Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro
by Gary Bettan
on
May 28, 2009 at 12:50:45 am
The folks at Matrox put this excellent comparison list together. It's on their website as a pdf I figured it would make good reading here. http://www.matrox.com/video/media/pdf/products/mxo2_mini/en_mini_vs_intensity.pdf
1. Matrox MXO2 Mini is a portable box that works with PC and Mac laptops and desktops – Intensity Pro is a card that works only in desktops.
2. Matrox MXO2 Mini is a sleek, professional breakout box – Intensity Pro comes with a messy fan-out cable
and there is no breakout box option.
3. Matrox MXO2 Mini supports eight tracks of embedded audio through HDMI so you can monitor up to 7.1 surround sound – Intensity Pro supports only two tracks.
4. Matrox MXO2 Mini provides high-quality 10-bit HDMI input and output – Intensity Pro provides 8-bit HDMI input and output.
5. Matrox MXO2 Mini features a 10-bit hardware scaling engine that works on capture and play out to let you perform realtime HD to SD downscaling, SD to HD upscaling, and 720 to 1080 and 1080 to 720 cross conversion – Intensity Pro does not provide upscaling from SD to 720 and cross conversion from 1080 to 720.
6. Matrox MXO2 Mini supports RGB as well as YUV output via HDMI and component for compatibility with a wider range of monitors – Intensity Pro provides only YUV output.
7. Matrox MXO2 Mini lets you output HD and SD simultaneously – with Intensity Pro you have to choose one or the other.
8. Matrox MXO2 Mini turns your HDMI screen into a professional-grade video monitor with Matrox’s unique color calibration tool. Controls for hue, chroma, contrast, brightness, and blue-only are provided. You get accurate color representation so that you can use your HDMI monitor even for color grading – Intensity Pro does not have a calibration tool.
9. Matrox MXO2 Mini is backed by a three-year hardware warranty – Intensity Pro comes with a one-year warranty.
10. On the PC, Matrox MXO2 Mini lets you capture to the highly-efficient Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame codec at adjustable date rates up to 300 Mbps to optimize quality and storage usage – Intensity Pro uses an older M-JPEG codec that is limited to 128 Mbps and is not user adjustable.
11. On the PC, Matrox MXO2 Mini provides WYSIWYG support for a wide variety of applications including Autodesk 3ds Max and Combustion, NewTek LightWave 3D, and Eyeon Fusion (32-bit versions) – Intensity Pro does not provides WYSIWYG support for these applications.
12. A version of Matrox MXO2 Mini is available with Matrox MAX technology for faster than realtime H.264 HD file creation – Intensity Pro does not offer this important benefit.
Gary
http://www.videoguys.com 800 323-2325 | We are the video editing and production experts!
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Andy Mees on May 30, 2009 at 11:35:07 pm
Thats a pretty bizarre argument Gary ...
The Intensity Pro is and remains a superb and rock solid choice for users looking for a low cost entry level I/O card and at less than half the price of the MXO2 Mini it's a cost effective no brainer decision for those that don't need the functionality of the Mini. As for which company will or will not continue to support their product, Blackmagic Design are not the one with a dodgy record.
C'mon Gary, lets remember this is a user to user support forum, not a sales platform.
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Gary Bettan on May 31, 2009 at 12:20:33 pm
Fair enough point. The Intensity Pro was a solid choice at $349, so at $199 it is a no-brainer for those looking for just I/O.
The support comment was about future driver development, not about getting technical support for the product today. That said, that's speculation and it doesn't belong here.
Gary
http://www.videoguys.com 800 323-2325 | We are the video editing and production experts!
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Bret Williams on Jun 4, 2009 at 2:39:46 am
As one about to buy the mini, it still looks cheaper. Let's see, if I want to view and do color correction correctly, I can buy a $400 26" 1080p hdmi monitor. With the intensity, I guess I'll have to buy one costing thousands more.
The bigger question is why anyone is purchasing iohd or kona instead of a mxo2, which I was considering before the mini was announced.
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Andy Mees on Jun 4, 2009 at 10:03:35 am
Yep, the mini is a great buy Bret ... functionally far superior to the Intensity board, its completely portable and for most folks it's critical monitoring capability alone is well worth any extra apparent cost. Now, as for the reason for purchasing the much much more expensive IoHD vs the Mini ... well thats obviously a very stretched comparison, apart from both being I/O boxes they are very different products. An MXO2 (not Mini) vs IoHD would be a somewhat fairer comparison, and one that has been done to death already (just do a search here) but what it boils down to is that one offers on board Apple ProRes 422 compression and decompression hardware (the IoHD) and one does not (the MXO2) ... if you are in the camp that needs on board Apple ProRes 422 compression and decompression hardware then the choice is very clear.
Hope that helps
Andy
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Bret Williams on Jun 4, 2009 at 2:49:26 pm
Ya know what? I just checked out the MXO2 specs again and I'm a little miffed now. I notice you need a 2.4 ghz processor. I have a MacPro dual 2.0 ghz. So I can't use the mini? My 2 year old computer is obsolete?
AND, integral to the way I like to work, I like to preview AE on the monitor. That's no problem working in HD 720p DVCProHD over Firewire letterboxed out to my old NTSC monitor. In fact, FCP does the downconversion in realtime to Firewire as well. But if I can't see my AE on the monitor, that sucks. And it really sucks that those features are PC ONLY. If I hear that phrase again... I mean who the hell is using windows for real editing? I just don't consider those people to be artists. They're engineers. Flame away I don't care. This morning, I tried to view one of my sites on windows and it needed QT installed... ok fine. I had to click a damn ok button or a permission button no less than 12 times to get it downloaded and installed. Hell, there was even a box that asked if I saw another notification! "Did you see the information bar?" Well no Vista I didn't. Why didn't you just put that freakin info in the popup box that said did you see the info, in the first place!" Windows blows. :/
8 years ago I swore I would never buy Matrox again. And maybe I should listen. They have a history of coming out with neat products, but then letting them wither away without support or updates.
Anyone know if the mini will work on a dual 2 xeon?
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Andy Mees on Jun 5, 2009 at 12:28:40 am
I can't speak specifically for your proposed set up Brett, but I can tell you that my MXO2 works perfectly well on my 2.16GHz Core Duo MBP despite it not meeting the recommended minimum spec of 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo or better. My understanding, with regards to minimum recommended processor speeds, is that the specs are there so that Matrox can guarantee a certain performance level to its customers ... doesn't mean it plum won't work with anything less. Also bear in mind that the box was developed/first shipped at the time when MBP's were at 2.4GHz, so from an engineering point of view then that is likely the minimum spec machine it will have been specifically built and tested against.
Regarding the issue with AE can you let me know what the issue is specifically. According to the specs I looked at its stated that the "Matrox MXO2 Mini works with Final Cut Pro, Apple Color, Adobe After Effects, and all QuickTime applications that support the V-out component." Is their a caveat to that then that means you can't use AE or that AE doesn't fully support the v-out component.
As for the Matrox Video / Mac history, I'm over it. Matrox's MXO/MXO2 products have simply blown the doors off those old worries. These products are massively successful and sell like hot cakes, they are being aggressively developed, and the support is amongst the very best in the industry ... 3 year warranties on the hardware and 3 year free phone support, plus Matrox offer advance exchange on hardware. And if you do get very unlucky and end up with a defective unit. Not too shabby.
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Bret Williams on Jun 5, 2009 at 1:20:57 am
That's great to hear. I notice now the 2.4 is mentioned in relation to codecs. I guess compressing on the fly to dvcprohd, etc. I do want to make sure it plays out from AE. I get conflicting reports.
I was an early adopter of FCP. Then the rtmac. Then they dropped the price in half. Then I adopted OSX pretty early and matrox dragged us osxers along for about a year before they yanked support. I got the feeling there was 1 part time guy working on it and he quit or something. Apple used to promote it on their site. But I'm guessing there's some bad blood there. Either matrox got mad that apple came out with rt built in, or apple got mad matrox screwed apples users. Or both.
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Shawn Miller on Jun 5, 2009 at 1:57:39 am
"I mean who the hell is using windows for real editing? I just don't consider those people to be artists."
WOW, how exceptionally talented you must be then... to be a better mograph artist and editor than ANYONE using Windows... your work must be truly awe inspiring.
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Billy Pilgrim on Jun 5, 2009 at 9:54:32 pm
Hey there now -- let's not get uppity about PC editors not being artists -- I edit on both Ppro and Media Composer (PC) and I assure you my sh@t don't stank!
How you doing, bro? Other than bashing PC editors....
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Marc Sparks on Jun 16, 2009 at 8:35:06 pm
So if you're smart enough to operate a computer, you can't be an artist? Now I understand why Mac keeps advertising that they have "Geniuses" to help you out. I guess if you're already a genius, you can save your money and build a PC to the exact specifications you want. :)
As far as being an "artist"...I guess it depends on your definition. I used to work in TV news, and now I do commercials and things like that. I have no illusions that anything I turn out is "art". But I would consider myself an artist- at least as an editor- because I take the care to make my output as good as possible and try to take pride in my results, even if the client (or news producer) doesn't really care. But first and foremost, I'm trying to feed my family. If that means I'm not an artist..oh well, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. But I don't see how that means I'm not a "real editor."
I once had a kid come looking for a news photog/editor job. He brought me his final project from film school. It was beautifully shot and lit and put together nicely...of course it didn't make a lick of sense, but whatever. I asked him how long it took him.
Him- "About 2 weeks"
Me- "Try again when you can do it in 2 hours."
Tell a news editor he's not an artist and he'll laugh. Tell him he's not a real editor and he (or she) will probably punch you in the face.
Look, Windows and Macs are just...different. If you're used to one, the other one stinks. I once spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to eject a disc from a Mac. If you're a Mac guy, you're probably laughing..."Just drag it to the trash can!" But think about it...how is that intuitive in any way to someone who has never touched a Mac?
Personally, I don't have many problems with Windows. And there's divisions WITHIN the Windows camp too. I have two machines...one with Vista and one with XP. The Vista one never crashes, the XP still has all kinds of problems. But there are a ton of people out there who will tell you Vista is junk and doesn't work at all.
Bottom line...people like what they like and hate what they don't, but there's no need to insult the people who like something else.
I do agree that anyone who actually jumps through all those hoops and clicks on "12 different boxes" instead of just taking the 3 seconds it takes to disable User Account Control is probably better off with a Mac. ;p
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Patrick Sheffield on Jun 4, 2009 at 5:45:23 pm
As one about to buy the mini, it still looks cheaper. Let's see, if I want to view and do color correction correctly, I can buy a $400 26" 1080p hdmi monitor. With the intensity, I guess I'll have to buy one costing thousands more.
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Bret Williams on Jun 4, 2009 at 6:06:30 pm
Because you can't do accurate color correction on a consumer LCD. But you can can with the matrox mxo line of products. That's their main feature originally, before they even supported input with the mxo2.
Check the prices on broadcast he monitors that are suitable for color correction.
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by James Iles on Jun 18, 2009 at 2:10:18 pm
I am researching an economic solution to color correction. So by using the MX02 Mini a consumer LCD, say a Sony or Samsung Full 1080 HD LCD, can then be used with confidence for color correction?
What is it that makes the difference between a broadcast monitor and a consumer monitor? Obviously there is an important difference but please enlightenment to the techie stuff on this, thanks. And then how does the MX02 make a consumer LCD suitable for color correction monitoring?
And how does the MX02 Mini compare to other solutions for color correction monitoring in the similar price bracket?
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Andrew Clark on Jun 24, 2009 at 10:05:08 pm
[Gary Bettan]"6. Matrox MXO2 Mini supports RGB as well as YUV output via HDMI and component for compatibility with a wider range of monitors – Intensity Pro provides only YUV output."
Is this for sure? Can't seem to find that info. on the Matrox site; unless of course I overlooked it.
This is great if it's true, because then one could utilize the HP Dreamcolor LP2480zx monitor which, according to HP's documents, needs a RGB progressive signal fed to it...either via a HDMI or DisplayPort connection.
Would definitely like this setup as the primary feature I am after is a color correct monitoring solution for videos/photos/artwork.
It states that this unit is able to capture S-video and composite as well...but looking at the photos of the unit, I only see connections for Component, RCA Stereo audio, HDMI In/Out. Maybe the two S-video adapters handle that issue?
Re: Top 10 Reasons to Buy Matrox MXO2 Mini – Not Intensity Pro by Jeff Pulera on Jun 24, 2009 at 10:35:19 pm
Yes, the S-video adapters for S-video input/output plug into the red and blue Component RCA jacks. The Matrox RT.X2 uses the same setup with its breakout box, saves space I suppose.
Re: 10 reasons to buy matrox MXO2 mini - not Intensity Pro by Gary Bettan on Aug 26, 2009 at 12:21:20 pm
If you are trying to capture DRM protected content via HDMI it will still be blocked. Neither the Matrox, Black Magic or Aja capture devices with HDMI get around that to my knowledge. So you'll still end up using component with MXO2 Mini.
GAry
http://www.videoguys.com 800 323-2325 | We are the video editing and production experts!
