Blackmagic breaks Thunderbolt price budget with US$299 Intensity Extreme

At IBC in Amsterdam, Blackmagic has just announced its second Thunderbolt audio/video i/o interface, the US$299 Intensity Extreme. For about 70% less in price than Blackmagic’s first Thunderbolt product, the Intensity Extreme is also the first bus-powered a/v Thunderbolt interface, although not the first bus-powered device (since Matrox’s Thunderbolt adapter is bus-powered, but it is not an audio/video interface itself, but the connection to one). When connected with a laptop (i.e. MacBook Air or MacBook Pro), the Intensity Extreme will be powered by the laptop’s internal battery via the Thunderbolt connection. This article will describe exactly what you’ll get —and what you won’t get— if you choose the US$299 Intensity Extreme interface from Blackmagic, and its availability.

AJA announces Io XT interface with Thunderbolt at IBC in Amsterdam

Today AJA announced and is showing its new Io XT audio/video interface with Thunderbolt at IBC stand 7.F11 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Unlike other Thunderbolt-capable professional i/o interfaces from other manufacturers which I have covered earlier this week here in ProVideo Coalition magazine, the Io XT from AJA is the first and only one so far to offer loop-ability (aka “daisy-chaining”) to other Thunderbolt peripherals or even standard DVI/HDMI monitors via an inexpensive adapter or cable (under US$30 in most cases). This first look at AJA’s Io XT will cover its features, specs, and pricing.

Matrox adds optional Thunderbolt connectivity to existing MXO2 family interfaces

Matrox is the first (and so far, the only) manufacturer of professional audio/video interfaces to offer the possibility of adding Thunderbolt connectivity to any of their existing products which are already in the field. Matrox now offers this capability for any of the MXO2 family of interfaces, which currently include the MXO2 Mini, MXO2 LE, MXO2 (original), and MXO2 Rack. Since almost the beginning of the MXO2 family, all of the interfaces have been available either with (or without) Matrox’s Max option, which performs hardware-based accelerated H.264 encoding from within popular professional video editing and encoding applications, and with a choice of either PCIe or ExpressCard/34 interface to a host computer. As first shown at NAB 2011 and now delivering in September 2011, Thunderbolt is the third available option, allowing connection of any Thunderbolt-capable Mac. This article covers how this works, what it means, and what the upgrade will cost you (or the price of admission if you don’t yet own any MXO2 family interface).

Blackmagic delivers its first Thunderbolt-based i/o interface, the UltraStudio 3D

Blackmagic Design has begun shipping its first Thunderbolt based audio/video i/o interface, which is officially known as the UltraStudio 3D. As its suffix indicates, it is capable of 3D stereoscopic workflows, although it is certainly capable of 2D workflows too. However, we must be diligent and refer to it with its full name (including the “3D” suffix) in order to differentiate it from other Blackmagic models whose names also begin with “UltraStudio”. This first look at the US$995 UltraStudio 3D will cover its features, specs, and even an initial limitation for HP DreamColor monitors, together with a somewhat costly workaround. You’ll also learn everything you need to know about the UltraStudio 3D’s end-point Thunderbolt connection and its current limitations.

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