That sums it up, AFAIK.

Not sure how much life there is in film-to-DBeta-to-NLE transfers. Isn't l'Equipe offering ProRes HD transfers at the same rate as DBeta? I thought I heard something like that.

Yeah, that's wat they do, actually it should be cheaper since they don't need a deck anymore. And nor do I, I almost don't remember how to do a playout on tape. So I also think that tape and maybe even film is history. The Alexa - unlike RED - really seems to be a gamechanger for a lot of directors and DOP's, but that's another topic :-)

Alain Dessauvage:

So to summarize, because I need to buy one of the two boxes asap.

MXO2 Mini

Will output HDMI 1080P24 to a consumer tv or 1080Psf to a professional HD monitor. Could ingest through a stand-alone app or in FCP, but no machine-deck control, so limited useability

 

IO Express

Can only output 1080Psf to professional HD monitors through SDI or HDMI. No 1080P so you can't connect it to a consumer HDMI monitor, because most of them can't handle Psf signals. Since the specs of the IO express say that it can do 1080P, this appears to be a driver issue that might be resolved in the future. Can't ingest in Avid 24p projects, so that makes it less usefull for film projects that got TK'd on dBeta.

In the end, for film editors both boxes will probably only serve as a monitoring solution. So the MXO2 has more to offer at the moment, since it's cheaper and you can connect it to a decent Panasonic consumer Plasma. Or am I missing something ?

First of all, I'd like to thank all the posters for the incredibly detailed discussion.

The bottom line seems to be that as a feature editor my better choice is the Matrox MX02 Mini. Do I need the "Max" option? Can I buy an older non "Max" model and update the firmware or should I stick with a newer version?

Poster Conleec wrote: "since I purchased the Matrox with the Max option, I'm able to do a QT reference output of my show, then compress it to H.264 in Compressor at  substantially faster than realtime. That's a big bonus for me, since I'm dealing with shows that average 90 minutes."

Does this apply to Mac alone? I'm on a PC and use Sorensen Squeeze to create my QuickTimes from QT reference. Will the Matrox MX02 Mini help me in this regard and do I need the "Max" option for this?

Thanks for the great thread guys.  I still seemed  confused on whats best for me.  I am the assistant editor of a tv show and work offline for the time being, but really need monintoring.

Does anyone if there still are audio issues with the matrox?  I read on here that it was sending all the audio to the monitor, that is not going to work for me.

So just curious if that exists still and if there are any issues yet with the aja. 

also, I was going to buy a small samsung led 19 inch 720p tv or maybe the 1080p 22 inch.  Anyone have any thoughts on what monitors have worked out and what have not. 

for the time being I am doing all my work offline at dv25411 and not color correcting all my roughs obviously.  IN the next few months I will be completeing sequences in HD and will be responsible for color correcting.  So I am trying to get everything squared away.

I really need full screen monitoring though.  I am hoping to edit an online web series in the fall and will really need it by then. 

so basically I am just asking if there are any existing matrox mini problems floating around.

Todd: Audio not a problem on the mini - it has rca outs along with the audio embedded in the HDMI. As for monitors - try before you buy. Especially if you're doing 24p. My acer 22" works fine with 1080i but not 24p. My Sony Bravia 40" ($667) works with everything out of the mini. The monitor configuration setup works great.

thanks ronn.

so just to be clear I would leave my audio the same?  I have a mackie 402-vlz3 mixer I use.

and then just run the hdmi to the monitor for video and leave the volume on zero?

sorry for being an idiot!  I am just trying to get final word there are no bugs so I can buy one asap!

No worries Todd. You can just monitor the audio going from the RCA outputs on the mini to the Mackie, or (if you're syncing audio) you may want to take audio from the monitor (mine has RCA audio out) back to the Mackie to monitor. There is a very slight delay, noticable when you listen to both at once, an echo. So I use the latter setup. I've been syncing up sound with no TC, no clapper. A millisecond off here or there can really ruin my day. HTH.