MXO at NAB - Shane? anyone?

RDykmans

RDykmans

Active member
Matrox was supposed to demo the new monitor calibration for the MXO at NAB. I'm wondering if Shane or anyone else with an MXO got to play with it and what their impressions are.
 
Yeah, I did. And I have to blog about it with pictures and everything.

Version 2 of the software, still in beta, but due out next month, has a COOL new option called PROC AMP. This allows you to display color bars on the monitor, gives you control over Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Hue...AND...gives you a BLUE ONLY option so that you can properly calibrate the monitor. This is a software update that updates existing MXO boxes...and it is HUGE.

When I initially compared the Apple to my HD CRT, the Apple was slightly greener. Well now, the green is gone.

This box now TRUELY rocks.
Still have to test it with my Dell monitors, but it is sweet with the ACD.
 
That's great news! With that upgrade in hand I may sell the Panny 1700 which is kind of an expensive luxery for me!
 
This is really exciting stuff...Shane, I saw your review of the MXO on your blog, and you seem to be the only person I've found (whose aesthetic and technical sensibilities I trust) who has said that they'd trust the MXO+ACD combo for color correction.

I was sent by my employer to NAB '07 specifically to scope out HD finishing and monitoring products, and I was really disheartened to find out just how damned expensive "real" grading quality LCD monitors are.

The MXO+ACD seems too good to be true, and as good as it looked in the Matrox booth, I am still skeptical that as an all around monitoring solution for critical colorgrading tasks (in my case, grading for commercial broadcast and high-end corporate work...as well as an indie feature here and there) that the MXO is really comparable to buying a dedicated eCinema or Sony monitor.

Since HD is a brave new (expensive) world for me, choosing a monitoring option is really bewildering, so it would be great to know how well the MXO+ACD combo holds up in a real world, professional environment.

Thanks in advance!
 
basically, it gives you calibration controls like a "normal" CRT would...except we aren't dealing with SMPTE C phosphors. So you can calibrate it to be balanced, but balanced to what is the catch. And at what bit depth. If you only have 8 bits to start with coming off the DVI, and THEN you're doing LUTs to it to color correct it...puts us back where we were with print res calibration 10+ years ago - potentially not enough steps to work with. Have to see how it does out the HD-SDI, and what bit depth the internal processing is when calibrating it. Sounds good, but devil in the details...

-mike
 
Mike and Shane,

Since you are kinda gods in the field, and i'm still a good hobbist with great intentions, i was also looking into a propor color monitoring solution. I have almost no need for capturing video, so i was looking into a out only solution.

I have even noticed you had photos for a MXO review mike in your website, but i failed to find a review on the unit. I suppose you are wating for this new patch/upgrade.

I noticed there's this new intensity card from BMD that has components out. Would that and a good CRT in the U$1700 range be a better combo than a MXO+ACD? or the 8 bit would be the bottleneck? if so, do i need really to buy a BMD extreme or is there another solution for 10 bit out there?

Thanks a lot. You give so much to the community, and i hope someday we can pay you back.

Cheers : )
 
Finding a good HD CRT for $1700 isn't possible anymore. The PVM-14L5 was to be had for $1500, but it is no longer on the market. The lowest end HD monitors you can get, that are GOOD, start at $3500. Panasonics BT-LH1700w. They also have the 2600W for about $6000...and there are JVC and SONY and eCinema and Boland 24" LCDs for around $4k each.

But also note that the MXO not only has DVI out to an Apple display. You can get the MXO and a good HD LCD...the MXO has HD SDI out, component as well as composite. HD SDI is the best signal you can get...and getting a good monitor with that, if you have the money, is a good way to go.

I just push the MXO for HD monitoring on a budget. It gets you a very good broadcast signal...one that is VERY close to my HD CRT. close...not spot on.
 
I'd be interested in a MXO via DVI vs AJA/BMD via component vs BMD Intensity via HDMI "shoot out" (on "budget" monitors of course) to see who is King of the Low Budget Monitoring.

I've read Shane's review of the MXO+ACD and that seems like a solid, simple solution. Of course the Intensity looks like a steal for $250 (the Intensity Pro is $100 more and gets you analog outs), but now I need to find a budget monitor that's "good enough" and has HDMI (so long sexy ACD). I read Mike Curtis' review of the DeckLink HD Studio (the Intensity's big brother) and I wonder how the forth coming Intensity Pro will compare in terms of monitoring quality.

Decisions, decisions...

-A
 
The Sony LCD...LMT 2450. There was a demo at NAB with it side by side with two CRT monitors...you had to guess which was the LCD. I failed to guess.

Also the Panasonic BT-LH2600W...eCinema FX24...JVC (24"...forget the model #). All good.
 
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