Meg boards
Hi, Ron…MARS 2 is supposed to be available about now. It has
FCC approval and Daewoo is working out some software bugs. It
supposedly will list for $1495 and will work with your computer's
existing hard-drive. It doesn't require an outboard hard-drive.
Depending on how much changes in each frame, you could possibly
store 1 minute in 40 megabytes! More likely average would be 60
Meg and maybe a bit higher for lotsa movement.
One report I got from Siggraph said it was comparable to the original
PAR in quality. Pretty good when you compare price and data storage
ability.
Right now MARS 2 only will work through an IPAS in 3D Studio. Don't
know if one will be released that will work with anything else. You
should definitely try for an MPEG-2 card if that's the route you're
going. MPEG-2 has so-called "broadcast" resolution of 720×480 and
can do 60 fields. I would stay away from MPEG 1 because of the lower
resolution.
Heard a report from one 3D Studio dealer that other MPEG-2 cards will
be coming out, especially since the new and cheaper IBM encode/decode
chips are available. Don't know if MARS 2 uses them or the Intel ones.
The new PVR is visually superior, but for use of existing equipment,
lower data storage needs, lower cost and decent output, MPEG-2 can't
be beat, especially if you're just outputting to VHS.
Kevin