Says Ki Pro Quad Is Shipping, Releases New SSD KiStor Drives and Dock

With the arrival of semi-affordable Ultra HD television sets, AJA announced the Hi5-4K, a new mini-converter that bridges pro capture devices with consumer displays by inputting 4K video over four 3G-SDI connections and outputting 4K Ultra HD over a single HDMI 1.4a output.

The Hi5-4K is available today for $595, AJA President Nick Rashby said at a press event this morning.

Another new item from AJA is the ROI (pronounced "roy"), billed as a region of interest mini-converter. It works using the company's MiniConfig software running on a Mac or PC connected to the unit via DVI or HDMI, with a separate 3.5mm connection for audio. The ROI embeds the audio into the SDI for output and automatically crops and scales the image when an area is selected using the MiniConfig program. It offer a simple way to incorporate output from a PC or Mac into a broadcast workflow.

The ROI is also available now, Rashby said, for $999. 

With those two same-day product introductions leading AJA's news at the show, Rashby declared that the only products being exhibited this year would be products that AJA was ready to ship. "If it's not real, it does no one any good," he said.

Case in point: The Ki Pro Quad was announced to widespread excitement at NAB last year, only to linger in development until finally shipping at this year's show. Fortunately, it's still a relevant product at a show that's really coming to terms with 4K workflow this year.

It offers a solution that's tailor-made for cameras lie the Canon C500, debayering raw 4K signals in real time, scaling them (for HD monitoring) and outputting the debayered signal for recording to ProRes. AJA CamXchange is a free software utility for Ki Pro Quad users that helps facilitate that final transfer process, moving footage onto a Mac via Thunderbolt.

The Ki Pro Quad workflow is similar for the F55, inputting a 4K signal over 3G-SDI and recording it out as ProRes 422 or 444, as both full-resolution 4K and scaled HD for monitoring. 

Other new announcements included new SSD USB 3 KiStor modules for the original KiPro, as well as a new $395 KiStor Dock that will read any KiStor drive via USB 3 or Thunderbolt.