NAB2007 - Convergent Design HDMI Converters Maximize HDV/AVCHD/DV Quality

Convergent Design announced today their third HDMI to HD-SDI converter, HD-Connect MX. HD-Connect MX performs HDMI to HD/SD-SDI (with embedded audio and time-code) and includes reference-input, as well as AES and LTC outputs for a suggested MSRP of US$995. Convergent Design now offers three different HDMI to HD/SD-SDI converters, nanoConnect, HD-Connect MI and HD-Connect MX. nanoConnect (US$495) performs the basic HDMI to HD/SD-SDI conversion and is an ideal choice for ingest of HDV / AVCHD into a Final Cut Pro or Premiere editing system which can use 1394 for deck control. HD-Connect MI (US$595) adds RS-422 deck control, a must for Avid users. Finally, HD-Connect MX (US$995) adds studio-level professional features, including reference-input, AES, LTC and dual HD/SD-SDI outputs. All three HDMI to HD-SDI converters support HD and SD formats, including 1080p30/29.97/25, 1080i60/59.94/50, 720p60/59.94/50, 486i and 576i. Embedded 48KHz 24-bit audio is also seamlessly transferred from HDMI to HD/SDSDI. These innovative converters offer superior video and audio quality over older analog connections, by avoiding D/A and A/D conversions which reduce the overall video resolution and introduce subtle color shifts. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the error-correction circuitry inside the deck/camcorder, tape dropouts are all but eliminated. Editors can enjoy affordable conversion of long-GOP HDV / AVCHD into I-Frame CODECs such as DVCProHD or DNxHD. These I-Frame CODECs support real-time playback from the time-line and eliminate most of the time-wasting renders and conforms associated with native editing solutions. HD-Connect MX elevates HDV / AVCHD to a cost-effective studio-quality format, which can be genlocked to an SD/HD house reference with AES and LTC outputs. Low-cost very high quality studio cameras can also be realized by connecting this converter directly to the live-output of the camera. The resulting HD/SD-SDI stream, which can be sent directly to a router, has never been compressed, yielding the highest quality video available from a given camcorder. Click here for more on Convergent Design