BlackMagic DeckLink HD cards
All BlackMagic cards can encode to JPEG on the fly during ingest - hence I don't have to upgrade my RAID5 system just yet!
Decklink HD Extreme PCIe
Worries:
- No DVI or HDMI output
Looks like a software update allows Windows users to downconvert 1080i and 720p to PAL
The cards can to 1080/25PsF. See these two links: Capturing 1080/25p HDCAM - Creative Cow; Does DeckLink HD support HDTV1080p/25 in Final Cut Pro? - BlackMagic
DeckLink HD Pro PCIe
£793.13 inc. VAT from PlanetDV
Worries:
- No analogue inputs at all
Features:
- Probably can do down-conversion!
- Outputs HDMI (which can easily be converted to DVI-D according to WikiPedia)
- 10-bit hardware downconversion on any input during playback or ingest (nice)
- "Machina" capture programme supports writing to DPX, Cineon, TGA, TIFF, BMP, AVI and QuickTime files
- Supports 25p, 50i, 30p, 29.97p, 24p, 60i, 720/50p and 23.976p
- Analogue inputs
- Compatible with Cineform ingest system
- RT color correction in Premiere Pro (great!)
- Can it compress HD-SDI input on the fly? Answer: yes, if you get the relevant Cineform product
Looks like a software update allows Windows users to downconvert 1080i and 720p to PAL
Decklink MultiBridge Pro PCIe
£1,021.08 inc VAT from PlanetDV
Features:
BlackMagic HDlink options
HDlink is £287 inc VAT from PlanetDV
It converts HD-SDI dual-link to HDMI. This could be used on the output side of the DeckLink or XENA cards to provide HD monitoring on an LCD screen.
And could it also be used to convert HD-SDI to HDMI for ingest on a Decklink Extreme, I think.
Decklink HD Studio
£640.38 inc. VAT from PlanetDV
HDMI and Analogue I/O. But no HD to SD downconversion. 4 lane PCI-E required.
Intensity
http://blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/
Can encode to JPEG on the fly.
£163.33 inc. VAT from PlanetDV
Only HDMI I/O. Only PCI-E 1x. No downconversion. I'd need to get an HD monitor or a HDMI to DVI to Analogue converter!
So, I could probably ingest HD-SDI dual-link with the Intensity + HDlink = £163+ £287 = £450. No downconversion. No analogue IO. No SDI outputs. And I'd need a new monitor.
AJA XENA LHe
£1,286.63 inc. VAT from PlanetDV
Features:
Worries:
Reviews / articles
AJA XENA HS
http://www.aja.com/html/products_windows_xena_HS.html
NOT PCI-E
£727 inc VAT from JigSAW24.com
1 x HD-SDI in / 1 x HS-SDI out.
No analogue connections. No downconversion.
TFT monitors
HDMI to DVI converter cable - £3 from eBuyer
Samsung Electronics SM244T 24" TFT 6ms 1000:1 (1920x1200)
DVI-D, VGA, composite and S-video inputs
Apple Cinema HD 23" TFT 16ms 350:1 (1920x1200)
DVI-D input
HP LP2465 Flat Panel TFT 24" 8ms 1000:1 DVI
2 x DVI-I inputs
Philips 230W5BS 23" TFT 1920x1200 8ms 500:1 Silver & Black DVI
VGA and DVI-I inputs