Blackmagic Design on Friday released DeckLink 5.1, a new version of their Mac OS X software for their DeckLink pro video capture cards. It’s a free download for current DeckLink card users.
New features in DeckLink 5.1 for Mac OS X include a software-drive down converter that lets all DeckLink cards play back High Definition (HD) video while down converting to SD files in real time. The new release also supports 720p to 1080i up conversion in real time, for broadcast mastering. Several updates have been made to the Blackmagic Deck Control application, including a new brushed metal user interface and new timecode and frame count display.
The Blackmagic Deck Control software now shows a Time Code Reader (TCR) for any movie opened using the software. The update also Gamma-corrects output from After Effects and uses updated Apple Uncompressed 422 v1.2 codecs.
In related news, Blackmagic announced lower prices for its DeckLink HD series of HD-SDI PCI video capture cards. They now start at US$695.