Matrox RT.X100 & RT.X10

If you've recently bought a real-time digital video (DV) editing card then look away now as, with its new RT.X100, Matrox has redefined affordable real-time DV editing.

The RT.X100 provides a sackful of real-time features including real-time editing of two video and two graphics layers with transparency, colour correction, fast and slow motion, 2D and 3D digital video effects (DVEs) and real-time chroma and luma keying.

Matrox has devolved some of the tasks to the processor, an approach made workable by the increasing power of today's GHz processors. The X100 splits up the tasks, with the processor handling fast and slow motion, colour correction, DV playback and chroma keying; the Flex 3D hardware taking care of 3D DVE, compositing and anisotropic filtering; and the C-Cube chip doing the analogue I/O mpeg2 and DV encoding.

With the processor playing such a crucial role, system specification is more critical. For the complex real-time effects and real-time DV output, Matrox recommends a 2.2GHz P4 or AMD Athlon XP 2000+. If you upgrade your processor, you'll enjoy improved performance.

The X100 can take advantage of dual-processor configurations. The X100 was tested on a dual Athlon XP 2000+ with a Millennium G550 graphics card and Windows XP professional.

With the RT.X100 installed, Premiere 6.5 (included in the package) is swift and timeline playback is responsive with hardly any appreciable delay. You have to make intelligent use of transparency and effects though; if you pile them on you're headed for an early appointment with the render bar.

You can combine up to 16 effects in real time including two layers of video with transparency, two layers of graphics with transparency, two channels of fast/slow motion, two channels of colour balance and levels control, two channels of 3D DVE and two channels of cropping.

That's a lot of stuff happening in real time, but the only time you do run into trouble is when attempting to run advanced 3D DVEs - page curls, for example - on two video streams.

The DVEs comprise the core of the RT2500 effects with some additions. So you get all the page curls, 3D tiles, distortions and effects, in addition to 150 or so Spicerack organic wipes and the real-time native Premiere transitions.

The quality of the Matrox DVEs is superb, due in large part to anisotropic filtering. This scales video separately in the horizontal and vertical planes when distorting it to fit on a 3D surface.

The 18-parameter colour corrector provides control over colour balance with sliders for four 'proc amp' controls - hue, saturation, brightness and contrast - and individual RGB control over shadows, midtones and highlights.

There's an auto white balance button, as well as preset colour effects such as negative, washed-out film and sepia. Real-time chroma and luma keying are easy to use, accurate and flexible. This is one area where the real-time factor makes a difference as you can spot problems. The auto key button does an excellent job adding soft edges, removing spill and preserving shadows, and there are eight manual controls to further refine the key.

DVD authors will welcome real-time encoding. The Ligos mpeg encoder, assisted by the C-Cube chip, plays back the timeline in real time as it encodes files to mpeg2 format. DVD-it LE, which is bundled with Premiere 6.5, is the next and final step in the DVD production process.

The RT.X100 is great value for money. The price premium will not be an issue for professionals, while those whose budget is limited to software-only editing will be interested in the RT.X10. This 'lite' version of the RT.X100 can combine 11 real-time effects on two video and two graphics channels, with a limited range of DVEs. RT.X10 also includes Premiere 6.5 and DVD-it LE, and sells for £399 ex. VAT - less than most retailers charge for Premiere on its own.

Both cards therefore deserve a Recommended award; the X100 for offering unparalleled flexibility and power for under £1,000, and the X10 simply for being such great value.

DETAILS
Price: £868.33 (£739 ex. VAT)

Contact: Matrox 01753 665 577
www.matrox.com

System Requirements:

• 1GHz Intel Pentium III
• 1.8GHz P4 or Athlon XP1500+
• Windows XP Home or Professional
• 512MB of Ram
• 500MB free hard disk space