Kona LH vs HD extreme?

[Aja Sales department]

Jeffrey,
The AJA Kona LHe card offers a number of items that make it unique when compared to other products:

The AJA Kona LHe card uses XLRs for AES/EBU audio input/output, where some products may use SPDIF type connectors. SPDIF audio connectors may require the use of other converters or interfaces in order to connect with many professional digital audio devices.

The AJA Kona LHe card can be used with an optional breakout box which adds AES/EBU BNC audio connectors, ref loop thru and RCA analog audio monitoring jacks. The breakout box comes standard with a 2 meter cable, but can be had with a 5 meter cable for further extension of the box from the card and host computer.

The AJA Kona LHe card can be operated in what is known as Input Passthrough mode via the AJA Control Panel application, meaning that the card can essentially be used as a converter from within the Mac.

The AJA Kona LHe card offers a TBC (time base correction) function for the input of analog SD material. This means that signals from non-professional devices (within a certain range) may be able to interface with the KonaLHe card.

The AJA Kona LHe card can perform 10-bit hardware based downconversion from HD to SD for either 1080i or 720P. This hardware based down-conversion can be configured for either of the SDI outputs and the analog output. The down-conversion to SD can be letterbox, anamorphic or center crop. The user can elect which outputs are HD or SD independently meaning that one output can be HD while another can be SD at the same time.

AJA offers a 3 year warranty for the AJA Kona LHe.

Finally, specific to your question, the AJA Kona LHe card handles scaling of the DVCProHD and HDV codecs in hardware. As these formats are not full raster (DVCProHD 720P for example is 960×720 as opposed to 1280×720), the Kona card can offload the scaling and processing of these formats so that the computer is free for more CPU tasks – such as more Dynamic RT effects. This functionality was developed in close cooperation with Apple and is exclusive to the Kona cards that are capable of handling HD.

If you have any further questions regarding AJA products, don’t hesitate to contact AJA directly at sales@aja.com or your local reseller. You can find your local resellers by visiting this URL:
https://www.aja.com/where_buy.php

AJA Sales Department
http://www.aja.com

[Bob Zelin]

my response on how to choose which system is better, is very different than AJA’s response. Close out of this forum, and go to the Blackmagic Forum on Creative Cow. Read thru the top 20 or 30 posts that are there right now. See what the responses are.

This should help you with your decision.

Bob Zelin