Magewell Electronics

Power-efficient new Eco Capture model supports 4K video at 60 frames per second over single-link SDI connectivity

December 10, 2019 — Nanjing, China: Magewell will launch a powerful new model in its Eco Capture family of ultra-compact, power-efficient, M.2 video capture cards at the upcoming ISE 2020 exhibition in Amsterdam. The high-performance Eco Capture SDI 4K Plus M.2 captures one channel of 4K video up to 4096x2160 at full 60 frames per second over a single-link, 12G-SDI interface. The new card will make its global debut in stand 8-G475 at the event, which will take place from February 11 to 14, 2020.

Ideal for use in small and embedded systems where full-sized PCIe slots are not available, the cost-effective Eco Capture family offers systems integrators and OEM developers a robust capture solution with low power consumption for space-constrained applications. The low-latency Eco Capture devices feature a high-speed PCIe 2.0 bus interface with an M.2 connector and measure just 22x80mm (0.87x3.15in), matching the M.2 2280 size specification.

The new 4K 12G-SDI model joins four existing Eco Capture M.2 configurations: a single-channel model that captures 4K video at 30fps via an HDMI interface; dual-channel models that capture HD and 2K video over HDMI or SDI; and a quad-channel HD/2K model with SDI inputs. All five Eco Capture products also support up to eight channels of embedded audio per input.

“Our Eco Capture products have proven very popular with integrators and OEM partners for enabling them to incorporate high-quality video capture into small form factors while reducing their power requirements,” said Nick Ma, CEO and CTO at Magewell. “The Eco Capture SDI 4K Plus M.2 brings these benefits to full frame-rate 4K capture with the cabling simplicity of single-link 12G-SDI connectivity.”

The M.2 Eco Capture models are available with drivers for Windows and Linux operating systems. OS-native capture APIs including DirectShow, DirectKS, V4L2 and ALSA are supported, and a comprehensive SDK enables developers to directly access the full feature set of the cards. The Eco Capture family also provides advantages for manufacturers of products such as smart displays by delivering lower latency than processor architectures often used in System-on-a-Chip devices.

Stream replication enables each input channel to be delivered to multiple software applications simultaneously with identical capture parameters. FPGA-based video processing provides high-quality up/down/cross-scaling, picture controls and color space conversion without tasking the host system CPU.

The Eco Capture SDI 4K Plus M.2 is expected to ship in January. For more information about Magewell, please visit www.magewell.com.

About Magewell – Founded in 2011, Magewell (www.magewell.com) designs and develops hardware and software for video and audio capture, processing, streaming and playout. With guiding principles of continuous innovation and providing outstanding customer service, Magewell has earned a strong reputation for the exceptional quality, performance and reliability of its solutions. Distributed globally, Magewell products are used in professional video applications including live event streaming, broadcast, medical imaging, lecture capture, surveillance, video conferencing, gaming and more.