I got the simplest Decklink card with only SDI I/O. I stuck it in a G5 that I never installed the CW on. I had absolutely no trouble installing it. I didn't read the manual. I just checked the requirements for the OS, FCP & QT versions, installed them, then the BM software and bam, everything has worked perfectly ever since. I use a 500GB G-Raid from Medea and it works just fine for 10bit PAL (the retailer has cautioned me on G-Raid might drop frames in 10bit but none so far). The only error I have encountered was one single TC error on edit to tape, only once in about 100 instances was it a frame off and I think it was because I was running a bunch of other crap on the computer at the same time. The only drawback I have is that I have to render all my slates/clocks/countdowns. I very often master multiple (many) spots/pieces on one master and they all need 30s ID's. With CW this (pre-rendered countdown on one layer + titles on a layer on top) is all RT but not with the current version of Decklink. Could be FCP5 and the new drivers will facilitate this. I have no clue until I lay my hands on it. Rendering to the BM codec also seems vaguely slow to me compared to other codecs. This could just be something in my head though. I have no scientific testing to base this judgement on. Well, for $295, trying out a card is no big risk. I'm getting a bunch more. I have also tried to use the card as a vectorscope with the VideoScope app. It works great but the app is somewhat lacking.
http://www.evological.com/videoscope.html
