Little Frog in High Def

Wow!
Thanks Shane!

Wayne

Shane, this looks amazing. This is definitely the biggest announcement of NAB (for me). I hope everything runs smoothly as I want to pick one up as soon as their available.

Hey Shane! Is it gonna have LUTs for commom LCD panels? Is Matrox guaranteeing the same level of image quality with my Panasonic LCD TV as with my ACD? Step over at dvxuser as well, they had tons of questions for it.

So this box PROVIDES tri-sync to a deck, thus eliminating the need for a tri-sync generator when laying off at 23.98 to D5, HDCAM, or HDCAM SR?

This box may have just shot to the top of my list of which i/o device to get.

$1600? Excuse me but isn’t this the cheapest possible way to have an HD I/O? Other than compatibility how does this different from a $7.5k Mojo DX, which apparently does not encode DNxHD?)

And apart from the AJA I/O HD for around $5k, there isn’t another laptop solution is there?

Hi, thanks for the info! So, is this new Matrox better than the KONA LH?

I guess the big question is will the MXO 2 + 23″ACD give you the same quality and functionality that the MXO + 23″ ACD does?

-Andrew

LUTs for common LCDs? No…but you can output BARS via HDMI and have the same calibration tools (including blue only) that are available with the original MXO.

And I’d love to answer questions at the DVXUser site, but I cannot find the forum or thread in question.

TRI-SYNC…I REALLY pressed them on this. ARE YOU GUYS SURE? SERIOUS? Yes, they insist it has it. AND, they told me that the original MXO has it as well. IT DOES? I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ. “You had the ability all along…” WHAT? Why the HECK didn’t you tell me? Why isn’t this in the documentation? I really have to see this to believe it. I can’t believe it now, but this is what they tell me.

How is this different than the new Mojo DX? Mojo DX is digital I/O only…SDI and HD SDI…that’s it. You want analog, gotta go Nitris DX. And the AJA I/O HD is $3500, not $5k. And no, there are no other laptop options…that I am aware of.

This device is better than the Kona LH, IMHO. If it lives up to all it claims. Up to the Kona 3 and I/O HD level, with differences that make researching what you need a must. No ProRes to a laptop, as there is no hardware ProRes encoder, that is all handled by computer. It will capture uncompressed HD though, 8-bit to the laptop…as it isn’t processor intensive. So there are pluses and minuses to this. All about what you need.

The MXO 2 does not have DVI out, so no, it does not connect to the ACD, so it will not turn that into a color correction monitor. They had to leave SOMETHING off for all the other stuff they did. Shame really, but you can’t have it all.

I cannot wait to get my hands on this though…

I wonder if using an HDMI-to-DVI adapter too hook it up to an ACD would do the trick? On the website it looks like they will continue to sell the original MXO so, yeah, it makes sense they would leave this feature off ’cause otherwise there’s almost no point in getting the first MXO.

It is a very cool looking device and I can’t wait to read your review of it down the line.

Here is a link to the DVXuser thread.

I knew that the MBP couldn’t handle transcoding to ProRes from a FW capture. But I had hope that they’d at least be able to encode from an uncompressed source… Oh well, maybe the next revision of the MBP.

Hi Shane, Great write-up! One question about your last reply — When you wrote, “The MXO 2 does not have DVI out, so no, it does not connect to the ACD, so it will not turn that into a color correction monitor…”

I gather that for an accurate color correction reference monitor for use with Color and Final Cut Pro, the original MXO and an Apple 23″ Cinema display is still the better solution. Is that right?

Has anything else appeared at NAB that changes the MXO’s huge lead as THE high quality affordable production monitor for Color and FCP?

Thanks, Stephen Gagne

COrrect Stephen…for color accurate monitoring on an ACD, the original MXO is the best option.

Other solutions? Well, sure, but not at the level of the MXO. You can use the Decklink Intensity, but that is Tower only, and does HDMI and Component out…and doesn’t adjust the LUT to anything. You can get a Decklink HD card and the HD Link, but I don’t know if they have a color balance tool for the ACD like Matrox does. I heard that they do, but I haven’t verified. I should have while I was there. They get a GREAT image of their 2K film footage on the 30″ and 23″ ACDs, but I don’t know if they can balance them to bars.

Hey! Very nice explanations Shane. I’d like to know if the MXO(1) works fine with other monitor, with the same specifications of the ACD?? Thanks in advance!

Hi Shane,

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

How would you compare a dual monitor MXO setup — in terms of broadcast monitoring accuracy — to a Matrox MXO 2 hooked up to a Panny BT-LH1700LW or equivalent?

Obviously the latter is more expensive but one reason I ask is apparently one downside to the MXO solution when using Color is that Color is designed to feed two displays from the same video card. As I understand it, the MXO also needs to work off one of the primary card’s feeds. This works from what their tech support folks tell me, and I understand the Matrox MXO has a built-in switch to ease transitioning from broadcast monitoring to a two display set u. But unless I’m missing something, viewing the broadcast display via the MXO means shoehorning the Color interface into a single desktop monitor.

If the Matrox MX0 2 can feed a pro-quality SDI LCD monitor and calibrate with the same (or better) accuracy than a MXO, then the next question is, you think the quality there is the equal of other similarly priced PCI video cards from Black Magic and AJA? Obviously the MXO 2 has a huge number of additional features… but when the question is the quality of the broadcast monitoring function, how does it stack up?

Gustavoseabra, I’ve had some fairly in-depth conversations with Matrox tech support people about your question. The answer I got back is that the Matrox MXO is optimized specifically for the Apple 23 inch Cinema display. It works with a wide variety of monitors, and supposedly can give very good results with many of them, but if you want the best of the box has to offer, go with the Apple unit. Also it is not designed to feed a 30 inch display since it is single link DVI only.

Thanks, Stephen Gagne

Hi Stephen,

You could use another gadget from Matrox called DualHead2Go, and even in a laptop, drive 2 externals monitors. They ought to have the same resolution but you can use the MXO on the second (third) one.

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/dh2go/digital/home.php

There’s a thread in the Matrox forum that confirms this.

But of corse the HD-SDI solution is much better, but a lot more expensive and wouldn’t work on a laptop at the same price level.

Hi Eduardo,

Thanks for your suggestions. I use a MacPro for color correction work so the laptop aspect isn’t an issue for me.

I’ve talked to Matrox about the dual head product you mention. I don’t believe it solves the question I posed about Color requiring both broadcast displays on the primary display card to function in dual display mode, and the Matrox MXO’s requirement that the broadcast output monitor source signal also has to come from the primary display card. In other words, to use the Matrox MXO to convert an Apple Cinema Display into a broadcast monitor, Color apparently has to run in single display mode (with the second display serving as a broadcast monitor.)

There are a lot of points of view about what is the best gear for an edit suite, but I find universal agreement about one point — an accurate broadcast monitor is essential for accurate color correction work. It looks like the MXO is the most affordable solution that handles this, at the price of forcing Color to run in single display mode. So my question is, what’s the best solution at the next tier up, providing accurate broadcast monitoring and still allowing Color a dual display setup.

One thing that appeals to me about the idea of using something like the Panny BT-LH1700LW as the broadcast monitor is that the same unit can also be utilized in the field as a camera monitor for high def location work.

But what’s the most cost-effective and flexible solution to drive a monitor like this from within Color? Would the original Matrox work well this way, allowing accurate calibration of an external SDI display? The MXO 2? Or do I need to be looking at one of AJA’s or Black Magic’s cards?

Thanks, Stephen Gagne

“I’d like to know if the MXO(1) works fine with other monitor, with the same specifications of the ACD?? “

Not as well. I have the Dell 2405 monitors and they are close, but as discussed, the MXO has the LUTs for the ACDs…and the Apple is CLOSE to the Dell, and I can get a good picture because of the ability to balance to bars. But the Dell has a refresh rate of 60hz, while the MXO is balanced for 59.94Hz, which the ACD has.

Stephen…why does COLOR require both computer displays? What if your computer only has one monitor connected? What do you do then? Not everyone uses two monitors. I will admit that I am not familiar with how COlor acts, I have never used it. But the MXO works with Color now, but you have to have Leopard. But you say it isn’t viable because Color requires both graphics cards ports for workspace?

“I don’t believe it solves the question I posed about Color requiring both broadcast displays on the primary display card to function in dual display mode”

Don’t use it in dual display mode…use it in single display mode. You have to adjust your workflow to suit your equipment.

“If the Matrox MX0 2 can feed a pro-quality SDI LCD monitor and calibrate with the same (or better) accuracy than a MXO”

Pro LCD monitors have BLUE only and all the controls needed to balance bars…no need for the MXO software to do that.

“you think the quality there is the equal of other similarly priced PCI video cards from Black Magic and AJA? …how does it stack up?”

I cannot say because I do not have a unit…they aren’t shipping yet, they haven’t been released. Until they are, I cannot say. I would suspect it would be exactly the same, as you are outputting a signal directly to a pro monitor, like you would with Decklink or AJA. Those send out proper signaling, I don’t see why the MXO wouldn’t.

“what’s the best solution at the next tier up, providing accurate broadcast monitoring and still allowing Color a dual display setup.”

The MXO ($995) or Decklink Extreme ($995) and then either the Panasonic or JVC HD LCDs. I hope the new monitor is better than the last one, because it is THIRD on my list of HD LCDs that are trustworthy. JVC is second, and those can be had for under $3k. My #1 solution is TV Logic, but they are expensive at $8k.

“Would the original Matrox work well this way, allowing accurate calibration of an external SDI display?”

The software calibration is only available out DVI. But it can send an HD SDI or HD Component signal to a pro level HD monitor…and as stated, those have built in controls. If they don’t, then they aren’t pro monitors. The MXO 2 will work for this as well. ALL the capture card can output a broadcast signal to a professional monitor, what set the MXO apart was the ability to turn the ACD into a broadcast monitor.

Hi Shane, thanks for your thoughtful reply. You’re being generous with your time and it is a huge service.

“Stephen…why does COLOR require both computer displays? …you say it isn’t viable because Color requires both graphics cards ports for workspace?”

COLOR does not absolutely require two displays. It’s just much more functional, and would be the preferred setup for anyone doing serious color correction. Color has a huge interface providing essential information in multiple formats to speed the color correction process. It’s really designed to work across two displays.

Squeezing everything onto a single display, even a 30 inch Cinema display means one of two things – things get crammed into a smaller space making it harder to see what’s going on and you lose one of the scopes — or you can go into a mode were you toggle between two screens which of course means you can’t see both at once. The first choice isn’t terrible — just less than optimum. The second option is impractical over the long term because the readouts on one screen inform actions the colorist is performing on the other.


“Q: What’s the best solution at the next tier up, providing accurate broadcast monitoring and still allowing Color a dual display setup?”

“A: The MXO ($995) or Decklink Extreme ($995) and then either the Panasonic or JVC HD LCDs. I hope the new monitor is better than the last one, because it is THIRD on my list of HD LCDs that are trustworthy.”

Shane, are you referring here to the BT-LH1700LW? I hadn’t heard this before — could you elaborate?

“JVC is second, and those can be had for under $3k.”

Do you think the various JVC HD LCDs designed for this work are equivalent to or do you have a particular favorite in that line?

Thanks, Stephen Gagne

My favorites are in this order:

TVLOGIC LVM-240D
JVC DT-V24L1DU
Panasonic BT-LH1700 or LH2600

Here is the blog post about the shootout…

http://lfhd.blogspot.com/2007/10/hd-lcds.html

The Panasonic monitor was set up HORRIBLY…and I base my making it third on experience with it elsewhere. The JVC was the clear winner under $5000.

come true.