Canopus EDIUS NX PCI Express review

While EDIUS NX's MPEG Capture utility can capture HDV as an MPEG2 transport stream, editing is smoother when Canopus' own HQ format is used. However, at around 8MB/sec with the standard online setting, HQ is more than twice the data rate of DV, meaning that playing back more than a couple of streams at the same time will tax a single disk. On the plus side, EDIUS itself is optimised for editing this format, so real-time performance is noticeably improved. Colour is also sampled at 4:2:2, rather than the 4:2:0 of HDV, so adding effects should maintain a more faithful hue than with the latter. Annoyingly, you can't use the NX board's FireWire connectivity for capturing HDV, as this is DV only. Instead, you need another OHCI controller, or the extra 32-bit card included with the HD Expansion Kit.

Canopus' recent acquisition by Thomson can only be good for its development as a viable competitor to Matrox, Avid, and Adobe. However, the ink is still fresh on the deal and its benefits yet to be felt. The new PCI Express EDIUS NX is close to being a great editing package, but the EDIUS software's lack of key features limits its editing range. Although EDIUS Pro 4 could change that, until it arrives, this real-time champion is best suited to less composition-heavy editing.

Author: James Morris