IBC 2005 - Amsterdam, September 8 – Matrox Video Products today announced a significant boost in the realtime performance of the Matrox Axio family of HD and SD editing platforms using AMD64 dual-core technology.

The number of video and graphics layers that can be processed in real time at full online 1080i quality significantly increases when using Dual Core AMD Opteron processors compared to single-core processors.

Matrox Axio in Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor-based HP xw9300 workstations will be demonstrated at IBC 2005 on stand 7.128.

Matrox Axio makes Adobe Premiere Pro the foremost realtime HD and SD editor for demanding broadcast and post-production environments. It features no-render HD and SD finishing in compressed and uncompressed formats, superior color correction tools, advanced realtime effects, and a full range of analog and digital audio and video inputs and outputs. It incorporates Matrox Flex 3D and Power of X technologies to leverage scalable CPU power with the explosive performance of dedicated 3D graphics hardware that can provide the ultimate SD and HD editing experience.

“Thanks to our Power of X architecture, Matrox Axio users get an automatic performance boost in the realtime editing capabilities of their systems whenever CPU power increases,” said Alain Legault, Matrox vice-president of product development.

Legault continued, “This is not the case with other HD editing systems on the market today that are limited by their hardware-bound architecture. In addition, optimized multi-threading built into the Axio software ensures that the use of all the processors is balanced for peak performance. With Matrox Axio, you get as many layers of full online 1080i quality video as you get preview quality video on some other systems.”

“We made Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors with Direct Connect Architecture available to Matrox at the early stages of testing and have been working with them to optimize the performance of their Axio multi-threaded host-based video codec and effects engine," said Pat Patla, director, server/workstation marketing, Microprocessor Solutions Sector, AMD. “Our close collaboration can bring unprecedented production improvements to creative video professionals.”

Key features of Matrox Axio
There are two Matrox Axio platforms to choose from. Both offer ultra high performance editing in all HD and SD formats. They differ only in the audio and video inputs and outputs provided on the interchangeable breakout boxes.

Both Matrox Axio platforms offer:
- Guaranteed full quality, full frame rate, full resolution playback at up to 1080i at 29.97 fps
- At least 2 layers of uncompressed 10-bit HD video plus 2 layers of graphics in real time, with effects*
- At least 4 layers of uncompressed 10-bit SD video plus 6 layers of graphics in real time, with effects*
- Realtime primary and secondary color correction with shot-to-shot color matching
- Realtime 3D DVEs, chroma/luma keying, speed changes, blur/glow/soft focus, and much more
- Uncompressed 8- or 10-bit HD and SD editing
- Native HDV and DVCPRO HD editing
- Compressed HD editing (offline and online finishing-quality MPEG-2 I-frame)
- DV, DVCPRO, DV50, and MPEG-2 I-frame SD editing
- Realtime mixing of HD codecs or SD codecs on the timeline
- 24 fps editing in HD and SD with pull down and reverse pull down
- Realtime high quality downscaling from HD to SD
- Matrox Axio HD I/O
- DV-1394, SD SDI, and HD SDI input and output
- RGB and YPbPr analog component output
- 4-in/8-out AES/EBU balanced audio, 8-in/8-out SDI embedded audio
- Matrox Axio SD I/O
- DV-1394, composite, Y/C, analog component, and SDI video input and output
- 2-in/2-out RCA and XLR audio, 8-in/8-out SDI embedded audio
- Upgradeable to Matrox Axio HD by simply adding the HD breakout box
- Realtime performance increases significantly with Dual-Core systems - up to double the number of realtime layers.

Price and availability
Matrox Axio is now available worldwide through a network of authorized dealers. The software and hardware components are integrated by the dealer into an approved workstation-class PCI-X computer, coupled with a robust storage subsystem, and delivered as a turnkey system. Dealers also provide on-site installation and training services.

Matrox Axio HD is priced at $11,495 US in North America. Matrox Axio SD is priced at $7,495 US in North America. Prices include the complete Adobe Video Collection Standard; the workstation and storage are extra.

An exclusive discount program is available to current Matrox DigiSuite owners, offering a savings of $1,500 on Matrox Axio SD and $2,500 Matrox Axio HD. Details of this program can be found on the Matrox website.

About Matrox
Matrox Video Products Group is a technology and market leader in the field of HD and SD digital video hardware and software for realtime editing, DVD authoring, capture/playout servers, clip/still stores, and CGs. Matrox's Emmy award-winning technology powers a full range of content creation and delivery platforms used by broadcasters, post-production facilities, project studios, corporate communicators, and videographers worldwide. Founded in 1976, Matrox is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

For more information visit: http://www.matrox.com/video

Edited slightly by Rob Crabtree