Applications/benefits of nanoFlash
a. To upgrade the video/audio quality of your existing camera:
1. 4:2:0 → 4:2:2 (color)
2. 1440x1080 → 1920x1080 (full-raster)
3. 25/35 Mbps → 50/100/140/160/220 Mbps (bit-rate)
4. Compressed 16-bit audio → Uncompressed 24-bit audio
b. Tapeless Workflow
c. Enhance recording capabilities of your camera with pre-record buffer, pull-down removal, interval recording, redundant recording, etc.
d. Presentations, Trade Shows, Theme Parks, Museums, Libraries, etc.
e. Client / Feature Production Review
f. Helicopters, Race Cars, Airplanes, Jets, and other high vibration applications
g. Weather balloons, underwater footage
h. Portable HD/SD recorder for switcher output
i. POV camera recorder
j. Video Assist
k. Field Recorder
l. Review Footage on any HDTV or HD-SDI or HDMI Monitor
m. Real-time DVD / Blu-Ray Encoding (.mpg file)
Will nanoFlash work with my camera?
If your camera has an HD/SD-SDI or HDMI output with a compatible format, then the answer is yes. Some popular cameras include:
a. Sony PMW-EX1, PMW-EX1R, PMW-EX3, PMW-EX350, F900, XDCAM HD, HVR-S270, HVR-Z5, HVR-Z7
b. Canon XL-H1s, G1, HV20, HV30, HV40, HFs10, HFs11
c. Iconix HD RH1
d. Hitachi HV-HD30, DK-H32
e. Ikegami HDL-2
f. JVC GY-HD250, GY-HD251, GY-HM100, GY-M700
g. Panasonic HPX170, HPX500, HPX-900, HPX-300, GP-US932
h. Toshiba IK-HD1, IK-HR1D, IK-HR1H, IK-HR1S
i. Thomson Viper
j. Vision Research Phantom Cameras (HD-SDI output)
k. Wige Cumina Camera
l. Easy Look Systems Cameras
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Will nanoFlash improve the image quality of my existing camera?
Three major components largely determine the ultimate video quality from your camera: the lens, the CCD/CMOS sensor, and the built-in recorder. Some cameras do offer interchangeable lenses, so you may have the option to upgrade over the standard issue. The CCD/CMOS sensor is fixed on all cameras and cannot be modified. However, all HD-SDI and HDMI cameras allow users to upgrade the recording subsystem, which can yield significant improvement at reasonable costs. It’s really quite simple, but let’s first discuss the problem with your built-in recorder.
Your camera’s recording subsystem has two major components: the CODEC and the storage device. The CODEC compresses the video from about 1,200 Mbps (uncompressed HD) to a more manageable 20 to 220 Mbps. The storage device is typically a tape, optical disk, or possibly a memory card. Compressed video, along with audio and timecode, is stored on these media for playback or transfer to a NLE.
The CODEC and storage medium are both significant in determining your video quality. In general, the higher the compressed bit-rate, the better the video quality. However, most storage media severely restrict the possible data-rates. Mini-DV tape (used in HDV cameras), for example, has a fixed read/write bandwidth about 25 Mbps; SDHC memory cards are limited to about 45 Mbps. So, the ultimate data-rate from the CODEC must be restricted to match the performance of the storage medium.
The level of sophistication and implementation of the CODEC play a major role as well. I-Frame only CODECs, in general, require two to three times the bit-rate to equal the quality of the more sophisticated Long-GOP CODECs. (100 Mbps I-Frame is roughly equivalent to 35 Mbps Long-GOP in overall quality). Most CODECs, (HDV, DVCPro HD, XDCAM EX, and even HDCAM) also reduce the potential quality through color-sample decimation (4:2:2 → 4:2:0 or 3:1:1) and/or by horizontally sub-sampling (1920 → 1440 or 1920 → 1280).
The Solution: nanoFlash - High-Bit Rate, Full-Raster, 4:2:2
The nanoFlash overcomes these quality-robbing restrictions in your camera. You connect to the HD/SD-SDI or HDMI camera output (in live mode) to send “never-compressed” video directly from the CCD/CMOS sensor to the high-quality CODEC and then to the high-speed digital storage (CompactFlash cards) in the nanoFlash.
Since nanoFlash records on CompactFlash solid-state memory, (as opposed to tape, optical disk or SDHC cards) the bit-rate can be substantially increased over your built-in recorder.
nanoFlash features a sophisticated high-quality Sony XDCAM 4:2:2 (MPEG2) CODEC with data-rates up to 160 Mbps in Long-GOP mode (I,P,B Frames), and up to 220 Mbps in I-Frame-only mode. The CODEC compresses the video without reducing the color sampling (full 4:2:2) and without sub-sampling the horizontal data (full 1920).
So what does full-raster (1920), full-color (4:2:2), high-bit rate (100+ Mbps), compression produce? Well, in independent tests, the results are clear: images that are visually indistinguishable from the uncompressed HD-SDI / HDMI images directly out of your camera! So, nanoFlash can vastly improve on the weakest link in the quality chain: your camera’s built-in recorder.
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