“The major message from AJA Video Systems at NAB 2019 is the 14 openGear converter cards we are releasing, a new Ki Pro for H.264 recording in the pro A/V environment, new IP video systems that comply with SMPTE ST 2110, and significant upgrades to our HDR image analyzer.” Nick Rashby, president of AJA Video Systems told me right after their breakfast press event in Ballroom III of the Renaissance Hotel. “We are also addressing 8K needs with our desktop software and a new 8K video card.”

I felt that begged the question of why all the interest in 8K at the NAB Show 2019?

“It’s really being driven by our customers and our development partners,” he replied. “Certainly in Asia and South Korea, even the UK, and the upcoming 2020 Olympics are going to be in 8K. So we want to stay ahead of the curve.”

During the press conference itself, Rashby had gone into more detail about AJA’s individual introductions, such as the new HELO v4.0 firmware for their 4.264 streaming appliance which just got the seal of approval from Amazon Web Services. It now includes AV Mute which makes it easy to personalize the viewing experience with custom service branding when muting audio and video streams. V4.0 will be available in May as a free update. 

The HDR Image Analyzer which they introduced at IBC 2018 along with their friends at Colorfront has a new Web-based UI.

“Its first update, v1.1 firmware, lets you talk to the system from desktops, laptops and tablets on any operating system," Rashby said. "It will be available soon as a free update, and the update also adds new HDR monitoring and analysis tools."

Of course, it wouldn’t be AJA without some new Mini-Converters, and this year they brought out the IPT-10G2-HDMI and IPT-10G2-SDI Mini-Converters which are single channel IP video transmitters for bridging traditional HDMI and 3G-SDI signals to SMPTE ST 2110 for IP-based workflows.

Also on hand are the 14 new openGear converter cards that Rashby mentioned to me right of the top. They combine the capabilities of AJA’s production-proven Mini-Converters with openGear’s high-density architecture and support for DashBoard. These enable industry-standard configuration, monitoring and control in broadcast and live event applications over a PC or local network on Windows, macOS or Linux.

And there’s the Ki Pro GO Rashby heralded. It’s a genlock-free, multi-channel H.264 HD and SD recorder/player with a flexible architecture designed for live production, sports, corporate events, training, houses of worship, and other applications.

With tjis portable device users can record up to four channels of HD and SD content from SDI and HDMI sources to off-the-shelf USB media via 4x USB 3.0 ports, with a 5^th port for redundant recording.

Finally, AJA brought out Desktop Software v15.2--a free update packed with solid new features and performance enhancements for AJA KONA and Io products. In addition to adding new IP SMPTE ST 2110 workflows using AJA Io IP, and updates for KONA IP – including ST 2110-40 ANC support, Desktop Software v15.2 gives professionals more creative freedom and flexibility with support for Apple ProRes capture/playback across Microsoft Windows, Linux and macOS in AJA Control Room, at up to 8K resolutions.

Right at the end, while I still had the chance, I asked Rashby a question I had wanted to pose for a long time:

“What do the letters ‘AJA’ stand for?”

“They are the initials of the founder’s son,” he revealed. “Abraham John Abt.”

Now the world knows!