Video cards for Cineform/HDV? at DVinfo.net

Kevin Shaw · May 3rd, 2005, 04:53 PM

From a discussion in another thread...

"...the quick answer is no CPU impact, GPU does all the work to scale 1440 to 1920 (whether you are on the Mac or PC.) So this is no system performance hit or requirements change. " - David Newman

David: what video cards do you recommend now for component 1080i output from editing products using Cineform? Seems like the ones we've discussed in the past were rather pricey; anything a little more affordable yet?

David Newman · May 3rd, 2005, 05:08 PM

Price will come down but the NVidia and Matrox cards with component out are still the best choice.

Kevin Shaw · May 5th, 2005, 07:02 AM

David: I just checked Pricewatch and found video cards based on the geForce 6600 starting at around $120 (e.g. see below)-- will this work for previewing to an HDTV at full resolution, and if so do you need an adapter or special cable to get component connections?

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merch...ct_Code=190185

Jeff Baker · May 17th, 2005, 06:44 AM

I heard that the video previews on the PNY 540 Quadro setup a NAB were not so good (looked like vhs quality). How should the PNY board be setup to view cineform for color correction level work?

David Newman · May 17th, 2005, 08:49 AM

PNY did have a prerelease of Aspect HD that could playback full HD quality out to their card, but unfortunately the PNY NAB setup most run Aspect HD in the preview mode as more channels of video effects was preferred for NAB purposes over full HD output during playback (HD/2 mode is much better than VHS, but it is still a preview.) However, if you turn the "deinterlace scrubbing" option off you get full res out of HD cards even in the current Aspect HD release -- prefect for color correction purposes.

Turning off the preview mode in playback is an upcoming feature for Aspect HD (probably the version after next week's Aspect HD 3.1.) We decided to roll out all the new features in a couple of steps as we are still awaiting for some driver upgrades from third parties for full HD-SDI output as well as analog component.

Andrew J Hall · May 17th, 2005, 05:43 PM

Hi Kevin, I have one of the geForce 6600 cards:

"LEADTEK WinFast PX6600 GT TDH 128MB 6600GT Graphics Card *PCIE X 16 Graphics *DVI *TV Out *HDTV Out *nView
Multi-DisplayTechnology *8 Pixel Pipeline *128bit Memory Interface *SLI Support *CineFX 3.0"

Despite all the nice sounding specs I have not yet managed to get it to preview either TV or HDTV from Premiere. What it will do is play a DVD straight out the back (using the VIVO connector) but so far I have not managed anything more sophisticated and I am not sure that it can do it.

David, I've asked you this in about three threads now and no answer (not a complaint, I really appreciate the great support you and Cineform provide) - should Premiere be able to provide HDTV previews (ie from the Premiere monitor window) from cards such as these?

Andrew

David Newman · May 17th, 2005, 05:53 PM

Yes and no as my last post indicates. Aspect HD is getting another upgrade or two in the next weeks which will have an impact on this (which it hard to speak about features that are not yet released.) Scrubbing is full-res out to these cards today.

Andrew J Hall · May 18th, 2005, 01:51 AM

Just to be clear - my issue is not (yet) one of 'quality' of preview. Using the nine-pin VIVO TV / HDTV socket on the back of my card I get no TV image at all from Premiere ever (either scrubbing or overlay / video). If I use the DVI connector to a LCD monitor (or CRT with an adaptor) that works fine from Premiere - it functions as a second display screen which Premiere sends the monitor window output to. But while the TV connector on these cards can be used to display DVD output if setup right it does not AFAIK work from within Premiere.

Andrew

David Newman · May 18th, 2005, 09:43 AM

In Premiere 1.5.1 you need to turn overlay support on (within the playback setting window.) In that mode it works just like the DVD software using the TV out. In Aspect HD the playback setting window has similar control for scrubbing yet normal playback always goes to the overlay, so it is just a matter of setting up the video card. Basically if you can get MediaPlayer to output through the TV out, Aspect HD will do the same.

Jeff Baker · May 20th, 2005, 10:06 PM

Just saw the pny 540 card in action again at an adobe hdv seminar in SF and it looked very good, good enough for color correction as far as I can tell.

It was using the cineform aspect software and FX1 hdv footage.

Graham Morton · May 23rd, 2005, 11:44 PM

Don't mean to keep hammering on this card but I read all the specs and tried a few of the other cards, then bought an ATI, then bought the APVe and its the only one that works with two monitors and 1 hd out. Looks great, the other two LCDs have to be analog connected with HD out. If you just want SD the you can use the DVI on the other two or one DVI and HD out. It's a little more but it definately pays off.

Peter Ferling · May 24th, 2005, 06:42 AM

Does the APVe have open-GL support?

Graham Morton · May 24th, 2005, 12:03 PM

Yeah its got OpenGL and DirectX full support. It seems to runs everything as fast as the ATI I had before but I haven't done any test as far as actual number to compare.

Peter Ferling · May 24th, 2005, 12:42 PM

Cool. I never considered the matrox card due to poor performance in Lightwave and AE. Maybe things have changed and matrox is back in the game... I have some more reading to do. Thanks.

Pete

Graham Morton · May 24th, 2005, 09:35 PM

I am not sure if it will keep up with some of the serious workstation cards out there but for doing HDV on PPro I have no complaints as of yet.

May 3rd, 2005, 04:53 PM	#1
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	Video cards for Cineform/HDV? From a discussion in another thread... "...the quick answer is no CPU impact, GPU does all the work to scale 1440 to 1920 (whether you are on the Mac or PC.) So this is no system performance hit or requirements change. " - David Newman David: what video cards do you recommend now for component 1080i output from editing products using Cineform? Seems like the ones we've discussed in the past were rather pricey; anything a little more affordable yet?

May 3rd, 2005, 05:08 PM	#2
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Price will come down but the NVidia and Matrox cards with component out are still the best choice. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

May 17th, 2005, 06:44 AM	#4
Jeff Baker Regular Crew Join Date: May 2005 Location: Northampton, MA Posts: 184	I heard that the video previews on the PNY 540 Quadro setup a NAB were not so good (looked like vhs quality). How should the PNY board be setup to view cineform for color correction level work? __________________ Canon C100, 5D3

May 17th, 2005, 08:49 AM	#5
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	PNY did have a prerelease of Aspect HD that could playback full HD quality out to their card, but unfortunately the PNY NAB setup most run Aspect HD in the preview mode as more channels of video effects was preferred for NAB purposes over full HD output during playback (HD/2 mode is much better than VHS, but it is still a preview.) However, if you turn the "deinterlace scrubbing" option off you get full res out of HD cards even in the current Aspect HD release -- prefect for color correction purposes. Turning off the preview mode in playback is an upcoming feature for Aspect HD (probably the version after next week's Aspect HD 3.1.) We decided to roll out all the new features in a couple of steps as we are still awaiting for some driver upgrades from third parties for full HD-SDI output as well as analog component. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

May 17th, 2005, 05:43 PM	#6
Andrew J Hall Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 80	Hi Kevin, I have one of the geForce 6600 cards: "LEADTEK WinFast PX6600 GT TDH 128MB 6600GT Graphics Card PCIE X 16 Graphics DVI TV Out HDTV Out nView Multi-DisplayTechnology 8 Pixel Pipeline 128bit Memory Interface SLI Support *CineFX 3.0" Despite all the nice sounding specs I have not yet managed to get it to preview either TV or HDTV from Premiere. What it will do is play a DVD straight out the back (using the VIVO connector) but so far I have not managed anything more sophisticated and I am not sure that it can do it. David, I've asked you this in about three threads now and no answer (not a complaint, I really appreciate the great support you and Cineform provide) - should Premiere be able to provide HDTV previews (ie from the Premiere monitor window) from cards such as these? Andrew __________________ http://www.ps-scripts.com/ Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 2x 2Gb Ram, ATI Radeon HD 3850

May 5th, 2005, 07:02 AM	#3
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	David: I just checked Pricewatch and found video cards based on the geForce 6600 starting at around $120 (e.g. see below)-- will this work for previewing to an HDTV at full resolution, and if so do you need an adapter or special cable to get component connections? http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merch...ct_Code=190185

May 17th, 2005, 05:53 PM	#7
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	Yes and no as my last post indicates. Aspect HD is getting another upgrade or two in the next weeks which will have an impact on this (which it hard to speak about features that are not yet released.) Scrubbing is full-res out to these cards today. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

May 18th, 2005, 01:51 AM	#8
Andrew J Hall Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 80	Just to be clear - my issue is not (yet) one of 'quality' of preview. Using the nine-pin VIVO TV / HDTV socket on the back of my card I get no TV image at all from Premiere ever (either scrubbing or overlay / video). If I use the DVI connector to a LCD monitor (or CRT with an adaptor) that works fine from Premiere - it functions as a second display screen which Premiere sends the monitor window output to. But while the TV connector on these cards can be used to display DVD output if setup right it does not AFAIK work from within Premiere. Andrew __________________ http://www.ps-scripts.com/ Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 2x 2Gb Ram, ATI Radeon HD 3850

May 18th, 2005, 09:43 AM	#9
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	In Premiere 1.5.1 you need to turn overlay support on (within the playback setting window.) In that mode it works just like the DVD software using the TV out. In Aspect HD the playback setting window has similar control for scrubbing yet normal playback always goes to the overlay, so it is just a matter of setting up the video card. Basically if you can get MediaPlayer to output through the TV out, Aspect HD will do the same. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

May 20th, 2005, 10:06 PM	#10
Jeff Baker Regular Crew Join Date: May 2005 Location: Northampton, MA Posts: 184	Just saw the pny 540 card in action again at an adobe hdv seminar in SF and it looked very good, good enough for color correction as far as I can tell. It was using the cineform aspect software and FX1 hdv footage. __________________ Canon C100, 5D3

May 23rd, 2005, 11:44 PM	#11
Graham Morton Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Orlando, Fl Posts: 35	Check out the Matrox APVe Don't mean to keep hammering on this card but I read all the specs and tried a few of the other cards, then bought an ATI, then bought the APVe and its the only one that works with two monitors and 1 hd out. Looks great, the other two LCDs have to be analog connected with HD out. If you just want SD the you can use the DVI on the other two or one DVI and HD out. It's a little more but it definately pays off.

May 24th, 2005, 06:42 AM	#12
Peter Ferling Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wyomissing, PA Posts: 1,141 Images: 57	Does the APVe have open-GL support?

May 24th, 2005, 12:03 PM	#13
Graham Morton Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Orlando, Fl Posts: 35	Yep Yeah its got OpenGL and DirectX full support. It seems to runs everything as fast as the ATI I had before but I haven't done any test as far as actual number to compare.

May 24th, 2005, 12:42 PM	#14
Peter Ferling Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wyomissing, PA Posts: 1,141 Images: 57	Cool. I never considered the matrox card due to poor performance in Lightwave and AE. Maybe things have changed and matrox is back in the game... I have some more reading to do. Thanks. Pete

May 24th, 2005, 09:35 PM	#15
Graham Morton Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Orlando, Fl Posts: 35	Don't know how fast you are looking for? I am not sure if it will keep up with some of the serious workstation cards out there but for doing HDV on PPro I have no complaints as of yet.