MXO2 Mini for realtime playback of console source

[Cipher]

Hi,

i've been looking for a solution to my current problem for a while now, searching the web for many devices and might've finally found the correct one

right now, i'm using a PS3 console connected via RCA to an Elgato EyeTV hybrid which in turn outputs the video in realtime to my Apple HD Cinema Display 30"

the sad thing about the eyetv hybrid is that it is SD which looks horrible on my cinema display

so i went looking for other devices capable of doing realtime playback, all of them had a latency which is to great for interactive video (gaming)

so now i have been researching the MXO2 mini and found a review which stated the MXO2 mini has an approximate delay of 5 frames which translates to roughly 60ms

i was wondering if this is noticeable when interacting with the video output in realtime

so the idea is;

ps3 console -> HDMI->MXO2 mini -> host cable to PCI -> quicktime pro -> fullscreen on 30" Apple Cinema HD display

Thanks in advance,

Alex

[Cipher]

sorry, forgot to mention;

component would also work, since HDMI is HDCP and i don't know if the MXO2 mini strips HDCP

also note that the Apple Cinema HD Display (aluminum) is not HDCP compliant which is why i can't use hdmi -> DVI-D converter as well as the apple cinema display not having a native resolution of 720p &/or 1080p

Kind regards,

Alex

[Matrox_Presales]

Hello Alex and thank you for your interest in Matrox products. Our MXO2 family of products are HDCP compliant so you will need to come in through Component. Unfortunately our HDMI to DVI converters do not play nice with the ACD. I am not sure if its the resolution or the HDCP but it is not a supported Matrox workflow. I have some users telling me that they do it all the time, while others can't seem to get it to work. We do not support it so I would not recommend you buying our product based on this workflow.

regards,

JD
Customer Care

[Cipher]

Thank you for your reply, however, i'm not wishing to convert the signal to hdmi

i want to use the PCI slot of my MacBook Pro as input and use quicktime for realtime playback on my computer, thus allowing me to drag quicktime player onto my ACD (since it is connected to my laptop and not the Matrox)

Regards,

Alex

[Matrox_Presales]

Hello Alex and thank you for your continued interest in Matrox products. If you are capturing Component video through the Matrox MXO2 mini you will not have a problem in this workflow. Again the problem we have with ACD is our HDMI out to a HDMI-DVI converter.

regards,

JD
Customer Care

[Cipher]

Thank you for your quick reply and am probably going to get the MXO2 mini

however, could you confirm that the latency between video input through component and realtime video ouput through quicktime player is 5 frames or less?

Thanks again,

Alex

[Matrox_Presales]

Hi Alex, I am told it is 2-4 frames. You said a reviewer says 5 frames? I would like to know where they got those numbers. Enjoy.

regards,

JD
Customer Care

[Cipher]

the person tested it using a movie file displaying an accurate timer, the timer would be displayed on 2 displays and when the recording of those 2 displays is paused, you can count a .06second delay which is approximately 5 frames

source; http://createdigitalmotion.com/2009/08/matrox-mxo2-mini-review-uncompressed-hd-ingest-and-mixing-on-a-laptop/

(see the embedded video @ 10minutes)

and i'm getting it, thank you for all your help

is it possible to test the device in a retail store with your own laptop/input device?

Thanks a million,

Alex

[Matrox_Presales]

Hello Alex, I watched the video, I think he says "about" 5 frames as well. I am not sure if its because done by hand or because this is the first release of our MXO2 products (back in 2009) but I will show this to our product managers. There could be other factors that are above my head. I have been told 2-4 frames.

In regards to testing it depends on where you are located. You can call Bassel or myself at 1-800-361-4903. You can also send us an email at customer_care@matrox.com

regards,

JD
Customer Care

[Cipher]

Alright, thanks
keep me posted on the latency please

i'll send a mail with location details

Regards,

Alex

[Cipher]

it's me again

i bought the product, it was a hassle setting up, since i didn't have an output monitor for the MXO2

why i bought?

i was able to test the video lag by adding a 50ms latency to my EyeTV Hybrid

love the thing, there's just one problem i'm having now, i have no sound

currently have it connected through component and made sure everything is connected correctly, i had sound when i was in NTSC YUV 8 bit (SD) for a while, but that's gone as well now =/
tried using the HDMI for audio input, but that didn't work either

should i open up a new thread for that?

Kind regards

Cipher

ps will post more information on the latency (for other forum readers) after testing some games

[Matrox_Presales]

Hello Alex and thank you for your continued interest in Matrox products. If you are capturing audio through HDMI you will run into the same HDCP compliance issue. You need to change the settings in the Matrox systems prefs on the Mac, you can chose where you want your audio and video to come from. The Mini you will need to capture audio through RCA. It may have worked because you changed it but then the defaults may have kicked in and that is why it changed. You can always contact mxosupport@matrox.com or ask them in the tech support forum if you have any other difficulties.

regards,

JD
Customer Care

[Cipher]

Thanks for the quick reply

i'll open up a tech support thread

also, is it possible to enlarge the ventura capture preview?

Regards,

Alex

[Matrox_Presales]

Not a problem at all Alex. I do not think there is a way to enlarge the ventura capture preview window but it does not hurt to ask tech support that as well.

regards,

JD
Customer Care

[Cipher]

Thanks for all your support

@ other users who wish to use this for direct playback on the computer, the latency IS quite noticable, so i would not recommend it without using an output monitor

it might be however, that my MacBook Pro is not fast enough
(15" 2.5GHz Dual, 4GB RAM, 512MB VRAM, OS X 10.6.

Regards,

Alex