Great DV Shootout 2002
Page 6 of 7
| Feature Matrix | |||
| (Note: bold face type shows reviewer’s preference, no bold face means roughly equal) | Canopus DVStorm SE Plus | Pinnacle Pro-ONE | Matrox RT2500 |
| Price | $1299 | $1199 | $899 |
| Processor/RAM/OS provided by vendor for testing (all were turnkey systems) | Dual AMD Athlon MP 1.2 GHz, 512 MB RAM, Windows 2000 | AMD Athlon 1.33 GHz, 512 MB RAM, Windows 98 SE | Dual Intel XEON 1.4 GHz, 512 MB RAM, Windows 2000, Windows XP (dual boot) |
| Analog I/O | Video - S-video (Y/C), composite I/O Audio – Stereo in/out | Video – S-video (Y/C), composite I/O Audio – Stereo in/out | Video - S-video (Y/C), composite I/O Audio – Stereo in/out |
| Digital Video I/O | DV (IEEE-1394) 4-pin | DV (IEEE-1394) 6-pin (x2) | DV (IEEE-1394) 6-pin |
| Breakout Box | Yes (5 inch bay) | Yes (desktop w/ 6’ cable) | Yes |
| Capture Digital Audio Only (w/o video) | Yes | No | Yes |
| Deck Control - Allows user control a external camera or deck for capture and output | DV (IEEE 1394) | DV (IEEE 1394) | DV (IEEE-1394) |
| Editing Format - Format used for source clips while editing | DV format | DV format | DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO, NTSC 4:1:1, PAL 4:1:1 and 4:2:0, MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-Frame from 10 to 25 Mbps |
| Hardware CODEC(s) - Hardware used for compression and decompression of the video source | Canopus DV hardware CODEC | Yes | C-Cube DVxpress-MX25 |
| Aspect Ratio | 4:3, 16:9 | 4:3, 16:9 | 4:3, 16:9 |
| TV Standards | NTSC, PAL | NTSC | NTSC, PAL |
| Real Time Video Filters - Filters available in real time | 24+ (Including color correction, chroma & luma keying) | 9 | 14+ (Including Page Curl, Blur, Mask, Distortion, Brightness, Contrast, RGB Gain, RGB Offset, 3D Tiles, Particles, 2D PIP, 3D PIP, Cropping, Transform) |
| Real Time Audio Filters -- Filters available in real time | 9+ | 0 | All of Adobe’s |
| Real Time Titles | 10+ tracks (depending on CPU speed) Static and moving | Static, moving, and 3D motion path | Static and moving with 3D positioning |
| Real Time Graphic Overlay (alpha channel) | 10+ tracks (depending on CPU speed) Static and moving | Static, moving, and 3D motion path | Static and moving with 3D positioning |
| Maximum number of Real-Time effects | Scalable Technology (Increase CPU Speed = More Real-Time features) | Up to 10 real-time effects rendered in hardware, CPU independent. No dropped frames | 6 |
| Real-Time DV timeline output | Yes | No | No |
| Output Formats | DV, analog video, WMV, QuickTime, MPEG-1, 2, DVD, DVD on CD | DV, analog video, WMV, QuickTime, MPEG-1,2, DVD, MotionCD | DV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MediaExport for accelerated Windows Media and Real, QuickTime. |
| O/S Support | Win 98, NT, 2000, Win Me, XP | Win98, ME, 2000, XP | Win 98 SE, Me, 2000, XP |
| Bundled Software | Adobe Premiere 6.0, StormEdit, Boris Graffiti Ltd, ACID, Web Video Wizard, XplodeBasics, DVDit! LE, SoftMPEG Encoder | Adobe Premiere | 6.0, Pinnacle Impression DVD SE, Pinnacle DV Tools, HollywoodFX-RT, TitleDeko-RT, AlphaMagic | Adobe Premiere 6.0, Inscriber Title Express, Ligos LSX-MPEG LE, Sonic Foundry, Acid Music, Pixélan Video SpiceRack Lite, DVDit! LE, Matrox MediaTools, Matrox MediaExport |
| Real time “film look” | Yes | No | No |
| Real time Color Correction with Waveform and Vectorscope | Yes | No | No |
| >Real time Chroma and Luma key | Yes | No | No |
| Field-based Speed change(Slow motion) | Yes, but jerky at all speeds tested, deemed by reviewer to be unusable | Yes, but jerky at all speeds tested, deemed by reviewer to be unusable | No, Frame-based, jerky at all speeds tested, , deemed by reviewer to be unusable |
| Two simultaneous channels of Slow motion | Yes, up to three, but deemed by reviewer to be unusable | Yes, but deemed by reviewer to be unusable | Yes, but deemed by reviewer to be unusable |
| Two simultaneous channels of Image Correction | Yes, up to three | Yes | No, 1 |
| Combine multiple 3D transitions on timeline | No | Yes | No |
| Combine multiple filters on multiple clips | Yes | Yes | No |
| Real time video output during all effects decisions | Yes | Yes | Yes (both analog output and VGA overlay) |
| Edge-dragging visible in NTSC monitor | Yes | No | No |
| Real time Image Stabilization | No | Yes, but reduces resolution and makes image look more unstable than it was in the first place, deemed unusable by reviewer | No |
| Two simultaneous Picture-in-Picture videos with moving background | Yes | Yes, PiPs can be adjusted for rounded-off corners, a nice feature | No |
| Combine up to ten effects and filters and play back in real time | Yes, more than ten possible (depending on CPU speed), but this means calling things like a border an “effect” | Yes, but this means calling things like a border an “effect” | 6, but this means calling things like a border an “effect” |
| Ability to use 3D objects/models as part of 3D transition | Four limited 3D DVE effects, Xplode Professional ($399, sold separately) | Yes, with Hollywood FX RT, but it’s a crippled version, constant nagging you to upgrade | No |
| Create broadcast looks like "Sports Slate" and "Dateline" in real-time | No | Yes | Yes – broadcast look with real time blur, mattes, and 3D text peel |
| Have up to two video and four objects animated in real time | No | Yes | No |
| Advanced keyframing on almost every aspect of 3D effect | No | Yes, keyframing interface judged best | Yes |
| Ability to use Bitmaps, .PSD, TIFF as well as .TGA with effects in real-time | Yes | Yes | Yes – with 32-bit TGA |
| Filtering quality on tight perspective and PIP | PIP – Excellent (tight perspective N/A) | Good | Excellent, much better overall quality |
| Filtering quality on zoom | n/a | Good | Excellent, much better overall quality |
| Softness on 3D object edges | No | Yes – keyframeable edge softness. on some effects, pre-defined soft edges in Hollywood-FX | Yes |
| Borders and drop shadows | 2D DVE with no softness | 2D DVE – ultra-smooth, key-frameable drop shadows | 2D and 3D DVE |
| True drop shadow on graphics/title overlay | No | Partial - Drop shadows can be added to titles in TitleDeko-RT | Yes |
| Page curl keyframeable in true 3D space | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cropping (adjustable overscan) | Yes | Yes – crop on overscan at capture | Yes |
| Keyframeable blur combined with 3D DVE | No | No | Yes, but it’s not really a blur, more like a shower-door effect |
| WYSIWYG for Adobe After Effects | Video Out plug-in for After Effects (sold separately, $249) | No | Yes |
| Keyframeability | Limited | Extensive (infinite) | Extensive |
| All layers visible when editing filters | No | Yes | Yes |
| Accurate positioning of graphics using DVE | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Effects applicable to graphics | All real time effects applicable to graphics as well as video | Yes | Yes |
| Horizontal flip (crossing line of axis) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Real time single pass DV scan and capture | No, (scan, select scenes capture. workflow) | No, (scan, select scenes capture. workflow) | Yes, best auto-capture utility, captures quickly, accurately and continuously, easiest to use |
| DV Scan/capture applet eliminates pre-roll between each clip | No | No | Yes, captures quickly, accurately and continuously |
| View video on NTSC monitor during DV input and output | Yes | No, Preview on VGA monitor | Yes |
| Simultaneous 4-channel audio capture | Yes | No, 2 channel | Yes |
| MPEG-2 I-frame capture and editing | No | No | Yes |
| MPEG-2 IBP capture from analog for DVD | No | No | Yes |
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