Matrox MXO and AVC-Intra... Is it possible?

M

markyf

Well-known member
The DVI connection of the MXO is listed at 8 bit but AVC-Intra is 10 bit. However, I have read that the DVI connection can physically carry more than 8 bits. Can anyone clarify?

I probably rushed into buying the MXO when I didn't need it and now it seems I should maybe have bought the MXO2. Seems Panasonic is moving towards AVC-Intra. I'm trying to organize myself for a feature but I'm about 10 months away from shooting.

If it is possible, is this the sort of thing a firmware upgrade could accomplish?
 
You mean playout or capture? I could see the MXO maybe transcoding a timeline to whatever it can play- but native on the chip- highly doubt it. There's a fair bit of hardware involved with AVCIntra. Not something too likely to fit into a firmware update. But I could be wrong.

Noah
 
Thanks Noah. I mean strictly playout. I am fully aware that the MXO is striclty output, which is fine for me.
 
Drop a line to Maxon about it- they're responsive. But I'm thinking it's a ways off if at all. AVCIntra requires a ton of processor.

Noah
 
Hello,

I will check if MXO carries through 10 bit with Matrox, but I don't think so. MXO2 does.

If you are planning to edit AVC-Intra with FCP then you will be able to log and transfer with Prores 422 HQ which supposed to retain 10-bit.

Things you have to be careful with Prores is that it is not perfectly the same as uncompressed. Especially on decoding. I've seen few footage that weren't be able to playback panning on a scenes with a lot of details (imagine the audience background on Volleyball game, the server hits the ball and the camera has to follow the ball).
However, the same prores clip can be played back normally if you transcode it back to uncompressed. I guess the decoding is not catching up, but the data is there. Also some banding might happen on some aggressive color grading, so you have to monitor it throughly.

You would be able to edit AVC-Intra economically on FCP/MXO or MXO2 route.
 
I would really consider getting the MXO 2 or AJA IoHD which are 10bit - the MXO is 8-bit. I've been using the original MXO for presentation lately and I noticed a quality drop from my 10bit AVC-I content. More specifically I noticed gradient banding that wasn't there before. I was using my MacBook Pro, the MXO, and outputing to a CineTal monitor.

As Kaku said if you are editing in AVC-I in FCP then the footage will be converted to ProRes 422 in 10bit on ingest. I've been really impressed with ProRes, actually I've done some testing that shows that it beats up other high-end codecs. It can be hard to decode at times but a 8-core machine never has any problems. So you can edit in 10-bit all the way through and when you are ready to output or do color correction on a monitor then you should consider the MXO2 or AJA IoHD options.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top