I'm trying to put together an inexpensive post production system for the local high school. They already have a Mac Pro computer. They also have a Sony HVR-HD1000U camera that shoots 1080i HDV video. This camera does have a HDMI port.

The Black Magic Intensity card has HDMI i/o. What's going to happen if we spit out a 1080i signal (via HDMI on the Intensity card) to to the HDMI port on a consumer grade 720p HDTV set?

Will the tv set just cross convert from 1080i to 720p? Can the Intensity cross-convert on ingest from 1080i to 720p?

Most HDTV sets will convert to the appropriate format (1080i or 720p) but check the manual to be sure.

Stay in 1080i. There's no good reason to convert to 720p just for monitoring purposes which as you now know isn't an issue.

A friend of mine is doing the same thing. Outputting a 1080i signal to a 720p monitor using the Intensity card. He says it is working for him. I guess just make sure that your monitor can accept 1080i inputs (this is the case with almost all HD monitors toady).