Previewing HD video with Cineform on a PC

[Andrew Lock]

There has been lots of rumours and talk about possible solutions for monitoring real time HD output within Premiere Pro, on an external HD monitor.

The Matrox APVe promises to have this capability, but as of right now, does anyone know of a PCI Express graphics card that does either of the following, while using Cineform Aspect HD:

1. Displays Premiere Pro at 1280x1024 on one monitor (VGA or DVI), while displaying the contents of the program monitor of Premiere Pro at full HDV resolution on another HD display, such as an apple cinema display or the DELL 2005FPW?

2. Displays Premiere Pro across two monitors, while displaying the contents of the program monitor of Premiere Pro at full HDV resolution on another HD display, such as an apple cinema display or the DELL 2005FPW?

[David Newman]

I believe No. 1 works although we haven't tested that ourselves. Aspect HD currently does full resolution while scrubbing, color correcting and edge view etc, but only half res during playback for performance reasons. Performance is getting even higher in the next release (soon) so we will consider playback at full quality once more of these HD PCIe cards are available. Aspect HD is an evoling product with a lot of cool things on its roadmap.

No.2 Is a hardware feature of the graphic card, I'm sure some will support this and others will not. Not effected by the Aspect HD software.

[Andrew Lock]

Thanks David.

To add my own tests to this post, although ATI produces a number of cards that feature DVI, VGA +HDTV (component) out, I have not found that they are suitable for this purpose because of the way their display properties are setup. Maybe there is a way, but I have not found it yet, and their support is hopeless.

I have also tried the Nvidia Geforce 6600 GT which has DVI, DVI +HDTV out. I set it up with the Dell 2005FPW on one DVI port and a 19" monitor on the other DVI port. The display properties are setup so that the desktop is spread across both monitors (2560 x 1080 I think). Premiere Pro is setup on the 19" monitor and the Dell widescreen monitor displays the HD video output full screen.

Although many of these latest cards have HDTV component out capabilities, you cannot use two monitors plus HDTV out, it can only be a total of two monitors - either VGA+HDTV, DVI+HDTV or VGA+DVI. That's why the new Matrox card will be better - it will allow you to use two monitors for Premiere Pro, plus the HDTV out.

[David Newman]

Andrew that is good info.

Thanks.

[Sean M Lee]

the two head cards are just that 2 heads. Just because there are 3 connectors doesn't mean you can use them all. It was that way even for NTSC stuff. You could always get another video card, run a desktop and HD from the master and the secondary monitor from the new card.

[Derek Serra]

I believe that Nvidia currently has a dual monitor + HD monitor out available for under $ 300 - can't remember the model no, but it's on their site.

[Andrew Lock]

All the relevant nVidia cards that I have looked at have dual outputs plus HDTV, BUT they are still only two head cards, so you can only have DVI + HDTV or VGA + HDTV or DVI + VGA. If it's a dual DVI plus HDTV then you can only have DVI + HDTV or DVI + DVI.

I believe it is misleading when manufacturers use the phrase "Dual head + HDTV". It makes it sound as though the video overlay can also be output on the HDTV. Take a look at any of these cards on the market and you'll see what I mean. Nowhere on the packaging do they even say dual head. I think they want consumers to believe they are actually dual head plus HDTV.

If anyone knows of any other card that has a triple head output, with one of those outputs being HDTV, please let us know.

[Derek Serra]

Yes, it is annoying. The new Matrox Parhelia HD card is a TRIPLE head card which offers active outputs to two DVI's AND an HDI simultaneously. It's due for release at any time soon. Their current Parhelia's do this too, but in SD.

[Jasenn Robertson]

Can you use a Decklink card as a second card to gain HDV monitoring ability? I'm building a Premiere HDV system and I'm trying to find a solution where several workstations can share one external monitor, via a router. So, I thought I could use Decklink HD and output the HDV signal over HD-SDI to an HD-SDI router. Any thoughts on this?

[David Newman]

DeckLink is not (yet) supported with Aspect HD.

[Steve Connor]

Does that (yet) mean it may be in the future? That would be very, VERY cool!

[Alister Chapman]

Has anyone tried the new Matrox Dualhead2go adapter box. This could be just the ticket. The Matrox box takes a single monitor output and splits it to feed two monitors with separate left/right desktops, much like the span mode most graphics cards have. The Matrox box is not a graphics card but an external box so it can be used with any existing graphics card. So if I have it right you could use an existing dual head card with one channel outputing to a HDTV or Monitor for monitoring (with video overlay) and the the second channel feeds the matrox box that then feeds two monitors. Viola 3 monitors from one dual head card! The only down side is the cost, the box is about £120 or $199 so it's not cheap!