Designed for use in small and embedded systems where full-sized PCIe slots are unavailable or impractical, the new Eco Capture family of high-performance, cost-efficient video capture cards complements Magewell’s flagship Pro Capture series by offering OEMs and systems integrators a compact capture solution with low power consumption for space-limited applications.
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 4096×2160 at 30 frames per second via HDMI. All three configurations also support up to 8 channels of embedded audio.
The three initial Eco Capture models each measure 22x80mm (0.87×3.15in), 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 color 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 are 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.
(Credit: Magewell)
