Re: Is the Mojo DX the Only Way to Monitor HD?

Yes. Avid is a closed system. You have to use their hardware. The Mojo DX is supposed to be their cheap product. The Nitris DX is the premium box. The only cheaper, but less reliable (and constrained) option is to find a used Adrenaline box that has the DNxcell board.

While the hardware is generally considered to be wildly overpriced, it is definitely significantly more cost effective than any previous Avid effort. I am however hopeful that this is a short term issue. Avid has already dropped the price of the Mojo DX and should be taking a close look at what they will be offering next. Almost no one is pleased with the prices of these units.

Media Composer does off the ability to use a second (or third) computer monitor as a program monitor. there have been anecdotal reports of using an MXO off of the monitor out to feed a real video monitor or using the ability of say a Decklink board to act as a desktop extension. These are both essentially tricks and not supported by Avid. I cant speak to the color accuracy of the outputs in these situations. I will soon be in a position to test both of these propositions and will certainly post my results here.

I doubt Avid will be able to completely open up to third party vendors. However there is some precedent. The Avid DS now ships with the AJA Xena as its hardware set. Hopefully we will see some concession to reasonability by the time Media Composer 4 ships (next year?).