original Matrox MXO still viable?

Q

qwerty123

Well-known member
I've done a search on here for using the original matrox mxo box with an external monitor (apple cinema display seems most mentioned), as the closest low budget solution to getting somewhat close (obviously not 100% or even 95%) to having a computer monitor display "like" a broadcast monitor. And there's some good info, but I can't anything up to date and talk of this setup has dwindled.

I know Matrox has other, newer products like MXO2 that allow 10 bit monitoring and other stuff (5.1 audio which i don't need as I have an mbox pro).

So I'm wondering:

(1) is the original matrox still a viable option for use in color-correcting or am I better off just getting a newer model? (I'm running an old iMac from 2008 with only a mini-dvi port)
(2) what, if any, are the drawbacks? And are there any reasons to prefer the original matrox to the newer versions?
(3) does it only work with the original apple cinema display or can other monitors like the Viewsonic VP2365-LED also be used? (http://tinyurl.com/cmawlwg)

Thanks for any insight!

P.S. I'm using Apple Color now, but will soon be moving to DaVinci Resolve.
 
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I believe Matrox has discontinued the original MXO and no longer supports it. To my knowledge, there was never Resolve support, and no Lion support even. At least this is what a Matrox rep told me at the Adobe Production Premium roadshow a few weeks ago. As an owner of this $1,000 piece of hardware that, aside from the absence of current drivers, still works fine, you can imagine how I felt about that information.
 
Yeah that stinks. I guess one of things i want to know is what is the state of the art regarding "budget" conversion of computer monitors into something close-ish to broadcast monitors. I know I'm going to get a stern warning that "there's no substitute for a broadcast monitor," etc... and I get that, but it at least seemed that the Matrox MXO got relatively close (I'm judging this based on an article on creativecow and some other user comments here).
 
@NoahK Yeah, I've browsed a bit blackmagic and aja. I guess I was just impressed with this article written a three years ago (a long time ago I know): http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/matrox-mxo-broadcast-monitoring-on-a-desktop-monitor

And I haven't come across something similar with respect to the newer products. Can blackmagic stuff do what the article reports was possible with the original matrox and a 23" cinema display? Any insight is appreciated!
 
Matrox MXO still works and if you don't have an expresscard slot or thunderbolt you can't use MXO2. I think it has support up through Lion but I would double check their website. Its great if you want to come out of a DVI port though I haven't checked with a mini DVI . Again check their website.

Apple repair just dropped my laptop so I got a free upgrade to new MBP with Mountain Lion. It won't work with my MXO so I have one available to sell at a good price if you're interested.
It works with lots of monitors - again check the website. I used it with Dell 2405. Great unit.
Lenny
 
Lenny,
Now that you've moved on to a MBpro, what do you plan on using for monitoring? I too have a Mac Pro with original MXO and Dell 2405. It's a great system, but I'm getting a MBPro Retina next week and wondering how to get the equivalent of the MXO?
Rick

"Matrox MXO still works and if you don't have an expresscard slot or thunderbolt you can't use MXO2. I think it has support up through Lion but I would double check their website. Its great if you want to come out of a DVI port though I haven't checked with a mini DVI . Again check their website.

Apple repair just dropped my laptop so I got a free upgrade to new MBP with Mountain Lion. It won't work with my MXO so I have one available to sell at a good price if you're interested.
It works with lots of monitors - again check the website. I used it with Dell 2405. Great unit.
Lenny "
 
Wow. Im in the same boat...08 imac with mini dvi out only. Looking for solutions out there to go to my plasma with the video signal from fcp, premiere, after effects, etc. Any viable solution?
 
Looking at a Thunderbolt version of MXO2. Hopefully the mini - no SDI but my monitors can use component and HDMI.
Another is the AJA T-Tap. Not sure if that has the functionality.
 
I have the same problem, I made a post asking for advices here. I have a late 2009 imac (mini display port & usb 2/firewire800) and all new cards (Aja, Blackmagic or Matrox) are made for the thunderbolt interface or usb 3.0. The only one I can use apparently it's the original MXO which is supported up to Lion. I'm on Mountain Lion and on a mini display port, so I think even the old MXO is not going to work.
 
Josh Bass said:
Wow. Im in the same boat...08 imac with mini dvi out only. Looking for solutions out there to go to my plasma with the video signal from fcp, premiere, after effects, etc. Any viable solution?
Click to expand...

The MXO should work for you (up to Lion according to latest drivers from Matrox). This user told me he was able to work with Color & CS6 (I'm not shure about Premiere, but...). Any hints of people on the same boat using MXO will be nice to hear.
 
I have an original MXO, which works fine with SL 10.6.8, and reportedly with Lion, but Lion's not available any more; the downside of Apple's new download-only, old version-agnostic software sales model. I've got ML installed on a second disk, and it's a very cool OS, but it apparently won't work with the 1st gen MXO.
 
Ted Spencer said:
I have an original MXO, which works fine with SL 10.6.8, and reportedly with Lion, but Lion's not available any more; the downside of Apple's new download-only, old version-agnostic software sales model. I've got ML installed on a second disk, and it's a very cool OS, but it apparently won't work with the 1st gen MXO.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Why the hell did I upgraded from SL? Grrr. Did you try it on your ML installation?

I guess I'll have to downgrade or just install SL on a new partition.
 
Haven't tried it on ML. I'd have to re-flash it with a driver designed for Lion which I don't have, try it in ML, and then re-flash back to use with SL, which I must use most of the time for my daily work (I have too many important apps that are a no-go in ML). I just installed ML yesterday semi-permanently (on a second drive) and it's great, but I haven't yet taken the time to experiment with MXO drivers. I'll be back to SL most of the time...
 
Ted Spencer said:
Haven't tried it on ML. I'd have to re-flash it with a driver designed for Lion which I don't have, try it in ML, and then re-flash back to use with SL, which I must use most of the time for my daily work (I have too many important apps that are a no-go in ML). I just installed ML yesterday semi-permanently (on a second drive) and it's great, but I haven't yet taken the time to experiment with MXO drivers. I'll be back to SL most of the time...
Click to expand...

I like ML (I upgraded one month ago), I use FCP7, Color and CS6 with no problems so far.

I've asked in the matrox forums, let's see what they say about ML support. I'm going to get one anyway, as it's the only option I have (afaik) to color correct properly on my imac without thunderbolt.
 
OK, got an answer on matrox forums:

I am not aware of any plans to release drivers for the MXO and Mountain Lion. If it does work it would not be a supported workflow.
 
Ted Spencer said:
You're running FCP7/FCS3 on ML? I thought I'd read that it wouldn't...
Click to expand...

Yes, it works. No problem at all. I had a crash on upgrade the first time I launch it, but it was caused by quicktime component. I deleted it from quicktime plugins folder and no problem so far.
 
Good news for you, Ivan! The MXO (after installing/flashing driver version 2.2.0.0002) works just fine on my ML install with FCP 7.0.3. I've got it running on a second Apple 23" Cinema Display, and it seems to work 100% so far on my 1080/24p timeline, including the properly re-synched audio. Yay!

I also want to thank you again for informing me that FCS will in fact work in ML, which it does. Great relief!
 
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