Here's the state of the art in tape decks. But there's no tape. AJA's Ki Pro Ultra Plus

Ki Pro Ultra Plus

The spirutual sucessor to the studio VTR is here

Anyone who's bought a Betacam/Digital Betacam/ HDCAM deck will remember that they were pretty expensive items (tens of thousands of $) and that they were complex machines.

Digital Betacam was a very good format. SD video recorded from a studio camera probably looked better than SD ever should. HDCAM was stunning even in comparison with the best SD.

Now we have 4K. Broadcasters are moving steadily towards the new resolution with around twenty times the pixels of SD and four or five times the linear resolution.

But technological progress being what it is, $3995 will now buy a deck with no moving parts that can record 4 simultaneous feeds of full HD or a single feed of 4K/UltraHD at 60p.

While we've become used to on-camera recorders from the likes of Atomos (and a trend arguably started by AJA's original Ki Pro), the newly announced Ki Pro Ultra Plus is the closest thing we've seen to a replacement for a studio deck. It's around a tenth of the price, and probably a tenth of the weight of an HDCAM deck. (Although per channel of HD recording it's arguably a fortieth the price and a fortieth the weight).

Recording is to the usual professional codecs: ProRes and DNxHD with support for 12 bit ProRes 4444 and this is stored on AJA's own storage media, AJA Pak 1000 SSDs

I/O is via 3G SDI and HDMI 2.0.

As usual with AJA, the devices are built for a busy life. They seem robust and well-made.

We can see this becoming something of a broadcast standard.

Here's the full list of features: 

-- Flexible HD recording options: 1, 2, 3 or 4-channel HD recording at up to 1080 60p with independent ProRes codec profile support for each channel.
-- 4K/UltraHD/2K/HD recording to Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD MXF.
-- HDMI 2.0 support allows for full 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 capture and output at up to 4K/UltraHD 60fps.
--12-bit support on input for Apple ProRes 4444 and ProRes 4444 XQ encoding and HDMI 2.0 input and output.
-- Built-in Ki Protect ensures recordings arent lost in a power failure.
-- Broad video connectivity including fiber cages, 3G-SDI and HDMI 2.0.
-- Multi-channel audio support via embedded SDI or HDMI, AES/EBU and Analog.
-- WebUI enables remote monitoring, control and deployment on the field or in the studio via a standard web-browser.
-- Compact 2RU high, half-rack width form factor.
-- Records to reliable and rugged AJA Pak SSD media, with options for recording to eSATA.
-- Includes AJAs renowned 3-year international warranty.

As AJA CEO Nick Rashby said at his NAB press conference: if you have multiple Ki Pro Ultra Pluses in a rack, it's probably the densest HD and 4K recording facility on the planet.

Full press release from AJA over the page break

AJA Launches Ki Pro Ultra Plus with 4-Channel HD Recording and HDMI 2.0 Support

Las Vegas, NV, NAB Conference, Stand SL2505 (April 24, 2017) -- AJA Video Systems today announced Ki Pro Ultra Plus, introducing 1, 2, 3 or 4-channel simultaneous HD recording up to 1080 50/60p, and full HDMI 2.0 (up to 12-bit capture and output) for 4K/UltraHD workflows.

The new Ki Pro Ultra Plus is ideal for recording multi-cam shoots in HD multi-channel mode, and 4K/UltraHD recording and playback in single-channel mode. Ki Pro Ultra Plus is housed in a compact, easy-to-operate, standalone 2RU half-rack and has broad I/O flexibility and connectivity options including 3G-SDI, HDMI 2.0 and optional fiber connections. Ki Pro Ultra Plus captures pristine 4K/UltraHD and HD video to widely accepted production codecs including Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD MXF.

Four channels of HD can be recorded simultaneously as Apple ProRes files, each with different compression profiles as desired, to robust AJA Pak 1000 SSD media. Ki Pro Ultra Plus includes the proven Ki Protect technology, ensuring that in the event of power failure or inadvertent withdrawal of a Pak Drive, recently recorded footage is always secure. All four channels can be displayed on Ki Pro Ultra Pluss LCD screen as a quad-split during capture for confidence monitoring, as well as the ability to output the quad-split over HDMI, SDI, and even on the integrated browser-based web UI during capture.

What sets Ki Pro Ultra Plus apart is the combination of multi-channel HD recording, 4K recording and playback, full HDMI 2.0 support, a full featured web-based UI for control and configuration, and Ki Protect, providing peace of mind on all productions, said Nick Rashby, President, AJA Video Systems. Our Ki Pro family is one of our most popular product lines and this latest addition adds some of the most requested customer features.

Ki Pro Ultra Plus Features:
-- Flexible HD recording options: 1, 2, 3 or 4-channel HD recording at up to 1080 60p with independent ProRes codec profile support for each channel.
-- 4K/UltraHD/2K/HD recording to Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD MXF.
-- HDMI 2.0 support allows for full 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 capture and output at up to 4K/UltraHD 60fps.
--12-bit support on input for Apple ProRes 4444 and ProRes 4444 XQ encoding and HDMI 2.0 input and output.
-- Built-in Ki Protect ensures recordings arent lost in a power failure.
-- Broad video connectivity including fiber cages, 3G-SDI and HDMI 2.0.
-- Multi-channel audio support via embedded SDI or HDMI, AES/EBU and Analog.
-- WebUI enables remote monitoring, control and deployment on the field or in the studio via a standard web-browser.
-- Compact 2RU high, half-rack width form factor.
-- Records to reliable and rugged AJA Pak SSD media, with options for recording to eSATA.
-- Includes AJAs renowned 3-year international warranty.

Pricing and Availability
Ki Pro Ultra Plus will be available soon through AJAs worldwide reseller network at a US MSRP of $3995. AJAs Pak SSD media is compatible with Ki Pro Ultra Plus and available as: AJA Pak256 $495, AJA Pak512 $995, AJA Pak1000 $1495. For more information about Ki Pro Ultra Plus, please visit: https://www.aja.com/products/ki-pro-ultra-plus .

About AJA Video Systems, Inc.
Since 1993, AJA Video has been a leading manufacturer of video interface technologies, converters, digital video recording solutions and professional cameras, bringing high-quality, cost-effective products to the professional broadcast, video and post production markets. AJA products are designed and manufactured at our facilities in Grass Valley, California, and sold through an extensive sales channel of resellers and systems integrators around the world. For further information, please see our website at www.aja.com.