AJA Video Systems Inc. has introduced Io, an uncompressed audio/video FireWire capture device for Apple’s Final Cut Pro 4, which is due to ship in June. A high-end, 8- or 10-bit broadcast video device, Io lets you connect professional analog or digital audio/video to a Power Mac G4 or PowerBook G4 through a FireWire interface.
AJA worked with Apple to develop the Io, so it’s the first device designed to take advantage of the new multi-channel audio architecture of Final Cut Pro 4, according to John Abt, president of AJA. To use the capture device, you connect it to a Mac with a standard FireWire cable, load the drivers, attach it to ancillary hardware, and flip the switch. The Io supports component and composite analog video, SDI digital video, balanced analog audio, AES/EBU digital audio, optical audio, RS-422 machine control and genlock.
The device comes in a silver box that was designed to complement Apple’s Xserve and Xserve RAID. The Io is due in the second quarter of the year with a price tag of US$2,290.