I'm running MC 7 on a MacBook Pro 15" with Thunderbolt and I want to connect a computer monitor (HDMI) for more screen real estate and HDTV for broadcast reference and color correction. 

Which I/O device would allow me to do this?

I've been looking at Blackmagic, AJA, and Matrox but can't really figure out which product would be ideal for my setup. Thanks!

You're trying to do two things here.

1) Output to a preview monitor.  You'd use a Thunderbolt I/O device for this.

2) Expand to a second monitor for software screen real estate.  I think you'd use your MacBook Pro's HDMI port for this - or second Thunderbolt port (if you have one) to an adapter, be it DVI, HDMI, VGA, etc.

For item (2), you decide what you want to do.  Depends on what connections you have on your monitor.  For item (1), depends on whether you need just monitoring, or monitoring AND input.  Something like the AJA T-Tap, or the Blackmagic Ultrastudio Mini-Monitor, should fit your need, very cost-effectively.

Hello Cesaromar,

Bluefish444 have recently qualified the Magma Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis as listed here:

http://www.magma.com/catalog/thunderbolt-pcie-expansion

These enclosures not only allow you to install the high quality Bluefish444 video IO devices which are certified by AVID, but also allow for additional expansion, which is often an issue faced with Thunderbolt devices. An addititional advantage to this system is the option of an enclosure that houses up to 4 HDD/SSD with a RAID card in the same enclosure. This simply allows the IO device, and your staorage to be self contained and so you can take your full suite with you with only minimal peices.

For more information on why you should be working with Bluefish444 as you video IO, please visit the 12bit advantage page. 

http://www.bluefish444.com/products/12bit/

For more details dont hesitate to reach out to us.

Regards,

Tom Lithgow

Bluefish444 Product Specialist 

This was my solution:

Macbook Pro > StarTech Thunderbolt Dock > HDMI > Computer monitor

Macbook Pro > StarTech Thunderbolt Dock > Thunderbolt > Blackmagic Mini Monitor > HDMI > HDTV

Bluefish444:

Bluefish444 have recently qualified the Magma Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis as listed here:

Thanks Tom.

Do the BlueFish444 cards support MC7's Target Mask feature?

Good question Job and One I have no idea about.  I will contact the 444 peeps I know and get an answer.

stand by

marianna 

Hi Job,

Sorry for the delay.
The Target mask feature is not available with Bluefish444 IO at this stage.

I will bring this into discussion both here at Bluefish444 and with AVID to confirm if this is a feature that can be accessed through the OPEN IO system.

Regards,

Tom Lithgow

Bluefish444, Product Specialist