What is a Kona card?

[Blake Cavett]

And why do I need or want one? I've seen a lot of topics about Kona cards, AJA, Blackmagic, etc...

But what are these suckers and what exactly do they do? The reason I ask is because when editing at home or work, I don't have one and don't understand their purpose.

I'm a total noob when it comes to this stuff and even some people at work can't explain it in terms that I understand. My guess is that they don't know either?

[Rick L. Allen]

The Kona, Blackmagic, etc. are dedicate hardware (pci) cards that allow you to input and output real time component, composite, SDI, HD-SDI, S-Video, analog and/or digital audio to and from your editor and to and from broadcast video decks or video sources. Specific functions depend upon the card of course.

[Blake Cavett]

Thanks Rick! I've been scratching my head for quite a while trying to understand this stuff.

Is this something I need in addition to my firewire cable if that's all I'm using for input and output?

[Rick L. Allen]

If you're just editing DV or HDV via firewire the answer is no. If you need SDI or component inputs/outputs then the answer is yes.

[Blake Cavett]

Big thanks guys!

[David W. Jones]

Unless of course you want to feed a professional production monitor.

[Stephen Sobel]

Originally Posted by Rick L. Allen

If you're just editing DV or HDV via firewire the answer is no. If you need SDI or component inputs/outputs then the answer is yes.

If I'm just editing DV and HDV via firewire, is there a specific firewire card I should look for? I remember some posts about the Canopus ACEDvio card being a good choice, though that was quite awhile ago.