At the 2009 NAB Show, Matrox Video Products Group showed four new or recently announced products: CompressHD, MXO2 Mini, MXO2 and MXO2 Rack. Product specs and detail follow.

Matrox CompressHD Accelerator Card Provides Faster-Than-Real-Time High-Definition H.264 File Creation

For the Mac:
Matrox CompressHD is the first implementation of Matrox MAX technology in an H.264 accelerator card for the Mac. The solution is priced at $495. Matrox MAX technology uses a dedicated hardware processor to accelerate the creation of H.264 files for mobile devices, the Web and Blu-ray discs. By using specialized hardware acceleration, jobs are finished quickly and system resources are liberated for other tasks. Matrox CompressHD works in systems with or without a video I/O device. Ease of use is ensured through direct integration with Apple Compressor on the Mac. As an added benefit, the Matrox MAX technology allows direct export to higher-quality H.264 Blu-ray-compliant files from Compressor.

"Final Cut Studio is the creative tool of choice for video professionals around the world,” said Richard Townhill, Apple’s director of video applications marketing. “By adding the Matrox CompressHD accelerator to a Mac Pro, editors can spend more time creating the movie they want and less time getting it ready for distribution."

“Matrox CompressHD is all about speed and workflow efficiency,” said Lorne Trottier, president of Matrox. “For example, creating a 20-minute H.264 Blu-ray image typically takes about 90 minutes on an 8-core Mac Pro. Using Matrox MAX technology, that same image can be generated in less than 18 minutes. Matrox CompressHD is a must-have for anyone creating content today.”

• Priced at $495, Matrox CompressHD with Mac drivers will be available in May 2009.

For the PC:
Matrox CompressHD is the first implementation of Matrox MAX technology in an H.264 accelerator card for Windows. The solution is priced at $495. Matrox MAX technology uses a dedicated hardware processor to accelerate the creation of H.264 files for mobile devices, the Web and Blu-ray discs. By using specialized hardware acceleration, jobs are finished quickly and system resources are liberated for other tasks. Matrox CompressHD works in systems with or without a video I/O device. Ease of use is ensured through direct integration with Adobe Media Encoder software on the PC.

“With the industry move to HD, productivity in the creative workflow has never been more important to Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium users," said Giles Baker, group product manager, Editing Workflows, at Adobe. "Along with the many built-in productivity features and time-saving capabilities of Adobe's integrated video production toolset, the Matrox CompressHD card will enable users to more quickly deliver engaging interactive experiences to audiences across platforms and devices.”

“Saving time on mundane encoding tasks is a tremendous advantage for content creators, said Lorne Trottier, president of Matrox. “Matrox CompressHD provides the ultimate in speed and workflow efficiency when it comes to producing H.264 files. For example, encoding a 20 minute DVCPRO HD 720p project to a Flash file for delivery on a mobile device or the Web typically takes close to two hours on a quad-core PC. That same project can be encoded in less than 20 minutes using the Matrox MAX technology.”

• Priced at $495, Matrox CompressHD with PC drivers will be available in the summer of 2009.

Matrox MXO2 Mini: Affordable High-Definition HDMI and Analog I/O for Mac and PC

Matrox MXO2 Mini is a new version of the Matrox MXO2 I/O device. It can be used with Mac and PC laptop and desktop systems and popular applications including Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro and Photoshop. It provides capture and playback of high-definition video via HDMI and analog component; or NTSC and PAL via analog component S-Video and composite. Users can convert standard-definition videos to high definition, or vice versa, while capturing or playing out using Matrox MXO2 Mini’s dedicated hardware scaler. Matrox MXO2 Mini turns an inexpensive HDMI screen into a professional-grade video monitor thanks to Matrox’s unique color calibration tool. This product also makes it easy to edit AVCHD footage by capturing into an edit-friendly compressed or uncompressed format.

Matrox MXO2 Mini is also available with Matrox MAX technology for faster-than-real-time high-definition H.264 file creation.

• Matrox MXO2 Mini is $449.
• Matrox MXO2 Mini with the MAX option is $849.

Each MXO2 Mini comes with the customer’s choice of an ExpressCard /34 laptop adapter or a PCIe desktop adapter. Additional adapters may be purchased separately. The products will be available in May.

Matrox MXO2 and Matrox MXO2 Rack I/O Devices for the Mac Now with Matrox MAX Technology for Faster-Than-Real-Time High-Definition H.264 File Creation

Matrox MXO2 and Matrox MXO2 Rack will be available in versions with Matrox MAX technology for faster-than-real-time high-definition H.264 file creation. The Matrox MAX technology uses a dedicated hardware processor to accelerate the creation of H.264 files for Blu-ray, the Web and mobile devices. By using specialized hardware acceleration, jobs are finished quickly and system resources are liberated for other tasks. Quality and flexibility are ensured through direct integration with Apple Compressor on the Mac. As an added benefit, the Matrox MAX technology allows direct export to higher-quality H.264 Blu-ray-compliant files from Compressor.

The Matrox MXO2 product line is available now. Units with the MAX option will be available in summer 2009.

• Matrox MXO2 is $1,595.
• Matrox MXO2 with the MAX option is $1,995.
• Matrox MXO2 Rack is $1,995.
• Matrox MXO2 Rack with the MAX option is $2,395.