Hi,
I'm in the process of getting a card to use with PPCS4 on Windows 7. I've narrowed down my options to two cards:
Matrox MXO2 Mini
BMD Decklink Studio

I will obviously be using Cineform Prospect HD when it comes out.
I also need to make sure the card I'll go for will work with my Color correction software (Color Finesse). According to their support team, they only support the Decklink series right now, but are currently extending the compatibility of the software to the Matrox MXO2 line.

So...
1-Which of the two cards CURRENTLY offers the best integration with Cineform and PPCS4 and in what aspects? (editing presets,codecs, stability, preview monitor output...)
2-Which of the two cards is more likely to have better integration with ProspectHD WHEN it comes out?

Thanx for any help

what about the AJA IO express??
Io Express - AJA Video - Serial Digital Video Interface and Conversion (http://www.aja.com/products/io/io-express.php)

convinient like the mxo2 mini but with sdi as well

Well, it looks really interesting indeed, but I doubt it'll work with my Color correction software (Color Finesse). It's really picky about what cards it can output to. (mostly Decklink).
ACtually, now that I think of it, they did mention in one of the replies they made to one of my mails, some sort of support for Aja cards, under specific conditions...
So it's back to my original questions.
thanx all the same!

Edit: Here's the reply I got form Bob Currier when asked about compatibility:

'No, the current version of Color Finesse supports only the Blackmagic Design DeckLink line of cards.
We also support the AJA Xena cards, but only when used with the Cineform software.
Bob Currier
Synthetic Aperture'

So it appears it The Aja IO isn't supported by Color finesse.

Does anyone have any kind of info with regards to my previous questions?

Edit (again!):

I read the whole thread again (the one with Bob Currier answering my questions about Cineform and Prospect HD, and I came across this:

'When the Cineform Prospect software has been installed and selected in Premiere, Color Finesse will detect that and will use the Cineform driver to output previews. So, in theory, any card that the Cineform Prospect driver supports, Color Finesse will support. We test here against an AJA Xena.
Because the Cineform driver is mediating access to the hardware (not Premiere) this is the one case where Premiere doesn't get in the way of Color Finesse external previews. '

That's interesting news for me!
I guess the main issue now is to find out if/when the Aja IO express or the Xena cards will be supported by Cineform Prospect HD in PPro and AE CS4.

I'd be delighted to hear what this forum users think of these (new?) facts!

Any idea yet?

MXO2 has no API for third party support yet. AJA support is before Black Magic. We just just our AJA Express IO in for testing.

Hi,
Thanx for answering.

1-So if I understand well, the MXO2 cannot, with its current API, be integrated in a PPCS4+Prospect HD workflow, and is not likely to be supported by prospect HD with RT engine? So it doesn't sound like a good option for us (not supported YET by either Cineform, or Color Finesse)

2-What's the current integration of Decklink Studio cards? (Does it not work at all? Can I output? Will I be able to output once prospectHd works with RT in CS4?)

Thanx for any info, it'll help a lot in making an informed decision.