HQ software codec offers real-time capture of HD video, as well as the ability to record high quality images off a PC screen

These days it seems that lots of manufacturers are offering a way to capture a still frame from moving video. The challenge is finding one that can do it in real time and with the proper amount of sophisticated compression to save space and preserve image quality. (HD video is very data-intensive, requiring lots of storage.) Otherwise you’ll find yourself chained to the computer for hours, when you could be done in minutes.
Leveraging the HQ software codec Thomson Grass Valley obtained when it acquired the assets of Canopus, the Pegasus PCI-Express card is just such a product. It offers real-time capture of SD and HD video as well as the ability to record high-quality images off a PC screen. (You can also do this with software applications like Camtasia, Fraps, or Snapz Pro, but the quality is dubious and it’s very processor-intensive.) Pegasus takes the load off the CPU and records screen output directly to HQ without dropping frames.

The Grass Valley HQ software codec only recently became available on a silicon chip, enabling 1920 x 1080/60i and 1280 x 720/60p capture to be performed in real time. For editors, it can also natively display signals on a PC at up to 1280 x 1024/60p without downconverting the image and capture video from HDMI, DVI, S-video, and component sources.

The Pegasus card is priced at $999 and comes complete with image-capture software and a Software Developer’s Kit (SDK) for system integrators.
Grass Valley is now bundling the Pegasus card with the Canopus ProCoder 3 compression software package for $1,199 (a $300 savings).

For more information and to download the SDK, visit http://www.canopus.com/products/Pegasus/closeup.php.