Black magic Design has announced at NAB that they are now shipping the 4K version of their Video Assist recorder/monitor. It can be added to any camera with an HDMI or SDI output and has a 7 inch monitor. Recording is to two SD cards in 10 Bit 4:2:2 ProRes and DNx formats.

The 4K Video Assist is available now, priced at $895 in the U.S.A.

Press release

Blackmagic Video Assist 4K

The next product we have at the show this year is the new Video Assist 4K. This new model Video Assist 4K lets you add a bright 7 inch monitor and broadcast quality recorder to any SDI or HDMI camera.

By adding a Video Assist to a DLSR camera you can get a nice large screen that ensures you get perfect focus every time. Video Assist has built in focus aids such as focus peaking and focus zoom. You can also use the histogram to help set exposure. Because Video Assist has built in recorders, you can bypass the low quality video files or even tape based recorders in many cameras.

The Video Assist uses high quality ProRes and DNx recording, so you get great quality and full compatibility with all editing software. You also get much longer recording times because Video Assist 4K features 2 SD card slots, so you can change cards while recording.

The new Blackmagic Video Assist 4K features 2 analog audio inputs with phantom power that are connected to an incredibly low noise HD audio circuit. This means you can connect high end microphones and mixers via the balanced mini XLR connectors, and completely bypass the camera audio for amazing results. It’s like Blackmagic Video Assist 4K has a professional audio recorder built in, and with over 128db of audio noise floor, audio engineers will love it!

The design on the inside is just as professional with the latest technology 6G-SDI in and out on full size connectors as well as HDMI 2.0 in and out. There is also a LANC connector for extra control options in addition to the SDI and HDMI record triggers. Also included is an upgradable hardware codec with a selection between ProRes Proxy, ProRes LT, ProRes 422, and ProRes 422 HQ. A 3.5 mm audio output is included so you can plug in headphones for audio monitoring and the Video Assist 4K also includes a speaker for playback.

When it comes to the built in recorder, Video Assist 4K includes support for the latest technology UHS-2 cards, so you get fast speeds for recording to Ultra HD. UHS-2 cards are extremely fast but you can also read them in conventional SD card slots on computers, as they are fully backwards compatible.

The new Blackmagic Video Assist 4K is available today for $895.