Review: NewTek TriCaster 40
With the TriCaster 40, NewTek's newest compact video switcher and live production box, NewTek goes retro and down-market but still delivers a capable solution at a price $20k (or more) below other models in the TriCaster line. And that, in itself, should be cause for rejoicing.
Pricing
No review would be complete without price, but we're going to have to paint a slightly incomplete picture of pricing: While the TC 40 runs $4,995 in the United States, that unit is only capable of NTSC 59.94 signal input/output. The multi-format version, which allows for PAL and a few more flexible signal I/O options, is not officially available in the United States and therefore is not priced in US Dollars.
For either version, the TriCaster 40 control panel costs just under $2,000.
So what's our take on the TC 40? We like what we see, and we can think of several use cases for this product. We're a bit disappointed, however, with the lack of audio inputs and the analog-only option without the corresponding waveform and vectorscope tools.
With such a gap in pricing—almost $20,000 to the next HD model—we think NewTek has a market opportunity for an HD-SDI-equipped TriCaster, at a price point perhaps $1,500 above the TC 40. Until then, users need to decide whether they can live with analog video and very limited audio inputs, or whether they need to spend the big bucks to go for a rackmounted 4xx or 8xx model.
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