Blackmagic Terranex
I remember last year visiting the the Terranex stand at IBC and looking at all they had to offer as we were looking for a hardware standards converter that didn't cost the earth, unfortunately Terranex's 2011 offering was still out of reach for a small post-house budget.
So I was pleased to hear about Blackmagic Design's recent acquisition of Terranex, and then the release of the standard conversion processors at this year's NAB.
Blackmagic offer 2 flavors, a 2D and a 3D model. Each are $1,995 and $3,995 respectfully and offer the following features;
- Up Conversion
- Down Conversion
- SD/HD Cross Conversion
- SD/HD Standards Conversion
- Cadence Detect and Remove
- Noise Reduction
- Adjustable Scaling
- Aspect Radio Conversion
- Smart Aspect
- Converts Timecode
- Includes 16 Channel Audio
- 3D Camera Align (3D Model Only)
- 3D Dual Channel Standards Conversion (3D Model Only)
- 3D Simulation (3D Model Only)
For a hardware solution that used to cost upward of $90,000 thats now no more than $4,000, whats the catch? Right? I have no idea how they have kept costs so low, especially since Blackmagic insist that they are still using Terranex components. Which leads me to believe that it must be down to mass production.
I was demoed a 29.97fps 1920x1080 to a 25fps 1920x1080 conversion. I must say the result was brilliant. No 3:2 Pulldown issues that usually interfere with these type of interlaced conversions. Other demos were limited, but from the demo I was given I cant wait to get my hands on it and give it a real run for its money.
Software solutions are coming along, and are decent enough for speed-up conversions, but for now, nothing beats a hardware standards converter. Especially that of a box at this price.
It is available now worldwide. More information on the Blackmagic Terranex processors head here;
http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/teranex/