Blackmagic Design unleashes 6 new real time effects for Kona SD.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – 6rd June 2002 – Today Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. in
conjunction with AJA Video Inc. announced the immediate availability of the
new image control real time effects upgrade for the Kona SD.

This upgrade is included in the Blackmagic Kona SD software v1.3.1
available now, and is downloadable at no cost to our hundreds of users.
Update notices will be sent to registered users today.

Image Control real time effects include Tint, Sepia, Gamma Correction,
Brightness Contrast, Proc Amp, and Desaturate. All real time effects update
on the Mac monitor in real time, and don’t need to be rendered before
playout to tape, accelerating the creative process.

“These new real time effects are tremendously exciting, and reinforce the
Kona SD product theme of the one card that does everything.” Says Grant
Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “The Kona SD features almost a dozen real
time effects, 10 bit uncompressed capture and playback, desktop view for
realtime Photoshop paint, 6 channels of AES/EBU digital audio with built in
sample rate conversion, native OS X support with certification for Final
Cut Pro 3 on OS X, and a full three year warranty at no additional charge.
That makes the Kona SD a dream come true for editors, designers and digital
artists, and the only product with these features by far”

With these new real time effects, the Kona SD provides unprecedented power
to the professional editor. Creative decisions can be seen immediately, and
the new image control real time filter effects are the perfect choice for
tasks such as music videos, and episodic program production.

Image control real time effects are extremely useful when doing long form
work. If final program duration is around 30 or 60 minutes, rendering
filter effects for common image treatments would be impractical, and
require enormous quantities of disk space. Real time effects don’t need
rendering, and don’t use additional space on user’s disk arrays.

Image control real time filter effects are extremely flexible, and can be
used for many image treatments including:

Tint, fantastic for completely changing the mood of a shot. For example,
tinting a shot slightly blue can create an emotionally cold feeling, or by
tinting red or orange can create a warm, or aggressive feel to a shot.

Sepia, a perfect filter for setting the mood in shots that need to have
that “turn of the century” look, and can add a more sophisticated feel to
shots than simple black and white.

Gamma Correction, great for enhancing or darkening a shot without clipping
whites or blacks. This retains image detail that level adjustments cannot
do. Gamma can quickly fix a shot that has not been well illuminated during
the shoot, and can be a life saving filter!

Brightness and Contrast, great for lifting the mood of shots that are flat.
This is a great filter for adding contrast to flat “best light” color
grades from telecine, giving shots that finished look.

Proc Amp, an effect that’s used to quickly compensate for slight
differences in individual cameras used in a multi camera shoot. This filter
is great to help match the look of shots along the timeline so each camera
view has the same look. Setup, video, chroma, and phase can all be
adjusted, and played back in real time. Proc Amp is a huge time saver for
long form work where shots come from very different sources, and need to be
matched.

Desaturate, turns shots into black and white instantly and can be used to
reduce color in noisy video sources. Desaturate can also be used to enhance
color, allowing editors to add richness to shots that would otherwise look
flat and lifeless.

With the addition of these new real time effects, the Kona SD now makes
other cards obsolete, even before some have even been released. Releasing
this powerful new effects upgrade to our customers reinforces the
Blackmagic Design and AJA Video commitment to announcing products and
features that customers don’t have to wait months to get.

All 6 of these Image Control real time effects are included with the latest
v1.3.1 software from Blackmagic Design. Customers not currently registered
should email info@blackmagic-design.com.

About the Kona SD and Kona HD.

The Kona SD and the Kona HD are the world’s first uncompressed 10 bit PCI
video cards designed for both editing and design on Mac OS X. Understanding
the unprecedented change taking place in the television industry, the Kona
series of video cards include features required for all tasks performed in
the industry, including editing, design, effects and broadcast paint.

Designers expect the highest quality uncompressed 10 bit video, and desktop
view for laying out complex graphics in video space. Editors demand
uncompressed 10 bit video and real time effects. The Kona series is the
first to deliver both of these features in a single product. Being the only
card created for both editing and design, the Kona family meet all needs in
a modern creative television facility.

The Kona SD provides all the features for standard definition television
into the one single product, and takes the place of many products from
competitive companies. No other card includes all these features into the
single product, making selection for creative users a simple and mistake
free task.

The Kona HD is the big gun of HDTV television, packing extreme processing
power, and speed into a simple plug in PCI card, for true film quality
editing and effects on the desktop. Both the Kona SD and Kona HD are
designed from the ground up to take advantage of the power of Mac OS X.

Additional features for both the Kona SD and Kona HD include, real time
capture to Offline RT motion jpeg files for Apple Final Cut Pro=81, 6
channels of 48/96 Khz AES/EBU digital audio with sample rate conversion on
each input, with additional channels to be available on a forthcoming
embedded audio update, fully digital SDI connections, separately available
multi format analog options, software codec’s for Mac OS X, Mac OS 9,
Windows for cross platform media access, and unique internet firmware
upload facility for downloadable software updates.

The Kona family is a joint development between AJA Video and Blackmagic
Design, and is available from AJA Video authorized resellers world wide.
See http://www.aja.com for local dealers. See
http://www.blackmagic-design.com, and http://www.aja.com for additional
product information.

The Kona SD is available now for US $3,295, and the Kona HD will retail at
US$10,995 and will be released after certification testing has been
completed.

About Blackmagic Design Pty Ltd.

Blackmagic Design=81 is the world’s only independent developer of driver
software for industry leading uncompressed video hardware for the creative
markets. Over the last year, Blackmagic Design has quickly moved to an
industry leading position with the first uncompressed 10 bit QuickTime=81
video card for Mac OS X, the first QuickTime=81 card certified by Apple=81 f=
or
Final Cut Pro 3=81 on OS X, the first uncompressed real time effects on Ma=
c
OS X, and the first film quality uncompressed 10 bit HDTV QuickTime=81 card.

With growth in the creative segment of the professional television industry
at an all time high, Blackmagic Design=81 is well positioned to take
advantage of it’s unique software technologies for future innovation and
growth. Blackmagic Design’s headquarters and development facility is
located in the post production district of South Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia.

About AJA Video Inc.

AJA Video Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of high quality analog
conversion products, and OEM SDI video hardware for advanced computing
applications. AJA Video has consistently lead the industry with ground
breaking analog conversion products for high end effects and broadcast. As
one of the most respected companies in the industry, AJA Video continues to
innovate with the Kona series video cards for uncompressed editing and
design applications. AJA Video’s world wide headquarters is based in Grass
Valley, California, USA.