Grass Valley, CA  - AJA Video Systems announced support for the latest releases of Avid® Media Composer® 6.0, NewsCutter® 10.0 and Symphony® 6.0 with all of AJA’s newest desktop solutions and mobile I/O devices.

The current family of KONA cards, KONA 3G, KONA 3, KONA LHi and KONA LHe Plus, will all support Avid Media Composer 6.0, NewsCutter 10.0 and Symphony 6.0 with the addition of Avid Open I/O enabling support for third-party audio and video interfaces. AJA’s Io Express portable video I/O device already supports Avid Media Composer and NewsCutter, offering HD/SD capture, monitoring and output; AJA’s recently announced Io XT will offer a similar feature set for Thunderbolt-enabled workflows.

“With KONA 3G, Avid editors can have access to very cost-effective, high quality video I/O. Avid editors have been clamoring for KONA support for Avid, and we’re thrilled that the Avid Open I/O initiative is making this possible,” said Nick Rashby, President, AJA Video Systems. “We also have an array of products from AJA for Avid editors that deliver industry proven quality and reliability.”

“We want to continue to provide editors working on any Avid product with the ultimate in workflow flexibility, and Avid Open I/O represents a significant effort on behalf of our development team to make that possible,” said Angus Mackay, segment marketing manager at Avid. “AJA is known for delivering reliable, cost-effective and best of breed video I/O products. Ever since AJA announced support for Media Composer with its Io Express, editors have been very eager to get KONA support so we’re very excited with this latest development.”

In addition to the AJA KONA and Io family of products, the company is also working jointly with Avid to build support for the Avid DNxHD® video codec into Ki Pro Mini, enabling further production efficiencies to Avid Media Composer. AJA’s Ki Pro Mini is a portable video recorder, facilitating direct camera-to-edit workflows that enable the digital acquisition of the highest quality and most-popular post-friendly codecs.

Pricing and Availability

Support for Avid Media Composer, NewsCutter and Symphony will be available via AJA’s KONA family of products and Io Express and Io XT with AJA’s Version 10 software release, available as a free firmware download available in November of 2011 (simultaneous to the availability of Avid’s Version 6.0 release). Available now through AJA’s network of global resellers, KONA 3G is priced at $1995 US MSRP, KONA LHi is priced at $1495 US MSRP, KONA LHe Plus is priced at $995 US MSRP and Io Express is priced at $995 US MSRP. Io XT is shipping in Q4 of this year at a US MSRP of $1495. Ki Pro Mini is available at a US MSRP of $1995, with support for the Avid DNxHD codec available soon via a free downloadable firmware upgrade. For a complete set of all AJA product features and technical specifications, please visit www.aja.com.

About Avid

Avid creates the digital audio and video technology used to make the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world - from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, television shows, live concert tours and news broadcasts, to music and movies made at home. Some of Avid’s most influential and pioneering solutions include Media Composer, Pro Tools®, Interplay®, ISIS®, VENUE, Sibelius®, System 5, and Avid Studio. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visit www.avid.com, Twitter and YouTube; connect with Avid on Facebook; or subscribe to Avid Industry Buzz.

About AJA Video Systems, Inc.

Since 1993, AJA Video has been a leading manufacturer of high-quality and cost-effective digital video interface, conversion, acquisition and desktop solutions supporting the professional broadcast and post-production markets. With headquarters in Grass Valley, California, AJA maintains an extensive sales channel of resellers and systems integrators around the world. For further information, please see our website www.aja.com.