Silicon Imaging 2K HD Cam

Silicon Imaging made an early start to its announcements for the NAB video expo by announcing the SI-2K line of pro HD video cameras. Both the namesake SI-2K and the smaller SI-2K MINI are built for videographers that want to capture above 1080p quality, recording videos over 2000 pixels wide. Unlike some of these cameras, however, the Silicon Imaging models don't automatically compress videos: instead, a Core 2 Duo in the camera converts footage to a RAW CineForm standard that consumes a large amount of space (4 hours in 160GB of storage) but which also guarantees 10-bit color accuracy.

The two cameras both share 11 f-stops of dynamic range for the lens aperture and have gigabit Ethernet for fast transfers of raw video clips to nearby computers; the higher-end SI-2K also gains 802.11g Wi-Fi for transferring clips across a wireless network and a touchscreen interface for making basic edits directly from the camera itself, bypassing the need for an immediate transfer to a Mac or PC.

Either will be on show at NAB. Silicon imaging is shipping the SI-2K MINI within two weeks for $14,500, while its larger SI-2K sibling is shipping in June at $23,500.

By Electronista Staff