Low power capture cards launched at InfoComm 2017

The first three models in the Eco Capture family each feature a high-speed PCIe 2.0 bus interface with an M.2 connector, enabling multi-channel HD or single-channel 4K (Ultra HD) capture. The dual-channel Eco Capture Dual HDMI M.2 and Eco Capture Dual SDI M.2 capture HD or 2K video up to 1080p60 over HDMI or SDI interfaces, respectively, while the Eco Capture HDMI 4K M.2 captures video up to 4096x2160 at 30 frames per second via HDMI. All three configurations also support up to eight channels of embedded audio.

"OEM developers and systems integrators are increasingly tasked with designing products in smaller form factors with reduced power consumption," said Fei Ma, Chief Technical Officer at Magewell. "The Eco Capture family shares the outstanding quality, robust reliability and many of the same features as our popular Pro Capture series, while packing these advantages into a more compact and lower-power card design that such customers can easily build around. While Pro Capture continues to be the ideal solution for full-sized developer applications and end-users building their own systems, Eco Capture's space and power efficiency will open up new markets and use cases."

The three initial Eco Capture models each measure 22x80mm (0.87x3.15"), matching the M.2 2280 standard specification. The power consumption of the Eco Capture cards is 30 to 70% lower (depending on model) than Magewell's Pro Capture cards with similar input signal connectivity.

Stream replication enables each input channel to be delivered to multiple software applications simultaneously with identical capture parameters, enabling concurrent functionality such as encoding, recording and preview through distinct tools. High-quality video processing functions including up/down/cross-scaling, image controls and colour space conversion are performed by the cards' on-board FPGA, reducing CPU usage, while additional processes such as frame rate conversion and de-interlacing are available in software through the included drivers or third-party applications.

The M.2 Eco Capture models will be available with drivers for Windows and Linux operating systems. OS-native capture APIs including DirectShow, DirectKS, V4L2 and ALSA will be supported, while a comprehensive SDK will be offered for developers to directly access the full feature set of the cards.

The new Eco Capture family will debut in booth 821 at InfoComm 2017, taking place 14th to 16th June in Orlando, Florida. The Eco Capture Dual HDMI M.2 is slated to begin shipping later in June, with the Eco Capture Dual SDI M.2 and Eco Capture HDMI 4K M.2 following in July.