AJA Video Systems announced the XENA LHi video capture and playback card, along with support for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium software across the entire XENA line. XENA LHi is AJA's newest uncompressed video capture and playback card designed for the Windows platform.

XENA LHi is well suited for diverse broadcast and postproduction workflows and offers AJA's 10-bit hardware up-, down- and cross-conversion to or from HD and SD, which can be applied to any or all inputs or outputs simultaneously. Connect to analog and digital devices including the latest 3G SDI and HDMI v1.3a enabled products for deep color space support. XENA LHi allows users to digitize HD into space-efficient SD for offline work, monitor HD files on an SD monitor and make analog or digital SD tape masters from an HD project.

The entire AJA XENA family of products (2K, LHi, LHe and LSe) now support Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, After Effects CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended, all of which are part of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium. Support for CS4 allows for video playback, in addition to capture and output to a deck with deck control from within each of these applications. The AJA Windows plug-ins for Adobe CS4 offer unparalleled integration and support for a wide range of video formats, including native QuickTime, DPX, CIN, TIFF and TGA file support within Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, After Effects CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended and native real-time 10-bit RGB editing in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4.

"AJA continues to offer groundbreaking solutions to video professionals, and the LHi is no exception, giving Adobe customers streamlined access to digital and analog video formats," said Ginna Baldassarre, senior product manager for Production Premium at Adobe. "The XENA LHi brings our users extended capabilities and display options for broadcast and postproduction work."

"The XENA LHi delivers an incredible range of functionality to our Windows customers," said Nick Rashby, president, AJA Video. "And the launch of our plug-ins for Adobe Creative Suite 4 creates really beneficial workflow efficiencies with the ability to play back, capture and output video from directly within the latest After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro and Photoshop Extended interfaces."

XENA LHi Features:

• 10-bit uncompressed SD/HD capture card
• 3G/HD/SD SDI I/O
• HDMI v1.3a input/output with Deep Color at 30 and 36 bits per pixel
• Two independent 3G, HD-SDI or SD-SDI outputs
• 12-bit SD/HD analog component or SD composite/YC I/O
• 10-bit hardware-based real-time up/down/cross-conversions
• Native support for DPX, Cineon, TGA, TIFF, BMP, YUV, AVI and QuickTime files
• DVCPRO HD QuickTime capture and playback for compressed workflows
• 2-channel balanced XLR AES and 2-channel balanced XLR analog audio I/O
• 8-channel SDI embedded audio I/O
• HD/SD Genlock and RS-422 machine control
• LTC input (on reference input)
• Plug-in support for Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, After Effects CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended, Autodesk Combustion and Eyeon Fusion
• AJA Machina software
• Breakout cables standard, affordable KLHi-Box breakout box optional
• Three-year international warranty

Price and Availability
XENA LHi will be available soon for $1,49. The optional KLHi-Box is available for $349.

For a limited time, the XENA LHe uncompressed video capture and playback card will be available at the special price of $1,295, a savings of almost $500.