MXO vs MXO2 with Final Cut Pro and an LCD monitor

M

Matthew B

Well-known member
Looking for advice on what might be better suited, the Matrox MXO or MXO2 LE Max.

I am running a Macbook Pro with a HP w2408 HDMI LCD monitor and want to be able to colour grade as accurately as possible. I like the MXO2 with the Max technology for the faster encoding, but want to see what other people think.
 
MXO is the first generation product, so MXO2 is the current generation among the four product variants: Mini, MXO2 LE, MXO2, and MXO2 Rack. The chips are all the same in each unit, what varies is input and output options. The big dif between the Mini and the LE is the audio and SDI input ports. You didn't give the specs on your MacBookPro, but in order to record SDI-HD you will need a pretty late model CPU or it is a no go to record. Check the matrox site. They have a moderated forum that is really good. Their customer support is excellent.

The point is, unless you want to record SDI-HD to your laptop, and or need the audio upgrade, the mini does all the same stuff for less $$ Mini can be ordered with max acceleration.

You may want to check with Matrox about compatabillity with your monitor. They seem to prefer 1080p TVs or studio monitors over computer monitors.

I am using my mini with a 32" HDMI TV and it works great. Maybe not like a true production monitor, but at my level, good value for the money.

I hope that helps.

Grant
 
well thats not quite accurate -

the MXO is an output only device. it runs off of the display port or DVI port. it is still being made, and now has PC drivers.

the MXO2 series ( including the mini ) does both in and out, but does require a PCIe slot - thats only on recent model 17" MBP's, or older 15" and 17" models.

you can most certainly do HD on a laptop, including my defunct G4 1.5ghz laptop + MXO. with that setup, it was DVCpro HD which is lighter on processor usage. just about any dual core intel LT can handle capture to DVCproHD, and the input doesn't matter - SDI-HD, component, HDMI, its all the same.

if you want to capture to ProRes, thats another story. The latest dual core + hyper threading machines seem up to the task in some testing I've done... as in 90 minute long straight captures... using the SDI connection.

uncompressed HD won't happen on a laptop, but who would do that ?

also announced, but not yet shipping will be H.264 capture including HD with all MXO2's ( should include the mini ) with MAX accelerator option. That alone with is worth the MAX option on any MXO2 series product. another is that on a laptop, it greatly speeds up H264 encoding compared to the bare CPU, especially for HD.

matrox also continues to tweak their drivers and add features. the last update included noise reduction in the h264 encoder which is really great. thsi can really help with getting noisy footage to encode smaller & cleaner.
 
Steve,

I didn't say the MXO was out of production, but should have said that differently, my bad.

Here are the laptop requirements for recording from the Matrox FAQs

4. Can the Matrox MXO2 devices capture to ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ in real time?
Yes. On systems with a 2.4 GHz or faster Core2 Duo CPU you can capture to SD ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ in real time. On systems with at least two Dual-Core or a Quad-Core 2.4 GHz or faster CPU you can also capture to HD ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ 720P or 1080i in real time.

5. Can I capture 720p ProRes on a MacBook Pro?
Yes. Matrox MXO2 LE, Matrox MXO2 or Matrox MXO2 Rack let you capture 720p 23.98 from 59.94 sources directly into ProRes 720p 23.98 with a MacBook Pro with an Intel Core2Duo 2.4 or higher CPU.(This feature is not offered on Matrox MXO2 Mini.)

6. Can I capture ProRes 422 (LT) on a MacBook Pro?
Yes. The Matrox MXO2 devices let you capture ProRes 422 (LT) on a MacBook Pro with an Intel Core2Duo 2.4 or higher CPU. (Final Cut Studio 3 and Matrox MXO2 version 1.6 or higher are required.)


Grant
 
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