Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/18322
n n n n Review an SDI daughter card. Tis solution can both capture and display eight-, 10-, and 12-bit SDI video streams. Tis allows for real-time processing of video for such applications as keying and special effects. Te new card goes even further than previous versions by allow- ing capture and playback of stereoscopic SDI video on parallel left/right connectors. Another nice hardware feature is the ability to tie multiple monitors together as a single display. Nvidia Scalable Visualization Solu- tions will allow multiple cards driving up to eight monitors to appear as a single display to the operating system and work with any application. While Nvidia has sup- ported this on its QuadroPlex external boxes for a while, the company is now allowing SLI Quadro customers that same functionality. As for performance specs, the card con- tains 352 CUDA processors and 2.5gb of memory running at 120mb/sec on a 320-bit bus. Tis new generation of cards now sup- ports ECC memory, which adds a layer of er- ror correction that will prove valuable in mis- sion-critical applications. All these features are nice, but of course, the real test of a graphics card is the performance. continued from page 2 Editor’sNote crowd. For instance, iPhone owners tend to be younger, particularly compared to BlackBerry owners. Again, this is not that surprising given that BlackBerry has been touted as a business device for years, despite its more recent iterations. Moreover, iPhone users are much quicker to adopt new digital trends and activities involving their device, such as watching TV online and purchasing items with their phone. Android users, though, appear to be more technical than the other smartphone owners. You would expect that a smartphone running Linux would attract a techier consumer, and the Gad- get Census bears that out. Android users own more of the techier types of gadgets, like netbooks and e-readers, than owners of other smartphones. Tey also use fewer GPS devices in the car. Te study speculates that this may be due to the fact that they are in the Google camp and have the firm’s sophisticated map technology at their fingertips. An interesting find, though, is that these Android users are 25 percent more likely not to read books, and 20 percent do not care much about recycling. “As techie as Android owners are, and different as iPhone owners are, BlackBerry owners come across more normal and, you could say, even old-fashioned,” the study states. For exam- ple, BlackBerry users were more likely to still use a CRT as their primary television (21 percent more likely than Android own- ers), get their music from the radio, and are less likely to buy items with their phones. On the other hand, they are 15 percent 46 October 2010 We configured the card in a dual Xeon work- station with 8gb of RAM and ran Viewperf 11. As with all benchmarks, the tests are synthetic and will give a general idea as to the speed of the card in various 3D CAD and content cre- ation applications. But the bottom line is that it’s just a test of one computer at one point in time, so every number is relative. Te test covers most of the popular CAD apps, such as Dassault CATIA and PTC Pro-E, as well as popular 3D modeling apps, such as Autodesk Maya and NewTek Light- n Pro/Engineer: 9.6 n SolidWorks: 47.8 n Siemens Teamcenter Visualization Mock up: 39.1 Tese numbers are quite impressive, but the real test of the card is to use it in production. One of the more impressive production tests was using the card in Adobe Premiere Pro to composite several layers of HD content. Te card actually allowed for real-time playback with effects. Other applications, such as Maya, also showed a nice bump in per- formance. Overall, the Quadro 5000 is a terrific card and certainly one of the fastest and most capable on the market. As always, the absolute fastest graphics cards will cost you a premium, so the high mid-range cards Wave. Te resulting numbers were excellent, and this certainly performs well in benchmark. Te results are as follows: n CATIA: 39.2 n EnSight: 36.4 n LightWave: 42.1 n Maya: 68.3 are usually the sweet spot when it comes to raw price/performance. Te Quadro 5000 is on the high end of this range, but the additional cost is worth it for anyone involved in high-end graphics production. n George Maestri is a contributing editor for Computer Graphics World and president/CEO of RubberBug animation studio. He also teaches Maya for Lynda.com. He can be reached at maestri@rubberbug.com. more likely to recycle their gadgets than Android users, but also 26 percent more likely than iPhone owners to live in areas where e-waste recycling isn’t available. Te study’s conclusion: Although most gadget enthusiasts all have one thing in common—and that is a passion for the latest gear and gadgets—there are also big differences between owners of different types and brands of products. “Apple is not just a product but a way of life, and a commitment to a line of electronics,” Ret- revo summarizes in the report. “Android owners, with their choice of carriers, could make them more confident cell phone users, and BlackBerry owners might agree with the motto: ‘Slow and Steady Wins the Race.’ ” Here at chez Moltenbrey, we seem to reflect the study’s findings pretty closely. I have a Mac; I also have a PC. I am a BlackBerry user, though would love an iPhone. What’s stopping me? AT&T. As soon as Apple offers the device on the Verizon network (which offers the best reception locally), I will be the first in line. I have been waiting for more than a year now, and it looks like I might be waiting even longer. So, I am likely to become an Android person in the near future. And indeed, I own a netbook. But I cannot live without my car’s navigation system. Contrary to the mold, I read a lot, and I fancy myself a diligent tech recycler. So, back to the main question: Are you a Mac or a PC person? Or, maybe the more important question should be, what does the answer say about you? n