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Decklink vs AJA Kona
I’m considering bying the Decklink Multibridge Studio card whenever it comes out, but what about AJA – Kona?
Why the one over the other, or should I look in some other direction?
Gunleik
(Dual 2Ghz 1st gen G5, 6 Gb RAM, 3,2 Tb SATA Rocket RAID, 23″ Cinema HD, Cubase SX 3, Yamaha 03d, Motu 896, Genelec 1030, OSX 10.4.2)
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12 Replies
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Been a lot of discussion on this forum about AJA vs. Decklink and you can find them by doing a Search for AJA or Decklink or both.
Personally, AJA is the only way to go. I have two Kona 2 suites here along with an Io LA and besides being outstanding products, I’ve not seen a better tech support department in the business.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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[Walter Biscardi] “I’ve not seen a better tech support department in the business.”
A selling point.. -;)
Any good/bad experiences with the Decklink gang?
Gunleik
(Who’s gonna do the searches) -
Decklink products are great. No problems there. Running ProHD + HDlink. Cheap too.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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I too am looking at the Multibridge Studio. I’ve heard good and bad about both companies. For me it’s boiling down to cost because there are reputable organizations/facilities using both. I’ve not heard of any mission critical errors being committed by either company which is the main issue for me,
All of the jocking aside. BMD Decklink HD Pro pricing is pretty hard to deny at this point, and the second iteration of HDLink appears to be dead-on as well. As far as AJA is concerned I like the fact that they have a close relationship with Apple. It’s a toss up.
The Multibridge Studio concept takes it to another level.
Keith Hill
https://www.LightedPath.biz
Dallas, TX
Final Cut Pro 5.0.2, Combustion (MAC-v3.0.4), DVD StudioPro 4 (v 3.0.2); MAC G5 (v10.4.2-Tiger) 2Ghz, 1.5 RAM -
I used to use a decklink, but have switched over to Kona 2 for their more robust feature set and support. At the time, and this very well could have changed by now, the Decklink did not have real time 24p HD downconversion. If that is part of your workflow this is something to consider. Also, the multibridge studio is not released yet. If you need to work now the kona 2 will get you up and running, now.
Jeremy
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There are enough pros who are satisfied with both to make you feel comfortable no matter which way you go. One factor that is swaying me towards the Kona is the release of the new KonaLH. It’s the cheapest card by far with HD analog I/O. It also looks like you have a slightly older G5 and the Kona cards accelerate DVCProHD and HDV scaling. That might make a difference for you on the editing side. Just a thought.
Gary -
Decklink cards also do the scaling of DVCproHD and HDV, indeed, they’d not work right if they did not do so. To call this “accelleration” is misleading…..
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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Hi Graeme,
I am certainly not bashing the Deckink cards. In fact I am looking hard at the Multibridge Studio very hard for a PC based system I am getting soon.I didn’t realize the Decklink cards did that scaling in hardware the way the AJA cards do? Have the guys at BMD documented that? It would be interesting to see if it hardware scaling allow older G5’s to handle more streams of video. For now I just look at it as a bonus feature.
Gary -
The scaling is because both HDV and DVCproHD use non-square formats, 1440×1080 and 1280×1080 instead of the full 1920×1080. For this formats to be output over SDI as 1920×1080, obviously some scaling has to be done. Both Decklink cards and AJA cards do this, but AJA call this “Accelleration” which I find a very poor choice of words, as it makes you think of Cinewave style accelleration, which it is most obviously not. Decklink don’t call it anything as they didn’t think they needed to bring attention to this.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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Hi Graeme,
I just to make sure I understand you correctly. You are saying that the Decklink card handle that conversion using onboard hardware instead relying on the CPU via the driver?
Thanks,
Gary
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