Melbourne, Australia pro video I/O card maker Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. has introduced the DeckLink Extreme, a new uncompressed 10-bit PCI capture card capable of doing real-time effects. It retails for US$895. Blackmagic has also cut prices on other DeckLink-branded cards.
The DeckLink Extreme is a 66MHz PCI-based card that includes SDI, analog component, NTSC, and PAL support, and supports Mac OS X, Apple’s Final Cut Pro, and RT Extreme technology. The card features a seven foot-long breakout cable that connects to a broadcast deck. It sports six analog power supplies on board, optimized for the popular Betacam SP format. It also features 24-bit balanced analog audio through XLR connections, full-speed SPDIF/Unbalanced AES audio output, genlock input and RS-422 serial remote support.
Bundled with Blackmagic Deck Control, the card is capable of marking in and out on tape, capturing a selected segment automatically and more. The card also includes LiveKey software that lets you use key RGB-based graphics live over the SDI and analog outputs — useful if you want to add a bug or logo to demo reels, or use the card in conjunction with live broadcast.
In related news, Blackmagic Design has also dropped prices on its other DeckLink video I/O cards. The DeckLink Pro has dropped from $995 to $595; the DeckLink SP has gone from $895 to $595, and the original DeckLink has gone from $695 to $295. More details are available from the Web site.