TA-19 : Matrox Video capture cards

Advisory release date: Feb 2022

STATUS: RESOLVED January 2024: This issue has now been resolved.

Please update to Designer software version r27 and above combined with updating your Disguise media server to the following OS and above:

 

Disguise media server	OS
vx 1	vx1_vx2_24Q1
vx 2	vx1_vx2_24Q1
vx 4	vx4_24Q1
vx 4+	vx4+_24Q1
gx 3	gx3_24Q1

 

Summary:

Due to the ongoing component shortage, as of February 2022 we are diversifying capture cards to include either Matrox or Deltacast capture cards.

This document outlines a limitation of the Matrox capture card that prevents SDI video inputs located on the hardware from using different refresh rates.

Affected Hardware/Software

Certain vx1, vx2, vx4 and vx4+ hardware using Disguise software version r20.1 onwards.

Certain gx 3 hardware using Designer software version r22 onwards.

Impact

The Matrox capture card only works when all inputs are in the same group of refresh rates - those being:

• 23.98/29.97/47.95/59.94

• 24/30/48/60

• 25/50

Users can still work with different resolution formats, but all refresh rates must remain within the groups listed above. On the Deltacast capture card, this behaviour does not exist.

 

Workaround

There is no current workaround to this issue. The Matrox capture card has an internal signal clocking mechanism that means it is unable to capture inputs with different refresh rates at the same time.

Resolution

We have enabled a straightforward method for identifying whether your vx machine has a Matrox or Deltacast capture card in the following ways:

• Via the OLED in the machine field. Matrox is listed as (Ma) and Deltacast as (De)

• Via the available information in the d3manager “help” dropdown as “Capture Card Vendor”. Within this view we have also included machine type, serial number, backplane model, and VFC card load.