Blackmagic Design Releases Software Update for HyperDeck Studio

Blackmagic Design announced the immediate availability of HyperDeck Software Update 2.0 Public Beta, a new software update for its popular HyperDeck Studio that adds broadcast quality compressed 10 bit recording and playback to the Avid DNxHD format.

DNxHD is a broadcast industry standard for media files and adding native support for this compressed video format into HyperDeck Studio will allow longer recording times, lower media storage costs, and full file format compatibility with Avid Media Composer systems. All media is recorded in MXF format, so it’s available in Media Composer without any time consuming import processing.

HyperDeck Software Update 2.0 public beta is available now, and will allow customers to update their HyperDeck Studio free of charge simply by connecting to their Mac OS X or Windows computer via USB.  The release of this software will allow customers to get the immediate benefit of this new compressed video mode, and to help check compatibility with various third party software products while the format certification process is underway.

HyperDeck Studio still includes support for perfect quality uncompressed 10 bit video, for the ultimate in high quality, mathematically perfect recording, and playback. With this new software update, customers will now be able to choose between uncompressed or DNxHD formats any time they need, depending on the work they are doing. DNxHD recording allows dramatically longer record durations from the same size Solid State Disk (SSD), and even the smallest size 64 GB disk that has a record duration of 6 minutes uncompressed can record for more than 40 minutes when used with DNxHD compressed video. This reduces the cost of using SSDs to a little more than $2 per minute, which is much lower cost than other high end videotape formats, while customers have the added benefit that the SSD can be mounted on their computer desktop for editing direct from the SSD itself.

As HyperDeck Studio records direct to SSDs it offers incredibly fast read and write speeds, so they have the high bandwidth required for full SD or HD recording and playback in both uncompressed and DNxHD compressed video formats. SSDs have the advantage of being used in regular laptop and desktop computers, so are constantly increasing in size, while purchase prices have been dropping dramatically over the last few years. The result is the cost per minute of recording is lower than other broadcast formats, and decreasing more each day.

HyperDeck Studio is the perfect solution to replace aging broadcast decks due to its higher quality, direct file format compatibility with NLE software and easy to use broadcast deck features. HyperDeck Studio allows recording and playback from SDI and HDMI sources, and includes support for RS-422 deck control. Unlike broadcast decks, HyperDeck Studio can record forever because it includes dual SSD slots. This allows a new blank disk to be inserted while recording, and when the current recording disk is full, HyperDeck Studio will seamlessly continue to record across onto the new blank disk. Disks can be swapped constantly for continuous recording.

“This is a very exciting update because it allows much longer recording duration on customers disks, and DNxHD is one of the most common high end broadcast file formats, so quality is not compromised!” said Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design. “Now customers get great 10 bit quality and in the MXF format that allows all files to be loaded into Avid Media Composer without any import processing. That’s the fastest and most efficient workflow possible, vitally important in fast moving broadcast stations.”