NEWBURY, UK - Quantel (www.quantel.com) has announced details of its "Pay As You Go HD" plan for the company's eQ editing/effects/grading/mastering system. The idea is to offer customers a risk-free HD path to the powerful post production system.
An eQ system purchased under the Pay As You Go HD plan is a fully-equipped system, but its ingest and playout capabilities are limited to SD only until a password is loaded into the system. Weekly or monthly passwords can be purchased from Quantel.
An eQ system purchased in this configuration costs 60 percent the price of the standard "always on" system. A one week HD password can be had for $2,250, and at any time an "always on" password can be purchased as the HD usage on the system increases.
"At Quantel we know that the quality and increased creative potential of HD is a fantastic driver for the industry," says Quantel executive chairman, Richard Taylor. "Understandably though, many customers feel that HD remains a big financial risk. Pay As You Go HD means that Quantel carries that risk. From day one a customer has all of the power and performance of an eQ but only needs to pay for the HD input and output as and when they need it."