Accelerator Card Provides Faster Than Realtime High Definition H.264 File Creation

Matrox Video Products Group today announced Matrox CompressHD, the first implementation of Matrox MAX technology in an H.264 accelerator card for the Mac and PC, priced at just $495 US. 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. Matrox CompressHD works in systems with or without a video I/O device. On the Mac, 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. For PC, ease of use is ensured through direct integration with Adobe ® Media Encoder software on the PC.
Key features of Matrox CompressHD for the Mac

* Faster than realtime creation of H.264 files, for resolutions ranging from iPod to HD, 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 CompressHD for Windows

* Faster than realtime creation of H.264 files, for resolutions ranging from iPod to HD, using Matrox MAX technology
* Low profile, half-length PCIe x1 card
* 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 will be available in May 2009 through a worldwide network of authorized dealers.