A good card for HD monitoring?
by Helmut Kobler
on
Jun 11, 2009 at 1:04:07 am
I want to start monitoring my Final Cut work to an HD-SDI broadcast monitor (such as an FSI), but need to find a good PCIe card for my Mac Pro to do that. I don't really need capturing abilities, because I shoot pretty much exclusively on P2 (AVC-Intra) and convert to ProRes HD HQ for editing.
I tried a Kona LHi card briefly as a monitoring solution, but the card's fan was louder than my Mac Pro and it also disabled the Mac's ability to sleep. If I can avoid those two gotchas, I would like to.
Can anyone recommend any other solutions? Anything in the BlackMagic family, like the Decklink SDI? Or possibly a Matrox (even though it does a lot more than monitoring)?
Also, when it comes to HD monitoring, are all cards pretty much the same or will I see quality differences in the image that's sent to the monitor? I would think not, but this whole monitoring business is new to me, and there's always the potential for gotchas.
Re: A good card for HD monitoring? by Bob Zelin on Jun 11, 2009 at 3:22:19 am
your MAC should NEVER go to sleep with any editing configuration.
I am shocked that you feel that the noise from the AJA Kona LHi was too loud. Any RAID array that is capable of working with HD resolutions will be louder than an AJA card.
The Blackmagic Decklink SDI card is $295, and will do the job for you. But will it make creaky sounds while you edit, keeping you awake at night ?
Never put your MAC to sleep. Turn it off at the end of the day, but disable the Energy Saver in system Preferences. This applies to AVID products as well.
Re: A good card for HD monitoring? by Helmut Kobler on Jun 11, 2009 at 3:58:36 am
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the quick reply! As for the Kona card, I was shocked at the noise it made as well! It was easily 3 or 4 times as loud as my entire Mac Pro (2009 edition), and louder than, say, a CalDigit HD Element I tested a while ago. I put the Kona into two different card slots, just in case it was seated incorrectly. Still very very loud (at idle no less). Also, you could hear the fan rev up even more when I would play video from the Timeline. When I paused playback the fan would then calm down a bit (but would still be way too loud for my tastes). At any rate, I returned it but might give it another try in case it was simply a bad unit.
As for monitoring cards, I was hoping that the Decklink SDI would work, because it's affordable and hey, no fan! I'm glad to hear you don't think there'd be a difference between that and more expensive cards....as far as monitoring goes. I just have to look into the frame rates it supports. My understanding, currently, is that it doesn't support some framerates I might be working in, like 720/30p. Gotta look into that..
Regarding Sleep: I use my Mac for lots of different things, not exclusively editing. When I'm not editing (and when a raid isn't on), I like the ability to put it to sleep and come back to it instantly.
Re: A good card for HD monitoring? by gary adcock on Jun 11, 2009 at 12:24:45 pm
[Helmut Kobler]"I tried a Kona LHi card briefly as a monitoring solution, but the card's fan was louder than my Mac Pro and it also disabled the Mac's ability to sleep. If I can avoid those two gotchas, I would like to. "
Helmut
I am not sure what you had- but the AjA cards DO NOT have fans...
for a P2 Workflow AJA will ship the IoExress this summer, and it is designed for your specific type of workflow. It is priced under $1000 USD.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Check out
http://www.aja.com/kiprotour/
Inside look at the IoHD
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/adcock_gary/AJAIOHD.php
Re: A good card for HD monitoring? by Ramona Howard on Jun 11, 2009 at 1:56:30 pm
Gary,
I was with you, thinking what the heck is this guy talking about. BUT then I looked up the LHI, it does have a small fan on it. Guess we get lucky on the higher-end cards :)
Re: A good card for HD monitoring? by Don Riemer on Jun 22, 2009 at 5:27:02 pm
Regarding the Black Magic Decklink SDI, does anyone have any thoughts on audio sync issues?
This card also seems perfect for my needs, but here's my concern. I will run SDI HD directly into a Panasonic HD monitor. I have no way to take advantage of the embedded audio channels.
For audio, I'd have to use the audio-out jack on my Mac Pro tower. I only need two channels, so that's not an issue, but I do worry about sync problems, since I would be taking audio from a separate bus.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
Don Riemer
• • •
D O N R I E M E R / A I R W O R T H Y
concepts, writing and directing for film and video
http://airworthy.com/
Re: A good card for HD monitoring? by Eric Hansen on Jul 9, 2009 at 2:28:32 am
hey Don
you will have sync issues. i have experienced this with the Intensity Pro and i assume that the Decklink would be the same. i don't know if your Panasonic monitor has an audio out that you can use. the Decklink Studio has audio outputs.
e
Eric Hansen, The Audio Visual Plumber - www.avplumber.com
