Fast Forward Video (FFV), a provider of digital video recorder (DVR) technology, will collaborate with Thomson Grass Valley to develop a retrofit kit for Sony Betacam SX camcorders. The kit is designed to replace the existing tape elements of the SD camcorder with the digital tapeless recording capabilities of the Grass Valley REV PRO digital media drive. Additionally, the REV PRO-SX drive can record in HD or SD, transforming these tape-based SD camcorders into contemporary HD file-based camcorders with removable digital media.
The retrofit kit's built-in REV PRO drive replaces the existing Sony MPEG-based tape elements of the camcorder while converting the signal to digital directly from the CCD image sensor. The REV PRO-SX essentially converts the tape-based camcorder into an almost all-digital, file-based camcorder, supporting tapeless news and production workflows. The device will also scale images to HD, allowing users to continue using their SD camcorders with built-in HD upscaling and recording.
This collaborative development effort between FFV and Grass Valley is part of the Grass Valley Open Alliance Partner (OAP) Program and the Grass Valley REV PRO Certification Program. The REV PRO Certification Program includes companies like FFV, which have announced support for the IT-centric removable media and more open and flexible approaches to newsgathering and field production using the Grass Valley Infinity Series of products. The retrofit kit is the first of several planned DVRs by FFV supporting Grass Valley REV PRO media.
For more information, visit www.ffv.com.
