SAN DIEGO, CA – DVEO (www.dveo.com), the broadcast division of CMI, showed FireBridge at NAB, a realtime transport stream converter that takes the FireWire output of HDV cameras and converts the signal to the more prevalent DVB-ASI. FireBridge, specifically, converts the high definition 1394 output from JVC GY-HD100U and Sony Z1U cameras to DVB-ASI for use in professional environments.
As an advanced capability, when used with the JVC’s GY-HD100U, FireBridge converts the camera’s 1394 FireWire output from 720 30p to 720 60p, making the output fully compatible with standard broadcast 720 60p equipment. The unit also converts 25 to 27 Mbps variable bitrate (VBR) output from the Sony Z1U HDV camcorder to 27 Mbps constant bitrate (CBR).
FireBridge’s output is compatible with DVB-ASI equipment from Tandberg, Terayon and Harmonic. It’s also compatible with DVEO’s T-Streamer/ASI, a transport stream recorder/player with a built-in transport stream analyzer. In addition, the unit has been tested to work with JVC’s DVHS 3000 series consumer high definition VCRs.
“Our customers are very excited about using FireBridge with the JVC GY-HD100U and the Sony Z1U camcorders,” says Laszlo Zoltan, sales manager for DVEO. “FireBridge is especially well-suited for reality TV, satellite uplinks, electronic news gathering, and movie or video dailies, or any application that needs cost-effective HD content. FireBridge replaces $60,000 HD cameras and $40,000 MPEG-2 encoders.”
The suggested retail price for FireBridge is $4,995.