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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Blackmagic Decklink HD Extreme?

Shawn Nelson said:
How would the Panasonic LH1700W be for color correction? It can be had for $2500.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm going with for field production - should be fine for post - it's all about the blue-only button and knowing how to calibrate with color bars.
 
I evaluated HD-SDI monitors for a while for my edit bay, and after looking at them all, I bought the JVC DT-V24L1DU 24" monitor. It is awesome. About $3400.00
 
I also saw Panasonic showing at NAB a new 1760 which is supposed to be a better (but same size) HD-SDI monitor as the LH1700W.

But why would a monitor be better just because it uses HD-SDI? I understand DVI not being as good because I read that DVI only handles 8bit, but HDMI can handle deep color.
 
Thet key is the standardised signal over the HD-SDI protocol AND the calibrating of the monitor. But @ the current state of things there is IMHO a lot of mush to that soup if you're not delivering mostly to TV.
 
New Matrox maybe

New Matrox maybe

Matrox Announces Matrox MXO2 - Portable, Affordable, Complete I/O for the Mac sounds like a good solution...

Priced at $1,595 US in North America (£899, €1,295) not including local taxes, Matrox MXO2 will be available in July 2008 through a worldwide network of authorized dealers.

http://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/mxo2/
 
Yes, in most instances the dual link HD-SDI is caried over two cables and does support up to 12 bit 4:4:4. It carries the video, audio, and timecode information down that pipe. HDMI (latest versions) theoretically can support similar specs, but I believe it really depends on the implementation of the device and whether they follow the specs properly. I think some devices may truncate information to 8 bit. Also, as far as I know HDMI does not transport timecode. Someone correct me if I'm wrong there.
 
Hey Steve, here's a question for you since you had a Decklink Extreme card... Does the Decklink not do on the fly convert from 720/1080P 23.98 down to SD if you have it hooked up to a broadcast monitor? I ask because I know my Intensity Pro won't downconvert 23.98 to SD, but it will play 23.98 over the HDMI. The support at Blackmagic suggested that I look at the Extreme card because it would do the 23.98 down to SD on the fly for me.

Matthew
 
macville said:
Hey Steve, here's a question for you since you had a Decklink Extreme card... Does the Decklink not do on the fly convert from 720/1080P 23.98 down to SD if you have it hooked up to a broadcast monitor? I ask because I know my Intensity Pro won't downconvert 23.98 to SD, but it will play 23.98 over the HDMI. The support at Blackmagic suggested that I look at the Extreme card because it would do the 23.98 down to SD on the fly for me.

Matthew
Click to expand...

In all due respect to Black Magic, they've been dodgey on this subject. In an earlier version of their driver, I was able to output a 720P 23.98 sequence to SD 29.97 without issue which was great. But in a later firmware, that no longer worked as the screen would just flash. I talked to support but they said they only supported 720P 59.94 sequences, no 24P for 720. I had a lot of 720 24P projects, so this was a problem. Also, at one point I talked with them about a particular 1080 24P setting in FCP, and they weren't even aware it existed, even though I was looking right at it in the menu. I ended up selling the card to go with Kona 3 and have been pretty happy.

Nothing against Black Magic, it just wasn't the solution for me. Maybe their new version of the card does it, or maybe they have updated their firmware to do it, but at the time I was getting nowhere with support.
 
macville said:
I ask because I know my Intensity Pro won't downconvert 23.98 to SD, but it will play 23.98 over the HDMI.
Click to expand...

My Intensity won't play 23.98 at 1080psf (FCS). I can get it to work in 720P. I asked at the blackmagic booth about it and they said it probably wouldn't support 1080P 23.98psf anytime soon. At the moment I'm planning on returning it.

So based on this thread I'm thinking about the Extreme or maybe the Matrox. Perhaps one of the Kona's. I've got HD-SDI in on my monitor so I may as well take advantage of that.
 
macville said:
Does the Decklink not do on the fly convert from 720/1080P 23.98 down to SD if you have it hooked up to a broadcast monitor?
Matthew
Click to expand...

stevesherrick said:
In an earlier version of their driver, I was able to output a 720P 23.98 sequence to SD 29.97 without issue which was great. But in a later firmware, that no longer worked as the screen would just flash. I talked to support but they said they only supported 720P 59.94 sequences, no 24P for 720. I had a lot of 720 24P projects, so this was a problem.
Click to expand...

I've had a Decklink Pro for a while now and I'm able to do 720@23.98P -> SD@29.97 on the fly (1080 too). I agree that it behave oddly at times. Most of the time a shutdown (not restart) clear the gremlins. I had to remove the drivers by hand once and re-install.

The behavior is not consistent between different versions of the drivers. So my advice is to try every choice available in the FCP in the "View->Video Playback" menu (even those that dont seem to make sense) and chose the one that look best. On my setting right now, I'm outputing 720@23.98 thru the "1080p@23.98->SD" setting to get SD@29.97 ! But it works...
 
Johan Pabon said:
So what do you think of the Matrox MXO2? Seems a good alternative and cheaper too....
Click to expand...

Since the RTMac fiasco a while back ago, I'm keeping my hands far from Matrox products. I won't be caught again...
 
Remember, not just about the card's I/O connections. You'll need to evaluate driver implementation, software down/up conversion(BM) vs. hardware conversion(Kona). BM makes good stuff, but it's not for everyone. Only way to know for sure is to see it in action first hand. I had to learn the hard way, but the card did get me by for a while.
 
tillHavis said:
The one downside is HD CAM and Digi Beta decks are dual link so I suppose that rules out connection via the single DSI cable.
Click to expand...

Neither HDCam nor Digi Beta use dual link SDI. You only need that to connect to HDCam SR.

The new 3Gb/s single link standard is the way things are going, but is not yet universally adopted. For 4:4:4 monitoring you have far more options for monitors with 1.5 Gb/s dual link inputs than 3Gb/s single link, so there is not one best option.
 
There is no RED 4K monitor planned, at least not directly from RED themselves. My guess is, that if someone does deliver on one you are looking at a $10,000+ display. I could be wrong, but that would be my guess. So, unless you are planning on spending that kind of money, I would focus on a 2K/1080P display for now. Are you using 4K throughout your post production process? Or will you be going to 2K or 1080P? if the latter, I wouldn't worry too much about 4K display right now.
 
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