MX02 Mini Questions (2)

Question

First off, this is really for people who already own a Matrox MXO2 Mini or are familiar with it. I just purchased one, and am using it with FCP 6 and a consumer 32" 1080p 120Hz LCD set from Samsung (and yes, I do know that the 120Hz is the actual refresh rate of the set and not just the horrible "Auto Motion 120Hz" hype that looks awful and which I happily have turned off).
The first question I have is about the 1080p function of the Mini. I actually have the question in to Matrox (which has excellent support, btw), because right now it seems that the Mini only supports monitoring 1080psf (segmented frames). I'm not bothered by this as long as it works, but I find it odd that it doesn't do true 1080p monitoring (which it does with 720, and 486, etc.). Wondering how psf really works, and if true 1080p monitoring would be more desirable for any reason.
The second question is in regards to picture monitoring over Component vs. over HDMI. When I send HD signals over both, I notice little difference. But I see a HUGE difference with SD signals - the main one being the fact that when I park a frame on a interlaced image, monitoring over component the frame is totally motionless, and looks like a "progressive" view of both fields simultaneously (with what I refer to as an interlaced "jaggies" around the edges). When I park on the same frame in HDMI, the interlacing is the usual flicker that I notice on a CRT monitor parked on 2 fields at once. (Hopefully that explanation made sense).
Why this difference? Is it just a function of my Samsung? When I click on the "info" button on my TV while viewing these sources, over Component the TV says "720x480i" (and the parked frame looks very "still" but "jaggie"), while over HDMI it says "720x480" but no "i", (and the parked frame here looks "flickering" and full of motion)
Huh? Shouldn't this be just the opposite?
The differences don't end there, either. Over HDMI, several shots that were taken outdoors with a lot of background trees have really weird flicker on the edges of these trees and other objects. This happens both while playing, and when parked on a frame. They do not appear to be an interlacing issue, as sometimes they go away when I advance a frame at a time, and are unable to be reproduced exactly.
This flicker does not happen with the same scenes over Component. And in neither case is the motion otherwise strange.
What's going on here? Anyone have any clues? Again, could this be a problem or issue with my TV, as opposed to the Mini? And should I have perhaps invested in a better (if smaller) Video monitor if I wanted to do true color correction?
Thanks for any info!

Answer 1

I just got mine today and have played with it a little, including hooking it up to a couple HDTVs and playing out 720p 23.98, 1080p 23.98 and 1080i 29.97.
Wondering how psf really works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivesegmentedframe
and if true 1080p monitoring would be more desirable for any reason.
No....it isn't. And this is one thing that people seem to demand but have no idea what it means. TRUE 24P monitoring, for either 720p or 1080p...is NOT desireable. Why? It flickers. Why does it flicker? Because as you noted, your TV is a 120Hz LCD. NTSC power is 60Hz based, so they work well. 24 doesn't go evenly into 120Hz, nor 60Hz, so it flickers. Even on high end $35,000 HD CRTs it flickers. NO ONE monitors at true 24P because of this. They send a 23.98 signal out in a 29.97 stream...adding pulldown as it goes out...so that it will play smoothly. Because 29.97...really 30fps, 60 interlaced fields, goes into 120Hz evenly. 120Hz is easily divisible by 30 and 60...if you get my meaning.
This happens with a PAL monitor if it is connected to an NTSC power source. In PAL land you can monitor 25P all day long, no flicker. Their power is all 50Hz based, and 25 goes into 50 evenly. But plug that monitor into a 60Hz power, and play 25P or 50i footage, and you get flicker.
The mini has 23.98 settings for 720p and 23.98 psf for 1080i, and that adds pulldown when it plays so that you don't get flicker. I played both types on two different HDTVs and it looked AWESOME.
No clue about why SD looks progressive while HD does the interlaced dance. I noticed that the interlaced footage I had didn't do that two-field shuffle on the HDTVs...it showed the jaggie lines I saw on my computer monitor. So to see proper interlacing you need a monitor that shows it...HDTVs aren't designed to show interlacing...they are all PROGRESSIVE monitors. I'm guessing that your Samsung was like the one I used tonight...it cannot show interlacing.
No idea what is occuring on the outdoor footage you have. I was looking at Africa safari footage and interlaced re-creations from a documentary and progressive footage of people on the street. I didn't see anything like what you described. But I was only viewing via HDMI. I'm still playing.
And I really like it. I got the MAX version, and so far rendering to H.264 has been sped up 300%.
Shane