YOKOHAMA, Japan—Atomos has unveiled its Ninja RAW 5-inch HDR monitor-recorder for filmmakers, content creators and broadcasters at the CP+ trade show, Feb. 26-March 1, in the Nextorage booth.

Ninja RAW offers users an affordable tool for high-quality acquisition and precise on-set monitoring.

The monitor-recorder offers a 1500-nit, super-bright 5-inch HDR touchscreen, delivering good visibility in both studio and outdoor environments. Built for professional workflows, Ninja RAW records over HDMI directly from the camera sensor in Apple ProRes and ProRes RAW to CFexpress Type B media or external USB-C storage, providing fast, reliable capture with maximum image quality and post-production flexibility.

Ninja RAW supports a wide range of professional codecs, including ProRes RAW, ProRes RAW HQ, ProRes LT, ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ, ensuring flawless integration with all leading NLEs, such as DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer.

Designed to be a monitor, recorder and production hub, Ninja RAW offers USB-C camera control over key parameters, including start/stop, ISO, shutter, aperture and white balance for supported cameras. A comprehensive suite of monitoring tools is built-in, featuring EL Zone false color, waveform, focus peaking and vectorscope, allowing crews to make confident exposure and focus decisions on set.

Exclusive creative tools, including Onion Skin overlay, which enables frame-to-frame comparison and precise shot alignment for VFX, animation and continuity-critical work, enhance on-set efficiency

Connectivity and workflow flexibility are expanded with dual USB-C ports for external storage or optional network adaptors (sold separately), while the unit’s rugged, production-ready design ensures reliability.

Ninja RAW is highly portable and can be powered by NP-F batteries, USB-C power banks or a DC adaptor.

Available now from Atomos resellers worldwide and from the Atomos web store, the Ninja RAW is priced at $699.

See Atomos in the Nextorage booth #22 at the CP+ trade show.

More information is available on the company’s website.

MELBOURNE, Australia—Atomos today introduced Ninja TX GO, a new HDMI monitor-recorder that combines a brighter screen, advanced monitoring tools, professional codecs, camera control and cloud connectivity and is built for HDMI-based cameras.

With its 5-inch, 1,500-nit HDR touchscreen, Ninja TX GO offers a monitoring experience superior to built-in camera displays, Atomos said. It features professional tools such as EL Zone, waveform, vectorscope and focus peaking, giving content creators complete control over framing, exposure and color accuracy on-set, the company said.

Ninja TX GO records directly to CFexpress Type B or external USB-C SSD storage and supports Apple ProRes, ProRes RAW, Avid DNx and H.265/H.264 formats, providing flexibility across postproduction workflows. With RAW-capable HDMI inputs, it can record up to 6Kp30 RAW, Atomos said.

Like the company’s Ninja TX, Ninja TX GO offers integrated camera control, a free feature that allows direct adjustment of exposure settings, such as aperture, shutter speed and ISO on supported cameras from Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Panasonic, Sony, Z CAM and other brands. This makes Ninja TX GO a complete on-camera companion for monitoring, recording and control, it said.

“With Ninja TX GO, we’re bringing the power and flexibility of our flagship Ninja TX to an even broader community of creators,” said Peter Barber, Atomos CEO. “It’s a lightweight, incredibly powerful monitor-recorder that delivers professional-grade monitoring, recording and control without compromise. It’s perfect for creators who want the best visual fidelity and workflow flexibility straight from their HDMI cameras”

Ninja TX GO includes built-in Wi-Fi for seamless camera-to-cloud operation, including 20GB of free ATOMOSphere cloud storage, enabling direct upload to ATOMOSphere, Frame.io, Dropbox and other services, or live streaming via NDI 6/HX3.

Ninja TX, launched earlier this year, adds even more advanced features, including SDI input/output, AirGlu wireless timecode and expanded 8Kp30 RAW recording capabilities for cinematic cameras, Atomos said.

Both models run on the next-generation AtomOS platform, providing faster performance, over-the-air updates and a more refined user experience. A robust locking cable system for HDMI and USB-C connections ensures reliability.

Ninja TX GO is available immediately from Atomos resellers worldwide and from the Atomos web store. Camera control will be a free-of-charge, over-the-air update for both Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX.

The Ninja TX Go is priced at $799 (USD), excluding local sales tax and VAT outside the U.S.

More information is available on the company’s website.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.—Convergent Design has introduced its latest product, the Apollo, a portable HD multicamera recorder/switcher.

About the size of a tablet, the Apollo is able to simultaneously record up to four HD video signals, along with a fifth channel of either a live-switch between the four or a quad-split reference view. Apollo can also function as a four-channel live switcher while simultaneously recording the four isolated HD video signals. The Apollo keeps all cameras in sync with a matching timecode. The system utilizes 2.5-inch SSD media and features two SSD slots.

Using the new Apollo Media Manager app, recordings can be exported as separate Apple ProRes files or as a single multicamera QuickTime file that drops directly into the timeline of supporting NLEs like Final Cut Pro-X.

Additional features like two-channel 4K/UHD video recording, DNxHD recording, and cascade interconnect between up to three Apollos for up to 12 HD channel or six 4K/UHD channel simultaneous recording are planned for release in 2016. These updates will be made available through a free firmware update. A remote keypad control unit will also be offered, along with a rack mount and other accessories.

Convergent Design is planning to release the Apollo in December. Starting price will be $3,995 and include an SSD to USB3 adapter, a 5-pack of SSD mounting handles, and a universal AC power supply.

Convergent Design has long been producing products in the external, portable recorder arena, starting with one of the first such appliances, the nanoFlash, a very compact SDI/HDMI HD recorder. Their design trajectory has brought them to the Odyssey series of high quality monitor/recorders, of which the 7Q+ is the latest and best.

FEATURES

Can record at resolutions through 4K via SDI and HDMI to two SSDs. The Odyssey series has been through several iterations of continuous improvement, a value to which Convergent Design as a company seems deeply dedicated. The 7Q+ flagship model, which made its first appearance at the end of 2014, can record at resolutions through 4K via SDI—single, dual, or quad link—and HDMI to two SSDs, up to 1 TB each, which allows for long record times, even at the highest resolutions and quality. Convergent Design highly recommends their own branded and tested SSDs for best performance, but has also tested and qualified Samsung 850 EVO and Pro SSDs, which cost less.

Record formats include—straight out of the box—ProRes 422 HQ, 422, and 422 LT, up to 4K/UHD at 29.97p, and all resolutions and rates below. The Odyssey can also record 2K and HD as uncompressed video,12 or 10 bit, in DPK stacks (recorded as 4:4:4). It can downscale on record and/or output from 4K/UHD to 1080p for on-set monitoring, and the downscaling looks fantastic thanks to its super-sampling feature (see the web site for images of detail improvement). Recording and camera interface capabilities can be expanded by purchasing all RAW features and free future upgrades for $995 or renting RAW capability for ARRI Alexa, Canon C500, or Sony FS7/FS700, which are available online and easily installed. This list will no doubt expand over time.

There is SDI and HDMI I/O as mentioned above, a 3.5mm analog input and a 3.5mm audio output, which are suitable for headphone monitoring, a BNC for linear timecode I/O, and 2 SDI ports that can be configured for input—allows for four channel monitoring on input—or as extra outputs. A planned firmware upgrade in the near future will enable multi-stream, simultaneous recording.

The monitor is a 7.7-inch, 1280x800 OLED touchscreen that looks fantastic, even in sunlight. It has a wide viewing angle, true blacks and accurate, wide gamut colors for monitoring in REC709 or DCI-P3 spaces. 3D LUTs can be applied to the image and viewed on the monitor, viewed in any of the image analysis tools listed below, and/or routed to an output (or not), and recorded as an XML tag with the clip for post work. The Odyssey comes with a library of 3D LUTs, including those for ARRI, Blackmagic, Panasonic, RED, and Sony cameras, with additional presets downloadable from the Convergent Design website. Custom LUTs can be created and stored in the unit with ease.

Image analysis tools include waveform monitor, vectorscope, histogram, false color exposure guides, Zebra, three modes of focus assist, pixel zoom—1:1 and 2:1—image flip, and various frame guides. All image analysis modes have many customizable parameters to use in any situation or shooting mode.

Two hardware buttons on the left side of the unit function as lockout for the touchscreen and power down—there is a power on button on the bottom edge of the unit—and will be made programmable in a future firmware upgrade. The case also features a mini-HDMI input port, a Kensington lock port, remote port—which will be made operational in a future free upgrade as well—a DC power port, and three 1/4-20 threaded mounting sockets on the sides, four M3 sockets on the rear of the case and two M4 sockets on each side.

The touchscreen provides access to and controls for the menu system; a shallow and quickly accessible system with no setting more than one or two levels away. The screen itself is nicely responsive yet not so sensitive that proximity can trigger it, which is very important in the pressure of a shoot. The menu system, which can be displayed or not at a single touch, also functions as a status display, and has just three root level sub-menus: Odyssey, Setup, and Outputs.

The Odyssey menu controls basic device functions such as date/time settings, SSD format and recovery routines, and activation functions, which are necessary for initial authorization of the unit and activation of any purchased or rented software options. The Outputs menu simply controls the tally indicator, and whether the outputs show any of the image analysis overlays, if the output is progressive or PSF, and whether the output levels are legalized or extended, as applicable. The Setup menu functions as both a detailed status display, if wanted, and control for all the camera, record format, source and triggering options, none of which are more than one level deep.

In addition to the menu and status displays, the interface includes toolbars across the top and bottom of the screen. The top bar can display system, input, record, and SSD status, along with quick access to control and parameter settings, audio meters, and clip metadata and last take information.

The lower bar shows timecode and quick access to the numerous overlay and image analysis settings. A tap on these turns the feature on or off, and a longer hold on the button gives access to settings and parameters.

The unit weighs in at about 1.2 pounds of magnesium alloy case in a compact, 8x6x1-inch form factor. It consumes between 8 and 18 Watts, depending on record mode, and can run on anything between 6.5 and 34V DC, provided through battery or included AC adaptor. It runs silently, with no fan or vents.

IN USE

When a product is this good, it always seems as though there is never enough time to spend with it, as the use and testing/evaluating is always such a pleasure. In the case of the Odyssey 7Q+, I was able to use it to record the output of an HD camera (Sony EX3) and a small 4K camera (Sony AX-100) in several performance settings, as well as being able to spend a day in the studio of cinematographer Alan Dater and his Sony FS7. In both situations, the Odyssey exceeded expectations and hopes.

In performance shooting situations, I found that the recorded output of either camera was visibly better than what each camera records internally. Side-by-side comparisons in my edit suite confirmed what Convergent Design shows on their web site: sharper edges, deeper blacks, and an overall feeling of clearer image, the degree dependent on the nature of the scene being shot.

The size, weight, and silence of the unit made mounting and using it during a performance easy. The benefits of having such an excellent monitor on a shoot are obvious, and the OLED monitor is indeed excellent in all the conditions and situations I used it in.

Despite being a fairly confirmed and old school button and knob kind of guy, I found adjustments and controls quickly available, intuitively designed and programmed, and very easy to use, even in a cramped and dark theater setting. There was not even a technical hiccup while shooting, reviewing, or offloading footage from the Odyssey. I should note that the Convergent Design-supplied SSDs performed flawlessly and were quick in transfer situations.

In the studio with Alan Dater and his FS7, we shot and compared both still life scenes, carefully lit, and several test charts, and found the same clarity of image and ease of operation as I noted above, during and after performance shoots. The degree of image improvement was far less noticeable with such a spectacular camera as the FS7, but we both agreed the fidelity was superb, even when recording a downscaled version of what the camera recorded internally.

CONCLUSION

There are so many benefits to using a unit like the Odyssey 7Q+ as part of a production package, some of which have been mentioned above. And there are so many benefits to using specifically the Odyssey 7Q+, including top notch performance specs, continuous improvement via firmware and feature upgrades, and incredible ease and fluidity of use thanks to intelligent and excellent design of both software and hardware. I highly recommend careful consideration of what using the Odyssey 7Q+ can do for your specific production situations. The designers at Convergent Design really got it right!

Michael Hanish operates Free Lunch, a video/audio/multimedia production house near Guilford, Vt. He may be contacted atmichael@freelunchmedia.com.

➤ FAST FACTS

APPLICATION
Lightweight, high-quality recording up to 4K, including high-res monitor

KEY FEATURES
Superb monitor and monitoring tools, multiple formats and resolutions up to 4K, SDI and HDMI inputs, light weight, low power draw

PRICE
$2,295

CONTACT
Convergent Design
720-221-3861
www.convergentdesign.com

The Video Clarity ClearView Shuttle 4K under test at the author’s television station

A couple of decades ago—before the development of file based workflow—the Holy Grail for broadcasters was being able to dub content with no degradation. Finally this came about with file-based workflows. Never ever would anyone have any woes again when it came to editing, dubbing, moving, or distributing audio/video content. That lasted for maybe a week. Then, all of a sudden, there was more than one player with more than one idea as to how to create those files and here we are with another set of issues.

For solving those modern issues associated with encoding, transcoding, or even just distribution of television signals, Video Clarity is now offering the ClearView Shuttle 4K which was designed to compare an original signal to a downstream version on a frame-by-frame basis.

FEATURES
The ClearView Shuttle 4K comes in a package that’s small enough to be considered compact. The unit itself measures a mere 8.6-by-3.5-by-13.75-inches and weighs 11.5 pounds (15 pounds in the supplied hard carrying case). Power is supplied via standard PC power cord, and connections include LAN, PC monitor, keyboard and mouse. The front of the unit sports an LCD readout, along with the standard “U,” “D,” “L,” “R” menu and data entry buttons. Each I/O module (AJA Kona) supports an analog output, and four BNC 75 Ohm “mini” connections via a BNC convertor cable (8-or 10-bits per component). Among the video standards supported are HD/UHDSDI, SMPTE-259/292/296/424/425a/b, 4K/quadHD, and HDMI output on a mini-connector with convertor cable. The ClearView Shuttle4K also accommodates SD at 525i/59.94,625i/50, HD at 720p/50, 59.94, and 60 Hz; 1080i/50, 59.94, 60; 1080psf/23.98 and 24; 1080p/23.98, 24 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, and 60 Hz, as well as UHD at 3840x2160p, 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, and 60Hz. There’s also a trilevel reference input.

The unit can play or record up to 2160p/60 Hz (two 30 Hz sequences side-by-side) and in 4K.

Audio standards include analog, 24-bit 48 kHz PCM, AES/EBU discrete and embedded.

The unit features four full reference scoring methods or scales, including MOVIE (Motion-based Video Integrity Evaluation index), MS-SSIM/DMOS (Multi-Scale Structural Similarity Image Quality Assessment, with “DMOS” being the difference between the mean opinion scores of the reference and processed video). There’s also JND (Just Noticeable Difference) and PEAQ (Perceptual Evaluation of Audio Quality), with two scales produced from a computerized model of the human ear (BS.1387 and BS.1118).

In addition, the ClearView Analyzer includes four no-reference scoring methods: APEAK (which is a true-peak audio measurement of the audio channel per ITU-R BS.1770-3) and LKFS (the audio loudness measurement per program according to ITU-R BS.1770-3), Spatial (which calculates the activity power of a video frame, with a higher number indicating more changes in that frame) and Temporal (which calculates the changes between successive video frames, a zero indicates a frozen frame).

A key feature of the ClearView GUI is that two sequences can be displayed in a variety of ways, including: “Side-by-Side” (or over-under), “Seamless Split,” “Split Mirror” (butterfly), “A-minus-B” (with threshold and color addback), or “Full Screen” (with each sequence sent to a different display or on-eat-a-time to the same display). If a closer examination is needed, video sequences can be analyzed while playing individual fields, with the operator zooming into any picture area up to 16x and or panning within the picture during zoom or split screen, with identification of pixel values accomplished via a mouse click.

The most widely used metrics are PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio) or MSE (Mean Squared Error). Both measure the mean error between input and output signals. PSNR expresses its result as a ratio of the peak signal expressed in dB. PSNR and MSE (while not performing a human perceptual prediction,) also serve an important role. PSNR is the objective metric that measures the absolute difference between two signals.

For audio, the ITU-R PEAQ model amounts to an “electronic ear” that performs an objective measurement of perceived quality of wideband (up to 20 kHz) audio signals using a computerized model of the human ear. The Audio Frequency Metric (AFREQ) is a comparison of audio versus a reference and is used to detect gross audio errors. Also included are Audio Alignment (lip-sync) and APEAK, which measures true-peak amplitude and gives a value for each frame, and a separate value for each channel in LKFS (Loudness K-weighted relative to Full Scale) units.

Video Clarity ClearView Shuttle 4K screen shot
IN USE
Starting up the 4K Shuttle was fairly straightforward as it involved basically only connecting a power cord and PC monitor. The included wireless mouse/keyboard combo came up immediately and after a few seconds the unit completed its “boot up,” resembling most any PC display. The audio/video I/O for the Kona card was located on the back of the device, and the unit’s umbilical was solid, well-built and adequately labeled. (While there is an LCD screen on the front of the unit, I preferred to use the external PC monitor for my evaluation.)

The next order of business was to read the included “quick start” guide and once I had wrapped my head around what the Shuttle 4K could do, I decided that the best application would be to test the signal integrity of my television plant.

For a video reference signal, I connected an HD 1080i signal from our NBC d.a. chassis into the unit’s Channel 1 video input (it feeds the Kona card). For a measurement signal, I elected to test the amount of degradation added by our routing system, downstream keyers, STL, RF exciter, transmitter and off-air demod.

After confirming the Shuttle 4K for two SDI inputs, I was able to record both the reference signal (not timing, but the original benchmark) and the signal for test by using the “Record” button on the GUI. I should note that once those recordings are made, there’s a window for playback (much like a video editing system) with standard playback controls. However, for such testing to work it’s necessary to align the two clips. For this task, the viewing options are “A Only,” “B Only,” “Side by Side,” “Seamless Split,” “Split Mirror” and “Aminus-B.” I was most comfortable with the “Side by Side” mode.

For alignment, there are some options; actually a lot of options. However, a few things were basic and obvious, such as “Lock A/B speed” and “Save Alignment Changes.” In short, the goal is to get the two video clips aligned on the same frame. By using the “First” and “Last Frame” selectors to offset the time delay in the clips, I was able to get my clips aligned (raw clip, and the one passed through my system). In the scene I was using, there was a mother and child segment and I found a frame where the mother was blinking her eyes and was able to use that for synchronizing things.

Once you get the clips aligned, you can then run a metrics test. I ran the test for PSNR and was able to get a “kind of” flat graph line on the error display. In addition to the graph display, there are also numerical displays indicating the current, minimum, maximum, and average values specified in dB. My average for this test was 15.29 dB and while this isn’t a really great number, I should point out that signal encoder is 13 years old, as is my STL (I just ordered new ones).

Just for fun I ran a metrics test using color bars feeding both inputs and ran a pathological test with completely different signals feeding both inputs. As might be expected, the former comparison tested really good and the latter wasn’t so good (100 and 0.82 respectively).

As for record keeping and review functionalities, I was easily able to create, and save session logs in a neat NotePad-type file.

SUMMARY
I will have to confess that upon starting out, this instrument is almost intimidating. It’s very powerful, and the test options are really abundant. However, after spending a few minutes with it, much of that feeling of intimidation goes away. The ClearView Shuttle 4K is really an awesome instrument and gives networks and broadcasters another great tool for maintaining a competitive edge in image quality for their viewers. And while I didn’t mention too much about the different views the device offers, I would like to note that for anyone who ever aligned a three-tube color camera by using the “minus G” channel, the ClearView Shuttle 4K’s “A minus B” alignment is very similar.

Joey Gill is chief engineer at WPSD-TV in Paducah, Ky. and has been with the station for more than 30 years. He has worked in television since 1977. He may be contacted atrespond2jgill@yahoo.com.

FAST FACTS

APPLICATION
Audio/video signal and network analysis

KEY FEATURES
Portable, versatile inputs, powerful toolsets, logging functionality

PRICE
MSRP as tested, $44,995

CONTACT
Video Clarity US 866-748-8072

www.videoclarity.com