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Monitor options for MacBook Pro and JVC BR-HD50U?
Hi all. I just purchased a MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 17″ 2.33GHz laptop and a JVC BR-HD50U VCR to load footage from my JVC GY-HD250. Is there a good solution for an external monitor to view the master playback? I thought I could monitor thru the BR-HD50U connected to a SONY 16×9 monitor. In fact I can view the output of the deck playback fine that way but it is not passing the FCP firewire signal thru to use it as an edit monitor. Maybe there is a setting on the deck that I am missing that would do this. If not, is there an external device that could be connected to the MacBook Pro to provide an external video monitor? I thought about using the DVI out but am not sure how to make that a video out. Would a Black Magic HDLink work? I wish AJA or Decklink would create an external device that is equivalent to the PCI cards in interfacing between a laptop and external decks/monitors. Maybe there is another device out there that I’m not aware yet? Thanks for any help.
Randy -
11 Replies
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Matrox MXO…perfect for the MacBook:
https://www.matrox.com/video/products/mxo/home.cfm
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
Thank you Shane. That looks like just what I need. I’m ordering now. 🙂
Randy -
HDV douse not play back through firewire.
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I thought I read something about AJA making a box to do the same thing as the Matrox? Did I get that right?
Thanks,
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The AJA products are more specific. The matrox solution has a nice variety of inputs.
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The only problem with MXO, which I’m just starting to learn about, is that it doesn’t work with ATI video cards (which are currently what the MacBook Pro ships with). I am trying to work out a solution to this myself. (For details on why MXO is incompatible with MBP, see https://www.dv.com/features/features_item.php?articleId=193104902). The long and the short of it is that MXO isn’t able to get the YUV signal directly from that ATI card. According to the article, the Matrox folks are aware of this and are working on a solution….
If I find anything else out I will let you know.
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I could not reach the article with that link. I would really like to see what it says. I have a MacBook Pro 17″ and I bought the MXO. It works on my system but if you switch back and forth to other applications or change the project display settings it becomes unstable. I’ve also noticed that trying play JVC’s 720 24p material through it (there is only a 1200×720 59.94 YUV display option) results in the external component looking fine but the Canvas display freaks out. So I can use the box right now for downverting material and editing NTSC DV, etc. but it is a bit unstable for the 720p edit. Hopefully they can rememdy this with a driver or firmware update. I’d love to see the article you referenced though so I can determine if I need to return the MXO. Thanks.
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I don’t know why the link doesn’t work. But you can just go to DV.com and search for MXO ATI. The first hit is the article, which is really really interesting. I have a call into the Matrox folks now to see what they say about a possible fix. But if it’s not yet resolved, then it seems that the color translation to your LCD or CRT or anything else will definitely be off. And since this is at least 1/2 the purpose of the box, then…well, it may not be worth it. (fyi, as I was typing this, the Matrox customer care guy called me and said they would respond to my posting about this on their Pre-Sales forum.)
I also have an email into the Black Magic folks to see if they’re coming out with any MBP capable cards any time soon. I plan to email AJA as well (the Kona card makers) but haven’t quite gotten that far. This HDV monitoring issue has already eaten up 2 1/2 days this week – so I really need to get back to work! Ugggh!!
Last, but not least, I’m thinking about other possible monitoring solutions. I have an M25U deck and wondering if using firewire into that and then component into the Dell would get be something better than pure DVI out to the dell. IF any one has any expertise with this, I’d be grateful to hear their advice on this.
Laura
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Hey Randy,
Just saw the post on Matrox’s site and apparently they fixed the bug with ATI cards last October, so you should be ok. Let me know what you think about your MXO. I was thinking I might wait a bit and see if BMD or AJA come out with a card that works with laptops.
Laura
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