AJA Kona LHe or Blackmagic HD Extreme

R

Ron Marinelli

Member
We've got a Mac G5 Quad and have to get a video card for HD for the HVX200. It appears that the two top choices are the AJA Kona LHe or the new Blackmagic HD Extreme. They appear to have very similar specs, except that the Kona has HD acceleration for DVCPRO HD, as well as the cables and a 3 year warranty vs 1 year for BM. The Kona is around $1,600 vs $1,000 for the BM + the cost of cables.

I welcome all comments re chosing one vs the other, and money isn't the over riding factor. We'll be working on a documentary over the next several years using the HVX200.

Thanks.
 
If the Kona has acceleration for DVCPROHD and the Blackmagic does not, that would be a deciding factor. And 3 years is certainly better than one...
 
The AJA site says this about the Kona...

"Final Cut Pro users will love DVCPROHD, HDV, and Apple RT Extreme hardware acceleration, developed in close cooperation with Apple and available exclusively on KONA LHe. KONA LHe hardware takes a portion of the codec processing load off the CPU, allowing more RealTime (RT) effects in Final Cut Pro 5 when outputting."

I didn't see anything similar re the BM HD Extreme. Maybe I missed something.
 
I had a BM Decklink HD Pro for about 2 weeks. I was getting a green tint out of the component portion of the card. Other users had the issue as well. BM had no resolution to it. I returned that card nd got the Kona2. It kicks ass.
 
AJA Kona LH is excellent

AJA Kona LH is excellent

I've used both the AJA IOLA and the AJA KonaLH. Both are excellent products. Rock solid. They also have terrific support and fast response. You can actually phone and talk to a real tech in person. The HD downconversion is really good. The KonaLH also has xlr aes digital audio connectors, I believe the blackmagic features unbalanced aes. You cannot go wrong with the AJA. I recently captured from HDCAM transcoding to DVCPROHD via the KonaLH for offline editing. Excellent quality. I captured 21 reels without a single dropped frame. I'm looking forward to using HVX Footage with the card.
 
I'll second that bit about Kona support. I was working yesterday and they were having crucial output errors on a feature screening for buyers in a day. Kona got back within an hour and helped them out with the issue.
 
Hi:

I was in the same boat and just ordered the Kona 3 instead of the LHe. HD upconversion and cross-conversion will be important to almost anyone working with any archival NTSC/PAL footage.

If I was making a film without archival NTSC/PAL footage, I would have bought the LHe. The BMD product is good and the support is decent but I find that the Aja product just has more necessary features. I have used both and both work well but the HD upconversion/cross-conversion and down-conversion coupled with the RT Effects/DVCProHD support is what won me over. The BMD downconversion is software-based while the Aja conversions are hardware based.

Best,

Dan
 
puredrifting said:
Hi:
The BMD downconversion is software-based while the Aja conversions are hardware based.
Click to expand...

Actually the DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 does 10 bit high quality hardware downconversion available on both capture or playback, and features simultaneous HD and SD output. All other Decklink cards feature software downconversion. There is also support for RT extreme HD.
 
Ron Marinelli said:
The AJA site says this about the Kona...

"Final Cut Pro users will love DVCPROHD, HDV, and Apple RT Extreme hardware acceleration, developed in close cooperation with Apple and available exclusively on KONA LHe. KONA LHe hardware takes a portion of the codec processing load off the CPU, allowing more RealTime (RT) effects in Final Cut Pro 5 when outputting."

I didn't see anything similar re the BM HD Extreme. Maybe I missed something.
Click to expand...

Pulled from decklink site:
Full DVCPRO HD Acceleration
If you don''t want to use an expensive disk array for HD, then the new DVCPRO HD feature is perfect. All DeckLink HD models running on Apple Mac OS X™ include full acceleration for DVCHD PRO, as well as full compatibility with Final Cut Pro HD™ real time effects. The quality is truly amazing and is even good enough for online finishing.
 
puredrifting said:
Hi:

I was in the same boat and just ordered the Kona 3 instead of the LHe. HD upconversion and cross-conversion will be important to almost anyone working with any archival NTSC/PAL footage.

If I was making a film without archival NTSC/PAL footage, I would have bought the LHe. The BMD product is good and the support is decent but I find that the Aja product just has more necessary features. I have used both and both work well but the HD upconversion/cross-conversion and down-conversion coupled with the RT Effects/DVCProHD support is what won me over. The BMD downconversion is software-based while the Aja conversions are hardware based.

Best,

Dan
Click to expand...

Yes, but the Kona 3 card doesn't have analog component HD in. Only digital.

EDIT- Can someone confirm this?
 
Last edited:
On Sunday I installed a Kona 3 in my quad G5. HD-SDI out to an AJA HDP, then DVI to a Dell 2405. Real sweet!
 
Why would you need analog HD in? I guess just for HDV stuff?



I don't need it. I was just responding to SPZ's question about the Kona 3 not having analog component inputs. (It does have analog component outputs for monitoring.) What is cool is that the card will do SD/HD up-conversion and down-conversion in real time on the fly. And .... with the new version 2 of its software, it will do 1080-to-720 and 720-to-1080 cross conversion in real time on the fly!
 
ftbt said:
Why would you need analog HD in? I guess just for HDV stuff?



I don't need it. I was just responding to SPZ's question about the Kona 3 not having analog component inputs. (It does have analog component outputs for monitoring.) What is cool is that the card will do SD/HD up-conversion and down-conversion in real time on the fly. And .... with the new version 2 of its software, it will do 1080-to-720 and 720-to-1080 cross conversion in real time on the fly!
Click to expand...
okay..thats friggin kwell.
 
Someone mentioned Matrox MXO. That is an output/monitoring solution rather than acquisition. I think the product has tremendous promise for monitoring HD on a Cinema Display or comparable as well as for output to SDI with 8 channels of embedded audio. Back to topic, the new PCI express Decklink can even take analog SD input so it really becomes a very versatile board at a low price. Personally, I have had wonderful success with my Kona 2.

Ned Soltz
 
All I would want one of these cards for is the output. So now after checking out that Matrox MXO box I'm think that might be the way to go. It would be nice to bring your show with you on a MacBook Pro, hook it up to a 2K projector and let it rip. Of course I'm not sure its that easy. Does anyone know how much the Matrox MXO is going for?
 
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