Matrox Compress-HD
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- Price: $495.00
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- Free Item Included:
- Class on Demand Black Card ($99.95 Value)
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The Compress-HD from Matrox uses Matrox MAX technology to realize real-time H.264 encoding of resolutions ranging from iPod to HD. It features a dedicated hardware processor to accelerate the creation of H.264 files for Blu-Ray, the web, and mobile devices.
Special hardware acceleration is designed to provide superior speed without taxing system resources. This card can be integrated with professional applications such as Apple Compressor on the Mac and Adobe Media Encoder on the PC. A direct export feature provides higher quality H.264 Blu-Ray compliant files from Compressor.
- This card offers real-time creation of H.264 files at resolutions ranging from iPod to HD and at bit rates up to 50Mbps by using Matrox MAX technology
- This solution will function in systems with or without a video I/O device to enhance your delivery workflow
- Extend the life of your current system investment with the ability to deliver premium H.264 formats
- The card has a low-profile, half-length PCIe x1 card form factor
- It works in systems with Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6 or higher, Windows XP (32-bit), and Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit)
- A specialized, dedicated hardware processor liberates system resources for other tasks
- Accelerated encoding is available for Blu-ray, PS3, Apple TV, YouTube, Flash, web formats, and mobile devices including iPhone and iPod from various video sources including 2K files
- Direct integration with Apple Compressor on the Mac and Adobe Media Encoder on the PC simplifies workflow
- Blu-Ray H.264 files can be authored in Adobe Encore CS4 and Roxio Toast 10 then burned without re-encoding
- Support for Apple Qmaster takes advantage of multiple systems with a Matrox MAX processing engine for distributed encoding across a network
| Resolutions |
Blu-ray, PS3, PS3, HD Web Video Archiving: Resolutions: 720 x 480 720 x 576 1280 x 720 1920 x 1080i 1920 x 1080 Frame Rates: 29.97, 59.97 25, 50 23.98, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.97 25, 29.97 23.98, 25, 29.97 Bit-Rate Range: 512Kbps to 3Mbps 1 to 50Mbps Apple TV, YouTube, HD, Podcasts, Webcasts iPod, iPhone, Flash, YouTube, Portable Devices |
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviews(based on 11 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
70%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Improves performance (7)
- Compact (6)
- Easy to use (5)
- Highly compatible (3)
- Professional quality (3)
Cons
- Lacks functionality (3)
Best Uses
- Independent films (4)
- Home movies (3)
- In the studio (3)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Professional artist (5), Business owner (3)
- Was this a gift?:
- No (4)
Most Liked Positive Review
Great Time Saver
If you are looking to author Blu-Ray discs and like most of us don't have the time to wait around for overnight and beyond render times then look no further. I am using this board...Read complete review
If you are looking to author Blu-Ray discs and like most of us don't have the time to wait around for overnight and beyond render times then look no further. I am using this board inconjunction with a Mac Pro System. Prior to purchase my first render in Encore tok 14.5 hours to complete, via the software. The same project run through this board took 3 1/4 hours. The compression looks great and at 20 Mbs data rate the Blu-Ray output is stunning.
The encoded files can be brought right into Encore so that all you have to do is burn your disc. There are presets i the board software, but you can take a preset and customize the data rate to suit your needs.
There are two drawbacks to the board. Number one, Matrox claims real time or better on encodes and no matter what I do, it takes more than real time to encode my projects which are generally just under two hours. The board does a single pass and not multiple pass encode. On DVD's because of the lower data rate, I always do a two pass encode and you can see the difference. With the blu-ray discs because the data rate is so high it doesn't really seem to make a difference or at least from what I can see but it would be nice to have.
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
Still needs software update to compete
I did some extensive testing on a loaner card that Matrox sent me to try out. While it does indeed speed things up tremendously the quality is no where near what Compressor will do on...Read complete review
I did some extensive testing on a loaner card that Matrox sent me to try out. While it does indeed speed things up tremendously the quality is no where near what Compressor will do on it's own. The main reason, which I fou8nd out after several weeks of discussions with their engineers, is that their software does not automatically recognize scene changes. Compressor does this and inserts a keyframe.
They are supposedly working on this for a future software upgrade. When this is added , this will hopefully be a fantastic encoding solution. Until then I would wait if quality is of importance to you.
REVIEWS
Reviewed by 11 customers
Sort by
Displaying reviews 1-11
Pros
- Compact Design
- Easy To Use
- Highly Compatible
- Improves Performance
- Professional Quality
Cons
Best Uses
- Home Movies
- Independent Films
- In The Studio
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
Compress from 1080P to 720p for Youtube almost real time, I have it on a 4 year old Mac Pro with dual core CPU and 6 GB ram, once the card start working it does move fast, For a one minute video it takes 90 seconds, use Apple hardware takes 165 seconds, if it is on my old PC using software it takes 600 seconds ^_^.
- Was this a gift?:
- No
Pros
- Compact Design
- Easy To Use
- Improves Performance
- Professional Quality
Cons
Best Uses
- Complex Projects
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
There is a bug in the implementation that makes final cut pro crash, it is solvable but annoying!
- Was this a gift?:
- No
Pros
- Improves Performance
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
We bought this to compress video from Final Cut Studio. We found it provides better quality than the native compressor and does it somewhat faster. It also does HD, which we are not doing yet but want to. Good for professional or advanced amateur use, but probably too expensive for most hobbyists.
- Was this a gift?:
- No
Pros
- Compact Design
- Easy To Use
- Highly Compatible
- Improves Performance
- Professional Quality
Cons
Best Uses
- Complex Projects
- Independent Films
- In The Studio
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
Amazingly fast h.264 encoding and fantastic quality. Can't be beat
- Was this a gift?:
- No
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
- In The Studio
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
If you are looking to author Blu-Ray discs and like most of us don't have the time to wait around for overnight and beyond render times then look no further. I am using this board inconjunction with a Mac Pro System. Prior to purchase my first render in Encore tok 14.5 hours to complete, via the software. The same project run through this board took 3 1/4 hours. The compression looks great and at 20 Mbs data rate the Blu-Ray output is stunning.
The encoded files can be brought right into Encore so that all you have to do is burn your disc. There are presets i the board software, but you can take a preset and customize the data rate to suit your needs.
There are two drawbacks to the board. Number one, Matrox claims real time or better on encodes and no matter what I do, it takes more than real time to encode my projects which are generally just under two hours. The board does a single pass and not multiple pass encode. On DVD's because of the lower data rate, I always do a two pass encode and you can see the difference. With the blu-ray discs because the data rate is so high it doesn't really seem to make a difference or at least from what I can see but it would be nice to have.
Pros
- Improves Performance
Cons
- Lacks Functionality
Best Uses
- Home Movies
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
I'm using it with FCP 7.0. It does improve encoding speed, but through "Export > Using QuickTime Conversion" command only, and no speed bump at all with "Share" or "Send to Compressor" command. Matorx support says it's because of bad communication between FCP and Compressor.
Through QT Conversion, you need to set parameters each time you export and you cannot use any of Matrox presets. Or in order to use the preset, you first have to export the sequence to some other format like ProRes file, and open it manually within Compressor by yourself.
The quality of the exported file is fine, except that the luma of the image tends to shift slightly darker.
Oh, and Matrox support is really slow in responding that they won't be of any help when you need them.
So it's not a waste of money for you can take advantage of its speed improvement, though under limited condition. But with the fact that the speed increase is only merely faster than what you can achieve with elgato turbo 264 HD, I would recommend cheaper turbo 264 HD to my friends.
Pros
- Compact Design
- Easy To Use
- Improves Performance
Cons
- Lacks Functionality
Best Uses
- Blu Ray
- Independent Films
- Wedding
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
New 4.21 drivers work with the RTX2. Realtime encoding with 1920x1080, so 1 hour time line takes about 1 hour to encode. The card has 1920x1080, but if you're using it in Premiere with the RTX2, your actual resolution is 1440 upscaled to 1920. So if you camera has 1920 resolution, the RTX2 will downscale it to 1440, and then the Compress HD will upscale to 1920. It does pretty good quality video, but is limited to 1 pass CBR.
Card can get hot, and will lockup if it overheats, so at a fan to blow at it.
Pros
- Compact Design
Cons
- Lacks Functionality
- Poor Performance
Best Uses
- Wasting money
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
I've heard so spin in my time, but this one was pure spin. Only very minor speed difference (in the 10% range) over my quad core, and only took a bit of pressure off the CPU. (Windows 7 PC)
Not sure if it is just a problem with drivers or what, but I was completely unimpressed.
Only positive thing I can say is, the mp4 compression looks very good. Might work better on a mac.. no idea.
Oh, and it isn't "codec agnostic" as the spin seems to imply. You have to use their specified presets. They are ok though if the card actually did what it was supposed to do.
Ended up sending it back.
Oh, and you have to register to get drivers. Most annoying installation process I have ever encountered. For what reason I'm not sure... it's not as if piracy of cards is likely... especially not this one, as it doesn't do anything!
Wouldn't recommend it to an enemy, let alone a friend.
Pros
- Compact Design
- Easy To Use
- Highly Compatible
- Improves Performance
Cons
- Bad quality
- Poor Performance
Best Uses
- Home Movies
- Independent Films
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
I did some extensive testing on a loaner card that Matrox sent me to try out. While it does indeed speed things up tremendously the quality is no where near what Compressor will do on it's own. The main reason, which I fou8nd out after several weeks of discussions with their engineers, is that their software does not automatically recognize scene changes. Compressor does this and inserts a keyframe.
They are supposedly working on this for a future software upgrade. When this is added , this will hopefully be a fantastic encoding solution. Until then I would wait if quality is of importance to you.
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
It does give you real time Blu-ray encoding even though it only offers 20mb/sec on windows and not 45 like on macs but still good quality video and for web too it does faster than real time to encode a clip for web
Comments about Matrox Compress-HD:
The CompressHD speeds up Encoding time ... and does a good job!T[...]
Displaying reviews 1-11
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What's in the Box
- Three-Year Hardware Warranty & Complimentary Telephone Support
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