Best HD to SD Downconvert: AJA or Blackmagic?

After nearly 4 days of using Compressor to downconvert HD to SD for DVD use with almost every iteration you can imagine, and reading dozens of posts, and talking with a lot of professionals, I've decided the best quality is going to be a hardware conversion.
Do you have an AJA Kona LHe Plus card, or Blackmagic Decklink Studio card?  How have they performed?  Complaints?  And, in particular, how does the downcoversion look?
I talked with an AJA rep today and he said that Blackmagic is not true "hardware" conversion: it is software inside the card.  Do you know anything about this? Splitting hairs? Sales pitch? Does it matter?
I look forward to hearing your card recomendations.
Larry

They both downconvert very well...even though the Decklink is a software downconvert.
Now, bear in mind, if you use them the only way to get a DVD is to output to a DVD recorder.  They only downconvert out via a video signal thru the card.  They don't aid in making a compressed file for authoring.

Similar Messages

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    Reposting this bit because it differs significantly from topic of thread where it appeared.
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    Shane Ross wrote:
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    Can I blame the typo on the assistant editor? Probably not… He digitized at the lab and emailed me that, but I should have known better… (See previous apology.)
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    You need a MacPro with about 6GB to 8GB of RAM.
    You will need a Kona 3 card, or Decklink Multibridge Pro or Eclipse.
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    Forget the laptop option. As soon as you mention Uncompressed 4:4:4...it is off the table.
    Since I’m editing the offline right now, I should be fine with the internal striped RAID for now? (Would Option 1 be back on the table if I was only working with the offline? Not that I wouldn’t love a new MacPro and huge screens, etc., I just want to know where my ‘needs’ end and my ‘wants’ start.)
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    Two monitors...Dell 2408 are great. Better picture and CHEAPER than the Apple dislays.
    Okay, this is a big deal to me. Your preference for Dell over Apple sways me a lot back toward Dell, even though I have read that color on the Apple is better, and the response times on the new Dells are not the greatest in the latest benchmarks. Regardless, I bet I wouldn’t notice a difference once they were all calibrated, etc. (Besides the gorgeous aesthetic of the Apples!)
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    ii) Do I really need an AJA or Blackmagic card to view the 1080p signal?
    Yes, you do.
    Shouldn’t it just work?
    Just work how? Via firewire? Nope. DV...yes (camera/deck required). DVCPRO HD...yes (if you have a deck to route thru). HDV...no. Uncompressed HD...HECK no...not without a capture card. UC 4:4:4? Kona 3...Decklink Multibridge or Eclipse.
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    I’m being told conflicting reports that I can view the 1080p footage just fine without anything, or that I do in fact need a Matrox MXO2 or something similar. What’s the truth?
    MXO 2 can allow you to view HDV, DVCPRO HD, XDCAM, uncompressed 4:2:2 HD. 4:4:4 is KONA/Decklink territory.
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    No performance increase. They allow for more RT effects with HDV and DVCPRO HD, but they do not speed up renders or add more RT to uncompressed HD.
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    not by a long shot.
    Is it fast enough to handle the offline?
    My immediate goal is to edit the offline files to a final cut in the quickest most efficient way possible.
    Capture DVCPRO HD native...via firewire. Edit on your internal drives...no striping needed...they are plenty fast.
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    I’d need to purchase the Kona3 for sure and then purchase the CalDigit HDPro…the best from what I’ve researched.
    YOu researched well...
    Thanks! Nice review of the HDPro!!!

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    Message was edited by: doug m
    Message was edited by: doug m

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