CDRLabs.com

Matrox® Video Products Group today announced that Matrox CompressHD™, the first implementation of Matrox MAX™ technology in an H.264 accelerator card for the Mac, is now shipping. Matrox MAX technology uses a dedicated hardware processor to accelerate the creation of H.264 files for mobile devices, the web and Blu-ray discs. By using specialized hardware acceleration, jobs are finished with amazing speed and system resources are liberated for other tasks. Very affordably priced at just $495 US (£375, €449) not including local taxes, Matrox CompressHD works in systems with or without a video I/O device. Ease of use is ensured through direct integration with Apple Compressor on the Mac. As an added benefit, the Matrox MAX technology allows direct export to higher-quality H.264 Blu-ray compliant files from Compressor.

"Professional content creators have discovered that H.264 compression technology delivers a high-quality video experience at low bit rates for a variety of devices ranging from iPhone to Blu-ray, but they have had to constantly make compromises, trading off quality for encoding speed, or paying a high price for equipment that can give them both," said Wayne Andrews, Matrox product manager. "Matrox CompressHD removes all the hurdles, providing incredible encoding speed and quality at a very affordable price point".

Key features of Matrox CompressHD for the Mac

• Faster than realtime creation of H.264 files using Matrox MAX technology
• Low profile, half-length PCIe x1 card that fits into all Mac Pros and Intel-based Apple Xserve systems
• Works in systems with or without an I/O device
• Three-year hardware warranty and complimentary telephone support

Key features of Matrox MAX technology

• Faster than realtime creation of H.264 files, for resolutions ranging from iPod to HD, at bitrates up to 50 Mbps
• A specialized, dedicated hardware processor liberates system resources for other tasks
• Accelerated encoding for Blu-ray, PS3, Apple TV, YouTube, Flash, web formats, and mobile devices including iPhone, and iPod from various video sources including 2K files
• Direct integration with Apple Compressor to simplify workflow
• Creation of Blu-ray H.264 files that can be authored in Adobe Encore CS4 or Roxio Toast 10 and burned without re-encoding
• Support for Apple Qmaster to take advantage of multiple systems with a Matrox MAX processing engine for distributed encoding across a network

Price and availability
Priced at $495 US (£375, €449) not including local taxes, Matrox CompressHD with Mac drivers is now available through a worldwide network of authorized dealers. Windows drivers will be available free of charge to registered Matrox CompressHD owners in July 2009.