Kona 3 vs. MXO2 for down / cross conversion

[Mitch Ives]

[walter biscardi] “I just have not been impressed with ProRes at all quite honestly. DVCPro HD is still a much more solid codec to work with both in FCP and in Color.

I have not seen any sorts of issues downconverting DVCPro HD in either 1080i or 720p. “

I’m going to second Walter’s thoughts. I like ProRes and I really want it to work (badly actually), but it’s clear that people keep reporting issues with it. DVCPro HD has given us zero problems and we down-convert from it all the time on an LH and a K3…

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com

[Mitch Ives]

[Christopher S. Johnson] “Also, have you ever seen an example of a difference in quality between the regular and the HQ version that is perceptible? “

While it’s a promising codec, let’s not forget that the difference was visible in the Apple booth at NAB when they introduced it. Artifacting in the sky was visible. Now, am I beating up on it… no, but the notion that it has all that compression and no reduction in quality is right up there with “perpetual motion”… not possible.

Like Walter, I think ProRes will be huge at some point, but for those of us that need to get work done now, many of us are still using DVCpro HD. I’ll let those with more free time and patience continue to beta test ProRes…

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com

[Christopher S. johnson]

Would love to learn more about the problems. If any of you know of a thread or article you could pass on to me, that would be great.

[Gary Bettan]

The MXO2 does a great job with down / cross conversion.

The following is from the new MXO2 FAQ that we helped the gang over at Matrox put together https://www.videoguys.com/mxo2_faq.html

What can the Matrox MXO2 upscaling and downscaling feature do for me?
Matrox MXO2 provides realtime 10-bit hardware scaling on the outputs. You can upscale from NTSC or PAL to either 720 or 1080. You can downscale 720 or 1080 HD footage to NTSC or PAL. Matrox MXO2’s realtime scaling feature is particularly useful when you need to master both HD and SD because it lets you output both simultaneously from the same timeline. It is also invaluable when you need to proof DVD content from an HD video source or make quick SD rushes from HD material.

Can Matrox MXO2 convert my 720p timeline to 1080i and vice versa in real time?
Yes. Matrox MXO2 provides realtime cross conversion in hardware, saving you hours of rendering when your source material does not match your client’s delivery requirements.

Gary
Videoguys.com

Videoguys.com 800 323-2325

We are the desk top video editing and DVD production experts!

[Tim Mclaughlin]

Right – and the Kona can do all that too.

BUT – How well does the MXO2 handle graphics on Downconverson, ’cause on the Kona 3 it doesn’t look so good…

Tim McLaughlin

[Walter Biscardi]

[Tim McLaughlin] “BUT – How well does the MXO2 handle graphics on Downconverson, ’cause on the Kona 3 it doesn’t look so good… “

I guess it depends on your graphics. As Gary Adcock has already noted on this thread, sometimes graphics have to be created differently for the SD version.

I just laid off 5 1080i shows to BetaSP here last week with no changes to the graphics and they look amazing.

Another 5 shows we converted from 720 to 1080i for the BluRay discs and those look awesome too.

If the graphics contain a lot of thin lines or horizontal lines, those will sometimes have to be recreated for SD. Only the Terranex does a superior job of downconversion for items like that.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!