Convergent Design’s Dan Keaton reveals the forthcoming Athena 4K multi-stream recorder and encoder / decoder for Craig Chartier and DV Info Net.
Athena is the first standalone, tapeless player/recorder deck capable of 4K/UHD 60p, 2K/HD 60p, and Multi-Stream (even in 4K). An industry first is the ability to record/play four HD video streams along with 64 channels of MADI audio. It can be used as a production facility tape deck replacement; a driver for multi-screen video walls; the heart of an interactive multi-panel display for education, entertainment or point-of-sale, a concert or live event multi-camera recorder, and even a system to stream footage live from set back to post or load material remotely.
Athena’s functions are hardware-based for high efficiency and reliability; it’s not a “PC in a box”. The easy to use playback system allows one to load Apple ProRes, Avid DNxHD or DPX files straight from a computer onto an SSD and play on Athena, or load them directly onto an SSD mounted in Athena via Gigabit Ethernet (Gig-E). Recording is equally versatile and straightforward. The efficient design fits in a 1U, Half-Rack space; has a front panel featuring an LCD display for status info and confidence monitoring, a 2.5” SSD slot (up to 2GB current spec) and deck controls; and can operate 24/7 continuously with a low power draw. The auto-start/auto-recovery mode means Athena can start up in seconds and begin or resume operations should power be interrupted.
More info can be found in the press release: Athena from Convergent Design at DV Info Net
