Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive 100G targets live Apple Immersive Video production

Blackmagic Design is trying to pull Apple Immersive Video out of the demo reel and into live production, with a camera built around dual 8K-by-8K RGBW sensors, 16 stops of dynamic range and 100G Ethernet. The URSA Cine Immersive 100G is being pitched as the world’s first immersive cinema camera designed for live work, not just carefully staged capture and heavy postproduction.

In its April 13 announcement, Blackmagic framed the camera as part of the URSA Cine platform, with a robust, lightweight body and industry-standard connections meant to fit high-end production environments. The key difference is the workflow. Blackmagic says the new sensor design was developed for the real-time needs of broadcasters and other live creators, and not simply as an upgrade for showcase footage.

The technical centerpiece is the Blackmagic URSA Live Encoder, which lets the URSA Cine Immersive 100G encode live video into ProRes for SMPTE-2110 IP output through the 100G Ethernet port. Blackmagic says the camera’s data rate is under 50 Gb/s, which means two cameras can share a single 100G Ethernet connection. That kind of bandwidth math is the kind of detail live crews notice immediately, because it points to whether immersive coverage can actually scale beyond a single one-off rig.

Blackmagic says the camera supports Apple Immersive Video for Apple Vision Pro using dual custom lenses and dual 8160 x 7200 sensors running at up to 90 fps. Apple defines Apple Immersive Video as an 180° format for Vision Pro that combines 3D video recorded in 8K with Spatial Audio, and Vision Pro first became available in the United States on February 2, 2024. That gives the format two years of consumer runway before Blackmagic’s live-production push, and Apple has kept building the catalog with films and series from outside partners.

This is also an evolution of Blackmagic’s earlier URSA Cine Immersive, which the company introduced in 2024 as its first camera for Apple Immersive Video and later priced at $29,995. The new 100G model is not a separate category so much as a signal of where Blackmagic thinks immersive imaging is headed: venues, concerts, sports and branded productions that want the look of immersive video without treating it like an experimental side project. If that bet holds, immersive capture starts to feel less like a novelty and more like the next practical tool in the production chain.