8K Capture & Playback with Blackmagic Design Decklink 8K Pro

Blackmagic Design Decklink 8K Pro

Just when we’re all getting comfortable with 4K, it looks like 8K is definitely on the roadmap now for a number of manufacturers (See yesterday’s video about the Sharp 8K camera). In fact, it seems 8K is the roadmap.

It’s easy to be skeptical, just as many were skeptical that 4K would take hold, but when Blackmagic Design gets on board, it’s time to sit up and take notice. Blackmagic Design are leaders, not followers and they turn niche, and emerging technologies into the mainstream norm. In past years I’ve had arguments on the exhibition booth with respected broadcast engineers who would deny that Blackmagic Design could possibly have 12G connectivity (while staring directly at a device with 12G connectivity) because 12G was not yet an accepted standard.

I am reminded of the forward thinking nature of this company every time I shake my head at a quad-link SDI 4K device from another manufacturer (many of them actually) who for some reason decided four cables were better than one.

Of course when talking 8K data rates, quad-link 12G is probably the only option on the table right now.

So lets take a closer look at the Blackmagic Design Decklink 8K Pro.

Blackmagic Design Decklink 8K Pro Specs

The Decklink 8K Pro is a PCI Express 8 lane generation 3 card, compatible with 8 and 16 lane PCI Express slots. It features four (quad link) bi-directional 12G-SDI connections and supports all SD, HD, Ultra HD, 4K and 8K DCI frame sizes in one interface. Color bit-depth is 8 and 10-bit YUV 4:2:2, and 10 and 12-bit RGB 4:4:4 with Rec. 2020 color. Supported frame rates are up to 60 frames per second in 8K and 120 frames per second in HD and 4K. The Decklink 8K Pro is Mac OS, Windows and Linux compatible.