-
Axio LE vs. RT.X2
Hello,
I’m wondering why one would buy the LE over the RT.X2. Matrox hardware acceleration seems to be pretty good. But does one do a better job at acceleration? Or does one include more features? I’m at the point where I want to increase my productivity, and i’m looking for hardware acceleration, but I can’t make myself spend the 3k more for the LE not really sure of the differences.
Thanks!
-
4 Replies
-
The major differences are:
1) Axio features SDI/HDSDI I/O. The RTX2 has analog I/O and FireWire only. (There is a handy DVI output on the RTX2 for monitoring purposes.)
2) Axio supports Full HD (1920×1080). The RTX2 supports up to 1440×1080, so it’s great for HDV, which is also 1440×1080.
3) Axio has XDCAM HD support (Both cards support HDV and DVCPRO/DVCPRO HD/P2)
4) Axio supports 10-Bit Uncompressed (RTX2 only does compressed; the compression rate on Axio can be set to a higher quality level than the RTX2)
5) Audio output on Axio is analog (XLR 6 ch.) or digital (8 ch. discrete outputs or embedded in SDI). RTX2 is RCA 2-ch. I/O.
6) The Axio LE breakout box is more professional, and supports simultaneous HD and down converted SD on seperate outputs.Other than that, the feature set is very similar. They share the same set of Matrox real time effects and the Premiere interface is nearly identical. Both systems will play back multiple tracks of native HDV in real time, and 8-10 tracks of DV in real time (storage speed permitting) with RT effects. Generally the storage requirements of Axio are much higher than the RTX2, adding to the system price. Also Axio really needs a dual processer workstation, whereas RTX2 is just fine with a single proc. workstation. That being said, both systems should be installed on a high end system with quad core processors and a decent graphics card like the ATI x1950 pro 512.
-
I was confused about the production resolutions. It looks like I would need the LE. I would prefer not to produce 1440 if at all possible. HDV is a huge part of my work, but upscaling to 1920 is in some cases very necessary.
But alas, I’m coming to the realization that it looks like Axio only likes Windows XP!
I’m running on a Mac Pro. Are there hardware accelerators for premier pro that come close to Axio LE?
CS3 – Mac
C4D -
No. The I/O cards from Aja, BMD, etc. are limited to what can be processed in the workstation’s CPU, and offer no additional hardware acceleration other than up/down/cross conversion in some models.
-
That’s not entirely true. The AJA Xena 2k and LH offer a few RT primary color correction effects in PPro( gamma/gain/offset, brightness/contrast, color balance, etc) where the processing is done on the board. Also, YUV<->RGB conversions are done on the fly which enables you to record/playback TGA, BMP, DPX, etc file sequences to/from YUV sources.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up