HD For Indies

OK, I'm slow posting this one and will have more to say later, but basically, if you're familiar with the excellent Kona2 card, and you've been waiting for a PCIe version, you're gonna be happy.

Everything the Kona2 could do? This does that. And a few more goodies:

-RGB 4:4:4:4 - so now you can do an alpha channel on your RGB film style projects. Excellent news for compositors and production folk who need to render with alpha
-downstream live HD keying - so you can pass a 10 bit HD signal through the system and add a keyed graphic, such as a logo bug, lower third, whatever
-oh, and it'll work in those killer Quad G5s boxes
-$2900, so $500 more than a Kona2 board
-the connectors are a little different - there are tiny little
-a different breakout box - the K3-Box. It is not compatible with the K-Box, so old board/old box, new board/new box ONLY, NO mixing and matching. Same inputs/output layout as K-Box, but with different connections to the card
-there are new features lying dormant on the card - the hardware is done, but the software isn't, and they aren't saying what it will do, just "more stuff"
-Ted Schilowitz, smiling his best I-know-something-you-don't smile, said that he felt clients would be pleased with having spent the extra money when the software comes out to enable those features

Mike's Comments: Hmmm...I've talked to Ted off the record about desirable future features in the past, so I feel a little too close to the inside to speculate - it wouldn't be fair to Ted. But you folks go right ahead and speculate alllll you want. I'm betting it'll be pretty cool though, if I'm right, and WILL be worth the extra $500.

Note that the product is called Kona3, not Kona2e. They feel there are enough changes to warrant a brand new name/revision. That says substantively new/different/better features to me.

Take a look at the feature set of this board. Take a look at their competitors products and what they offer. Take a look at the inputs and outputs on their board and think about what could be run through those.

-mike