Elgato's Turbo.264 gets date and price
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Apr 6th 2007 2:31PM
posted Apr 6th 2007 2:31PM
A few days ago we told you about a new product for encoding H.264 with hardware instead of software, which should obviously speed things a long, as well as free up CPU cycles for something else. At the time we didn't know much about the product, but now our friends from Elgato have filled us in. The Turbo.264 will be available in the US by the end of April with a MSRP of $99. We also learned that the device can encode any video that QuickTime can handle, including 3rd party QuickTime components and that any software that supports QuickTime Export, including EyeTV's very own one click export, is supported. The bad news is that while the device can help you encode your HD clips to H.264, the maximum output resolution is limited to 800x600.
That output resolution officially makes that product completely uninteresting. I can already transcode SD video faster than real-time.
Well, that product officially sux, if you're not a hardcore iPod video-to-TV-freak. I had high hopes for that stick man. Now I have to buy an 8-core Mac Pro...
Rats. I really wanted one of these, but the 800x600 resolution limitation makes it pretty much useless for me. Why did they have to do that? I was already saving my pennies!
Although, seeing as DVD video in PAL format is 720×576, it might still be useful...