27 February 2006 — Number 103
Down conversion with DeckLink cards.
Software and hardware down conversion with DeckLink cards.
Contents of this technical note:
Following is a feature summary table. Please see below for detailed information
| Feature | DeckLink Mac 4.8.1 drivers | DeckLink Mac 5.4.2 drivers | DeckLink Win 5.4.2 drivers |
|---|
| HDTV 1080 software down conversion | Y | Y | - |
| HDTV 720 software down conversion | - | Y | - |
| HDTV 1080 split hardware down conversion with DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 | Y | Y | Y |
| Playback down conversion | DeckLink SD & HD cards | DeckLink SD & HD cards | DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 only |
| Capture down conversion | DeckLink HD cards | DeckLink HD cards | - |
| Choice of component or composite analog output with DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 down conversion | Y | Y | Y |
| Mac formats for use with software down conversion | 10-bit, 8-bit & DVCPRO HD | 10-bit, 8-bit, DVCPRO HD & HDV | - |
| Mac formats for use with hardware down conversion | 10-bit, 8-bit, DVCPRO HD & PhotoJPEG | 10-bit, 8-bit, DVCPRO HD, PhotoJPEG & HDV | - |
| Windows formats for use with hardware down conversion | - | - | 10-bit, 8-bit |
Mac OS X down conversion features
Down conversion features in Mac OS X differ depending on whether you are using:
• DeckLink 5.4.2 drivers with Mac OS X 10.4.x and Final Cut Pro HD 5.0.x, or
• DeckLink 4.8.1 drivers with Mac OS X 10.3.8 and Final Cut Pro HD 4.5.
The newer drivers provide more down conversion features.
DeckLink 5.4.2 drivers and Mac OS X 10.4
HD material for down conversion must have a compatible frame rate with standard definition video. You can use HDTV 1080/59.94i or 720/59.94p for use with 29.97fps NTSC. Alternatively use HDTV 1080/50i for use with 50fps PAL.HDTV720/50p down conversion to PAL is not currently implemented as there is currently only 1 deck which supports the rare HDTV720/50p standard.
If playing out HDTV 1080/23.98p material and down conversion is desired, choose a Blackmagic HDTV 1080 23.98 -> 59.94 easy setup. This will enable 3:2 pulldown and convert the video to an NTSC-compatible frame rate so that down conversion can be used.
All DeckLink standard definition cards support playback, software, down conversion from HDTV1080 and HDTV720 to SDTV. Software down conversion can be enabled or disabled with a software switch in the System Preferences>Blackmagic DeckLink. A HD-capable Mac and disk array must be used even when performing down conversion, of uncompressed HD video, with standard definition DeckLink cards. If wanting to perform down conversion on capture, a DeckLink HD series cards is required.All DeckLink HD series cards support capture and playback, software, down conversion, from HDTV1080 and HDTV720 to SDTV. Software down conversion can be enabled or disabled with a software switch in the System Preferences>Blackmagic DeckLink.DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 supports both software down conversion as well as split, hardware, down conversion from HDTV1080 to SDTV on newer versions of the card. The hardware down conversion enables the user to perform multiple intensive tasks simultaneously, eg 3-way color correction and down conversion at the same time. Other cards can perform both of these tasks but not at the same time. Capture and playback down conversion is supported in hardware. Hardware down conversion of HDTV720 is not supported.DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 can perform split hardware down conversion on newer versions of the card. HD-SDI output is sent to the deck while down-converted SD-SDI video output is sent to the monitoring output along with 2 channels of audio. Down-converted SD output is also sent to the analog video outputs. This is useful if you want to connect via HD-SDI to a deck but monitor using a SD monitor. The monitor can be an SDI or analog monitor. Split hardware down conversion can be enabled or disabled with a software switch in the System Preferences>Blackmagic DeckLink. Split hardware down conversion of HDTV720 is not supported.When using analog video monitoring for down-converted output, a software switch in the System Preferences>Blackmagic DeckLink can be used to switch between component and composite analog video output.Software down conversion can be used with HDTV1080 and HDTV720 material in any of the following formats: uncompressed 10-bit, uncompressed 8-bit, DVCPRO HD and HDV.Hardware down conversion can be used with HDTV1080 material in any of the following formats: uncompressed 10-bit, uncompressed 8-bit, DVCPRO HD, HDV and PhotoJPEG.DeckLink 4.8.1 drivers and Mac OS X 10.3.8
HD material for down conversion must have a compatible frame rate with standard definition video, ie HDTV 1080/59.94i for use with 29.97fps NTSC and HDTV 1080/50i for use with 50fps PAL. If playing out HDTV 1080/23.98p material and down conversion is desired, choose a Blackmagic HDTV 1080 23.98 -> 59.94 easy setup. This will enable 3:2 pulldown and convert the video to an NTSC-compatible frame rate so that down conversion can be used.All DeckLink standard definition cards support playback, software, down conversion from HDTV1080 to SDTV. Software down conversion can be enabled or disabled with a software switch in the System Preferences>Blackmagic DeckLink. A HD-capable Mac and disk array must be used even when performing down conversion, of uncompressed HD video, with standard definition DeckLink cards. If wanting to perform down conversion on capture, a DeckLink HD series cards is required.All DeckLink HD series cards support capture and playback, software, down conversion, from HDTV1080 to SDTV. Software down conversion can be enabled or disabled with a software switch in the System Preferences>Blackmagic DeckLink.DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 supports both software down conversion as well as split, hardware, down conversion from HDTV1080 to SDTV on newer versions of the card. The hardware down conversion enables the user to perform multiple intensive tasks simultaneously, eg 3-way color correction and down conversion at the same time. Other cards can perform both of these tasks but not at the same time. Capture and playback down conversion is supported in hardware.DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 can perform split hardware down conversion on newer versions of the card. HD-SDI output is sent to the deck while down-converted SD-SDI video output is sent to the monitoring output along with 2 channels of audio. Down-converted SD output is also sent to the analog video outputs. This is useful if you want to connect via HD-SDI to a deck but monitor using a SD monitor. The monitor can be an SDI or analog monitor. Split hardware down conversion can be enabled or disabled with a software switch in the System Preferences>Blackmagic DeckLink.When using analog video monitoring for down-converted output, a software switch in the System Preferences>Blackmagic DeckLink can be used to switch between component and composite analog video output.Software down conversion can be used with HDTV1080 material in any of the following formats: uncompressed 10-bit, uncompressed 8-bit, DVCPRO HD and HDV.Hardware down conversion can be used with HDTV1080 material in any of the following formats: uncompressed 10-bit, uncompressed 8-bit, DVCPRO HD, HDV and PhotoJPEG.
Windows XP down conversion features
DeckLink 5.4.2 drivers
HD material for down conversion must have a compatible frame rate with standard definition video, ie 1080/59.94i for use with 29.97fps NTSC and 1080/50i for use with 50fps PAL.Software down conversion is not supported with DeckLink Windows drivers.HDTV720p down conversion is not supported with DeckLink Windows drivers.DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 can perform playback, split, hardware, down conversion from HDTV1080 to SDTV on newer versions of the card. HD-SDI output is sent to the deck while down-converted SD-SDI video output is sent to the monitoring output along with 2 channels of audio. Down-converted SD output is also sent to the analog video outputs. This is useful if you want to connect via HD-SDI to a deck but monitor using a SD monitor. The monitor can be an SDI or analog monitor. Split hardware down conversion can be enabled or disabled with a software switch in Control Panels>DeckLink.When using analog video monitoring for down-converted output, you can choose between component and composite analog video output. DeckLink Windows 5.4.2 (or newer) drivers are required.Related technical notes:
• Cross conversion with DeckLink cards
• Supported Systems for DeckLink HD Down Conversion
• Do DeckLink cards support HDV?
• Differences between the DeckLink HD Pro cards
