NVIDIA introduced the Quadro FX 5600 SDI and Quadro FX 4600 SDI graphics processors for television, film and professional video workflows. Both cards output uncompressed SDI in 8-, 10- and 12-bit formats across SD, HD and 2K resolutions.
The GPUs also provided genlock, 2D video compositing, 3D graphics and programmable processing.
Video compositing and frame buffers
A 2D video pass-through path supported routing, alpha compositing, and luma or chroma keying of incoming video over GPU-rendered graphics in the outgoing SDI signal.
Frame-buffer capacity ranged from 768 MB to 1.5 GB. NVIDIA positioned the memory system for interactive work with large models, real-time texture and frame processing, and full-scene antialiasing.
Rendering and metadata
The cards supported textures and render targets up to 8K × 8K. Vertex and pixel programming used Shader Model 4.0, with support for OpenGL and DirectX 10 applications.
Ancillary-data handling provided a channel for audio, timecode and other production metadata.
Pricing
NVIDIA priced the Quadro FX 5600 SDI at $6,999 and the Quadro FX 4600 SDI at $5,999. The cards were available through workstation manufacturers, system integrators and channel partners including PNY Technologies.
