The Desk Top Video Handbook On Line ver 11.0
DV500 vs. RT2000 Real-Time Showdown

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Note: While the new article is being finished, I have re-scored this fight to represent the latest bundles, prices, features etc. (October 11, 2000)

Ladies, and gentlemen, videographers of all ages, lets get ready to edit!!

The fight has been broken down into 3 segments of 5 rounds each.

• Rounds 1-5 Compatibility and install
• Rounds 6-10 Real-Time FX
• Rounds 11-15 NLE Productivity

Lets take a quick look at the contestants:

Matrox RT2000 UNDER $1,000!!! Professional Real-Time MPEG2 & Native DV Editing with incredible, real-time 3D Effects! 2 video streams and a 32-bit, uncompressed, animated graphics layer in real time Real-time broadcast-quality 3D digital video effects (DVE) powered by Matrox Flex 3D Integrated Matrox Millennium G400 drives your high-performance desktop Edit in DV or in MPEG-2 4:2:2 I-Frame RT2000 MAJOR PRICE DROP! $999.95

Pinnacle DV500 The worlds first DV & Analog capture card for under $1000!!! DV500 is a real-time, native DV video editing solution. It plays effects, titles and filters instantly with no rendering. And DV500 uses the same encoding technology that exists inside your DV camcorder and VCR, so there is no damaging transcoding or recompression. Your video data and quality remain intact and unchanged from the moment it was first recorded. The powerful authoring software included with DV500 gives you the choice of delivery solutions – Videotape, Interactive CD-ROM, DVD and the Internet. $100 Price Drop - DV500 $799.95

Ding! Ding! let's get it on!

The DV500 on the other hand has been remarkably compatible. We haven't run into any major issues at all. For many folks they are even able to get full performance with shared IRQs.

DV500 wins round 1 by a score of 10 - 9

Round 2: Operating System Compatibility
The RT2000 can only run on Win98 for now. The Direct X drivers necessary for their 3D Flex technology do not exist in NT. Win2000 drivers are coming, but not until later this summer.

The DV500 ships with Win98 drivers. We have had excellent success with it under NT (that is how I use it). The 1.1 beta drivers include NT. Once they are officially released, DV500 will have official NT support. The 1.1 drivers also include beta Win2K drivers. We have gotten mixed results under Win2K, we do not recommend it for DV500 yet.

DV500 wins this round 9 - 8 With Win2k drivers, DV500 now wins this round 10 - 8

Round 3: Ease of install
The DV500 has been an incredibly easy card to install and operate. Even with beta NT drivers. Most users just pop it in and start editing.

Once again, since the RT2000 is two cards, the install is tricky. A better install manual could make life much easier. There are addendums and readme files that can make your install go much smoother, but lets face it, how many of us really read that stuff? The problem with the RT2000 install is that you may have to start all over from scratch if you run into problems. Many of our tried and true tech tips don't work with RT2000. We are working with Matrox to get better fixes and work arounds.

DV500 wins this round big 10 - 8 DV500 still wins this round, but RT2000 has closed the gap 10 - 9

Round 4: DV Device Control
The DV500 has the advantage of Pinnacles 3 years experience with DV editing. DV Tools, originally released with the DV300 is a rock solid performer. Not only does it give frame accurate device control, it can auto scan and log your tapes. You get Batch or manual capture with both DV Tools and within Premiere.

The RT2000 does not come with any advanced device control like DV Tools. The batch capture in Premiere works fine for most DV cams, but there are some that have little exceptions. The RT2000 requires DV device control in order to export video to DV. This means that you must record on a tape every time you output DV. In addition, if your device control isn't operational, you can't export to DV at all.

DV500 wins another round 10 - 9

Round 5: Price
The DV500 costs less then $1000. $899.95 to be exact. It is by far and away the best card on the market for under $1000.

The RT2000 is $1199. You do get a top-notch graphics card with it, but you also have to dump the one that came with your computer. At $1199 the RT2000 is a tremendous value, but this is one round that is by the numbers.

DV500 wins again 10 - 9 Both card are now under $1000, I call this round a 10-10 draw!

After the first 5 rounds, the DV500 is definitely winning the match so far. 49 - 43 looks like a pretty commanding lead. But it's not as lopsided as it seems. Most users of either card run into very little or no tech support issues. Both cards are working very well for the great majority of owners. A little research before you buy and install the RT2000 (and reading all the documentation) can greatly increase your chances of getting up and going quickly and easily.

Back to the match up!

Round 6: Real-Time 3D FX
The Flex 3D technology in the RT2000 is amazing. I love the cool 3D page curls, fly-ins and picture-in-picture effects. Even cooler is the 3D plug-in interface that lets you scrub forward and backward though the FX in real-time. At NAB Matrox showed a whole batch of new 3D FX that will be released in September. With this 2.0 upgrade you'll get keyframing, particle and tile effects. All RT2000 owners will get these FX for FREE!!

The DV500 shipped initially with FreeFX, Pinnacles 3D FX plug-in that utilized the graphics card power to accelerate rendering. Now the bundle includes Hollywood FX Copper. (Pinnacle acquired Hollywood FX in January). Hollywood FX utilizes graphics card acceleration better then Free FX, but they still have to render. You can upgrade to Hollywood FX Bronze or Silver to get even cooler 3D FX, but they still are not real-time (or free).

This round is almost a knockout RT2000 wins 10 - 7

Round 7: Real-Time Graphics
The RT2000 Flex 3D technology lets you apply the 3D DVEs as a filter to any video or graphics track. That means you can take a graphic and have it page-peel or fly out off the screen. For video work that involves photomontages or 3D animations, this is an incredible additional feature.

The DV500 can superimpose static graphics in real-time. It can't add 3D DVEs like the RT2000 in real-time. You can do some very cool stuff with Hollywood FX and graphics, but they have to render.

Another big round for the RT2000 10 - 8. This fight is almost even!

Round 8: Real-Time Titling
Pinnacle has been bundling TitleDeko with their DCxx/DVxx cards for several years now, and for a very good reason: It delivers broadcast quality titles. TitleDeko is very easy to use and it works as a plug-in to Premiere, so you never have to exit from it. You can superimpose your static titles over video in real-time. If you want to make your titles scroll or move, they have to render.

The RT2000 uses Cool 3D for it's titling. Cool 3D is a nice program, but it does not plug-into Premiere. At NAB Matrox announced that the 2.0 upgrade(coming in September) would include a Real-time titling plug-in from Inscriber called TitleXpress. This will also be offered FREE to all RT2000 owners.

Neither product offers great real-time 3D moving titles. Pinnacle wins this round 9 - 8 With the addition of TitleExpress RT2000 wins this round 10-9

Round 9: Real-Time Filters
The DV500 offers you some Real-Time filters. You can correct the brightness, saturation, and the ability to do some color mattes in Premiere in real-time.

The RT2000 offers no real-time filters at the current time.

Neither product really packed any power with its punches this round. Pinnacle wins it 7 - 6. With the addition of real-time image correction. Pinnacle wins this round 8-6

Round 10: DVD / CD Rom Authoring
Before we even start this round, lets set the record straight. If you want to create a CD or a DVD that will play in a set top, home DVD player, you have to use a DVD burner. Right now, the only burner on the market for under $10,000 is the Pioneer DVR-S201 DVD writer burner, which still costs about 5 grand.

The DV500 comes with Minerva Impressions CD software. This lets you very easily create interactive CD ROMS and DVDs. The CD ROMS you make will automatically play in any computer that is fast enough. You do not require special player software to watch the video. The player loads automatically when you start the disk. I like Minerva. It is really quite powerful with multiple menus, animated buttons and chapter points. The 2.0 release is not yet available for DV500 owners, but we've been using the beta. What I don't like about Minerva is that if you want to upgrade for more features, it'll cost you almost 6 grand!

The RT2000 ships with Sonic DVDit! Le. This version lets you create a single menu DVD. You can burn a CD ROM in a format they call miniDVD. Basically it's a DVD, burned on a CD with a standard CD burner, which can hold 22 minutes of video. Any computer with a DVD player (hardware or software) can play these miniDVD disks. What I like most about DVDit! is it's great upgrade path. For $250 bucks you can upgrade to SE, which adds multiple menus (up to 10), multi-media file conversion, and a software DVD player. For another $500 you can upgrade to PE, which includes multiple audio channels, chapter markers and other professional DVD authoring features.

No one dominated this round. I give it to the RT2000 9 - 8

Based on its killer Flex 3D technology the RT2000 has closed the gap with the DV500. This match is now too close to call. Both companies are working hard on adding additional features that will make these middle rounds even tougher to call in the future. The winner of that battle will be you the end user. Because the product you buy today, will get better as the year goes on.

Here we go, into the last 5 rounds!

Round 11: Premiere responsiveness
As I said in my hands on review of the RT2000, it handles Premiere like a BMW handles a winding country road. With the RT2000 I felt in total control of Premiere. Scrubbing was smooth and frame accurate, as was trimming my clips. The source and project window played instantly and perfectly every time.

The DV500 does a great job in Premiere as well. I do notice a little latency when I scrub or move through the timeline.

RT2000 gets the edge on this round 10 - 9

Round 12: Rendering Speed
Sure both cards have real-time effects, but many times we want to do other FX, or stack multiple effects, transitions and filters. Both cards have to render in this case. The RT2000 renders really fast. Faster then any card I've played with. A 10 second segment with multiple layers of video and effects rendered in about a minute. The RT200 also renders the files for export to MPEG2 for DVD authoring very fast. A 5-minute timeline can be exported to MPEG2 in under 15 minutes.

The DV500 renders pretty fast, but not as fast as the RT2000. On my PIII500 most effects took 10 times real time. So a 3 second transition took about 30 seconds to render. The export to MPEG2 took almost an hour for a 5-minute timeline. The latest drivers will take better advantage of processor speed to render faster in faster machines.

RT2000 wins this round 10 - 9 and we are dead even going into the final 3 rounds!!!

Round 13: Timeline Playback
InstantVideo is Pinnacles top notch timeline playback utility and it gets the job done great with the DV500. You can easily switch back and forth between DV or analog output. What I really liked was that the segments that had to render, do not have to re-render if you switch from analog to DV. This Intelligent Rendering makes the DV500 very productive.

The RT2000 has much better timeline playback analog vs DV. As I mentioned earlier, DV timeline playback requires your DV cam to actually go into record mode, so you must record on a DV tape.

Neither card can playback via FireWire off the timeline in real-time, so I score this round 9 - 8, in favor of the DV500

Round 14: Audio Sync
With the proper storage, you will get perfect audio sync with the DV500 every time. If your storage is to slow, you may start losing some sync. This is not the fault of the DV500; it is a problem with your system. We have had nothing but perfect sync with DV500.

Some RT2000 owners have reported audio sync issues. So far we have not been able to pinpoint the cause of it. I suspect it could be related to storage. Or it could have something to do with the fact that the RT2000 uses separate files for the audio and video. We do not feel there are any audio sync problems with a properly configured system. It is our opinion that the audio issues being experienced by a few users is actually a symptom of a hardware or driver compatibility issue.

DV500 squeaks out this round 10 - 9

Round 15: 2GB file limit work around
Both these cards have work arounds for the 2GB avi file limit.

The DV500 supports the same OpenDML avi file format used in the DC1000. This gives you a 12 terabyte file limit under Windows NT ( and Win2k). Unfortunately you still have a 4GB file limit under Win98.

The RT2000 uses Matrox Infinite Capture, which allows you to capture or create a video file up to the capacity of your hard drive. Unfortunately we have discovered a problem with this technology when using DV. Many users are reporting they can't go beyond 22 minutes. Matrox is aware of this issue and is working very hard on a solution.

Neither card has a 100% solution, so I'm scoring this round a draw 9 - 9 Both systems solutions are now working very well. I do not feel the 2GB file limit is a factor with either card. a 10-10 draw.

New score after 15 rounds DV500 137 vs RT2000 137
That's right, it comes out to a draw. Both cards have improved their performance and features. The RT2000 has gotten much more stable and compatible. With the addition of Win2K & WinME, DV500 has become more versatile. Even more new features are being added and new drivers keep improving stability and compatibility for both cards. This is what makes both these cards such a great investment! They were the best two cards in the industry at their price level, and six months later they still are!

Some of the credit for this great match-up should go to C-Cube, the makers of the chips that are at the heart of both cards (and the DC1000). The power and performance of these chips is amazing. At NAB we got to meet with them and they gave us a sneak peak at some new features they will be adding. The coolest thing about these chips is that the features can be added by software. So vendors like Pinnacle and Matrox can license additional code, develop new drivers and expand the capabilities of the cards.

Based on this I expect the rematch to take place in October, just in time for the holiday season. It's going to be even more exciting then the first match up. Who knows, by then perhaps a new contender will emerge. Or perhaps an older contender will drop down in price to enter into the contest. No matter how it goes, the real winner in this fight is YOU! You are the one who, regardless of which card you choose, is going to have a cutting edge NLE system that will only get better!!

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