The Latest Word on Grass Valley's IT-centric Infinity Camcorder

The highly anticipated Grass Valley Infinity camera is coming this summer … maybe. At its annual Media Summit, the company said delays in delivering the camera (it was first introduced in the fall of 2005) had to do with solving a heat-exchange problem and excessive power consumption within the camera’s body. Company execs said expect the camera to ship in July or August. Approximately 100 beta users will have units in the field by April, although none were identified.
The company said they have now resolved the cooling issues by moving from forced-air technology to a design borrowed from laptop computers that more efficiently cools the camera. “Near-final” production models of the Infinity camcorder and its companion digital media player-which records to REV Pro media-will be on display at NAB.
Open Alliance Partners (OAP) such as Avid Technology have also received units in order to develop compatible workflow applications. The Grass Valley OAP initiative, continuing to gain momentum, has resulted in a full complement of third-party support for the REV Pro removable media used for production and post workflows.
Grass Valley also unveiled a new 2.4 megapixel CMOS imager that it says offers a wider dynamic range, low power consumption and reduced signal to noise ratio, when compared to similar chips on the market from Ikegami, JVC, and Sony. Called the Xensium, the chip was designed from the ground up to support video processing, with the shortest distance between the physical imager and DSP circuitry inside the camera. It will be offered as an option to Grass Valley’s Infinity series camcorder, when it ships sometime this summer.
The 2/3-inch complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imager, which supports all HD formats as well as raw 4:4:4 capture, includes control electronics right on the sensor, which allow the pixels to be read in any order and thereby capture images natively in either interlaced or progressive scan HD resolutions. The sensor also incorporates on-board A-to-D conversion, which further reduces noise and improves performance by eliminating a separate processing stage, according to the company.
And perhaps most promising of all, Thomson will manufacture the chip in its factory in China, thereby ensuring a reliable supply (unlike other manufacturers that are now relying on third-party AltaSens chips, which have proven to be difficult to get in quantity.). And the Xensium chip has been designed to work seamlessly with the Infinity camera, ensuring high-quality performance and minimal artifacts. The 1920 x 1080 active pixel HD chip will also be offered on other Grass Valley cameras in the future.