Matrox Video Products Group today announced that release 1.6 for Matrox MXO2, Matrox MXO2 Rack, Matrox MXO2 Mini, and Matrox CompressHD is now available as a free download from the Matrox website to all registered users. The Matrox products will be demonstrated at IBC 2009 on stand 7.B29. This release implements support for the new Final Cut Studio including Final Cut Pro 7 with Apple’s new ProRes 422 (LT), ProRes 422 (Proxy) formats and Compressor 3.5.

“We strive to continually add value to our product line by providing customers with the features they need to support today’s most popular workflows,” said Wayne Andrews, product manager at Matrox. “This new release adds important options to our users’ creativity tool sets.”

Support for new Apple ProRes 422 formats:
All Matrox MXO2 I/O devices support capture to Apple ProRes 422 (LT) and ProRes 422 (Proxy) on Mac Pros and MacBook Pros with an Intel Core2Duo 2.4 or higher CPU.

New H.264 encoding features:
Matrox MAX H.264 encoding acceleration for Apple Compressor 3.5 provides three categories of presets – Fast Encode, High-Quality, and Blu-ray – or users can create their own customized settings. Matrox Fast Encode presets use the MAX hardware and the CPU to deliver H.264 files faster than realtime. Quality is better than Compressor Single-pass. Matrox High Quality presets use the MAX hardware exclusively, thereby freeing-up CPU power for other tasks. Quality is comparable to Compressor Multi-pass. Matrox Blu-ray presets use the Matrox High Quality technology to create Blu-ray compliant H.264 files faster than realtime.

Key features of Matrox MAX technology for the Mac
Faster than realtime creation of H.264 files, for resolutions ranging from iPod to HD
A specialized, dedicated hardware processor liberates system resources for other tasks
Accelerated encoding for Blu-ray, 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 and Telestream Episode to simplify workflow
Creation of Blu-ray H.264 files that can be authored in Apple Compressor 3.5, Adobe Encore CS4 or Roxio Toast 10 and burned without re-encoding

About the Matrox MXO2 product line for the Mac
The Matrox MXO2 series of affordably priced HD/SD input/output devices streamline editing and content creation workflow with Final Cut Studio on MacBook Pros and Mac Pros. Matrox MX02 Mini provides portable high definition HDMI and analog I/O; the new Matrox MXO2 LE provides HDMI, SDI, and analog I/O; Matrox MXO2 provides complete HD/SD I/O; and Matrox MXO2 Rack provides rackmountable HD/SD I/O. The MXO2 devices are also available with Matrox MAX technology for faster than realtime H.264 encoding.

About Matrox CompressHD for the Mac
Matrox CompressHD is the first implementation of Matrox MAX technology in an amazingly affordable H.264 accelerator card. It works in systems with or without a video I/O device and extends the life of current systems, giving users the power to deliver today’s premium H.264 formats faster than ever. It’s a low profile, half-length PCIe x1 card that fits into Mac Pros and Intel-based Apple Xserve systems

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 accelerated H.264 encoding, realtime editing, audio/video input/output, DVD/Blu-ray authoring, scan conversion, 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.