rates up to 160 Mbps (220 in I-Frame Only mode).  The nanoFlash can be easily mounted to virtually any camera, via a simple tripod to hot-shoe adapter and can be powered from the camera battery by a D-Tap cable.

The nanoFlash initially supported QuickTime (MOV) and MXF file formats, which provided near-universal NLE support, including Avid, Final Cut Pro, Vegas, Edius and soon Premiere.  The addition of MPG and M2V file formats, will allow users to import nanoFlash footage directly into DVD and Blu-ray authoring programs without lengthy renders.  Alternatively, users can stream (via HD/SD-SDI or HDMI) finished video back into to nanoFlash for real-time encoding, saving many hours of post-production work.

This new firmware upgrade, available to all nanoFlash users at no charge, also includes 24p pull-down removal.  So, video which is originally shot at 1080p24 (sometimes called 24F mode), but output as 1080i60 HD-SDI can be recorded in the native 1080p24 format.  nanoFlash automatically removes the extra frames/fields and provides an HD-SDI loop-out at 1080p24.  This upgrade comes on the heels of the pre-record buffer, which was added last month, while yet another special record function: time-lapse is scheduled for release in October.

“Orders for the nanoFlash have exceeded all our expectations. The nanoFlash has been extremely well received in a wide range of applications including independent videographers, network studios, POV camera operators, on-board aircraft and racecars as well as TV sport programs.  The small-size, lightweight and low-power, coupled with superb video and audio quality has made nanoFlash an invaluable tool for in-field recording”, noted Dan Keaton, Director of Sales and Marketing of Convergent Design.

The nanoFlash has been shipping since July 09 at a MSRP of $2995.

www.convergent-design.com

[more NLE news]