AJA Video Ships HD PCI Card for Mac OS

AJA Video Systems is now shipping the Kona-HD, a 10-bit HD video/audio capture and playback PCI card for Mac OS X, which lets users work with uncompressed HD video using QuickTime compatible programs like Final Cut Pro.

Kona HD supports most HDTV formats, including 24P and has a 64 bit/66Mhz PCI capability. When configured in an Apple Xserve with 66Mhz PCI or Ultra-320 SCSI hard disks, the Kona HD performs free of disk transfer rates. It is also backwards-compatible with 33Mhz PCI and 8-bit HD formats.

It features an audio system with Genlock for synchronization to an external reference and 6-channel AES I/O at 48 or 96 kHz. The AES inputs have hardware sample rate converters that allow connection on non-sync or off-speed digital audio.

"Kona-HD is the first professional-quality HD editing tool for Mac OS X," says AJA Video Sytems president John Abt. "As the long awaited ramp in HD production is now underway, we couldn't have hoped for better timing with this product release."