At the recent IBC conference in Amsterdam, Grass Valley opened more
than a few eyes when it introduced a new digital camcorder called
Infinity that offers multiformat acquisition with a choice of
compression formats, standard- and high-definition image resolutions
and multiple types of removable media built-in. Although apparently
designed for newsgathering, for the independent shooter or production
company working with multiple clients and different project types, this
camera could be a dream come true.
The Infinity Digital Media Camcorder, and its complementary Digital
Media Player, support 1080i/50/60 and 720p/50/60 HD (at 75 and 100
Mbps) as well as 625i/50 and 525i/60 SD (25 or 50 Mbps) via 14-bit
digital signal processing. It does not, however, include 24p
capability. Users can encode video as DV25 (compatible with DVCAM and
DVCPRO), MPEG-2 for SD or HD, or JPEG 2000. MPEG compression is
available as an option.
The camcorder includes a color LCD monitor as well as SDI and HD-SDI
video connectors for real-time output, coupled with Gigabit Ethernet
and FireWire connectors.
It records to a Iomega REV PRO disk (about $70) and professional-grade
CompactFlash media, made by SanDisk. A single REV PRO disk, with 35 GB
of storage capacity, offers about 45 minutes of 1080i HD at 75 Mbps and
more than two hours in 25 Mbps HDV or DV. Grass Valley recommends two
versions of professional-grade compact flash memory cards for the
Infinity camcorder, both made by SanDisk: Extreme-III (sizes up to 4
GB) for high-bitrate HD, and Ultra-II (sizes up to 8 GB) for SD and
25-50 Mbps HD. The Extreme card offers higher bandwidth to move up to
50 Mbps material on and off the card. It's ideal in harsh weather
conditions or in applications with extreme vibration that could affect
image acquisition. Currently, an Extreme-III card from SanDisk costs
about $350. (A similar-capacity Panasonic P2 card costs close to
$1,500.)
The camera is perhaps most noteworthy for moving users away from the
choice between proprietary DV and MPEG compression formats. Many see it
as the beginning of a new generation of products that leverage
off-the-shelf technology to keep prices low and flexibility high. A
full-featured SD/HD camcorder that does all this for $20,000 can't be
easily ignored.
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