Elgato Turbo .264 HD Video Conversion Dongle

**The Edge** · 20-03-2009

Elgato announces Turbo.264 HD, an incredibly fast and easy-to-use tool that converts video files to a format that can be played on an iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV, used on a computer, and shared on the web. Turbo.264 HD is indispensable for anyone who owns an HD camcorder. It automatically detects AVCHD camcorders and moves recordings to the Mac or iPod in one fast and easy step. Turbo.264 HD comes with an intuitive software application that enables Mac users to quickly convert any popular video format to a high-quality H.264 file in standard or HD resolutions. The powerful encoder hardware is faster than even the fastest Mac Pro and can be used to speed up the export function of other Mac applications such as iMovie.

Instant access to HD camcorders
Turbo.264 HD automatically detects AVCHD camcorders that are connected to the Mac. The intuitive Turbo.264 HD software makes it easy to preview and trim recordings, combine them into one movie and move them directly to the Mac or a YouTube account.

Converts all popular video formats
Drag and drop any video file into the application and convert it to a high-quality H.264 file in standard or HD resolutions. Turbo.264 HD supports AVCHD Video, QuickTime, AVI, DV, WMV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 Program/Transport Stream, MPEG-4, MP4, M4V, H.263, H.264 AVC, Xvid, VIDEO_TS and many more.

Speeds up the export features of many popular Mac applications
Turbo.264 HD installs a QuickTime Component that enables it to accelerate H.264 exports other Mac applications. iMovie users can share their projects in less time and EyeTV will move recordings to the iPod much faster.

Suitable for pros as well as novices
Users can preview, trim and batch process videos. The choice of nine handy export presets, ranging from “iPod small” to “HD 1080p”, can easily be expanded by creating custom video output profiles.

System requirements
Macintosh computer with Intel Core processor, 512 MB of RAM, built-in USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X 10.5.6 Leopard (or later), QuickTime 7.6 (or later)

Availability
Turbo.264 HD ships today and is available to buy online immediately, and will be available in stores very soon. You can buy direct from Elgato at www.elgato.com or most Mac retailers, including the Apple Store.

Price

US Dollars $149.95
Euros €149.95 including VAT
British Pounds £139.95 including VAT
Australian Dollars $379.00
New Zealand Dollars $479.00

**The Edge** · 20-03-2009

Turbo.264 HD Technical Information
Input formats
AVCHD Video, QuickTime, AVI, DV, WMV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 Program/Transport Stream, MPEG-4, MP4, M4V, H.263, H.264 AVC, Xvid, VIDEO_TS and many more.

Output formats
Apple TV Video:
Video: H.264 Main Profile, 5 Mbps max., 1280×720 pixels at 24 fps max. or 960×540 pixels at 30 fps max., Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 160 Kbps, 48 kHz. When exporting to Apple TV format, for sources that contain Dolby Digital™ AC-3 audio, the digital audio will be passed through into the resulting file.

iPod High Video:
H.264 Baseline Profile Low-Complexity, 1.5 Mbps max., 640×480 max., 30 fps max. Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 128 Kbps, 48 kHz. (Note: If the source movie is larger than 640×480 it will be scaled to fit within 640×480 preserving aspect ratio. Resolution is maintained if 640×480 or smaller. Frame rate is maintained when 30 fps and smaller.)

iPod Standard Video:
H.264 Baseline Profile (up to Level 1.3), 768 kbps max. 320×240 max., 30 fps max. Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 128 Kbps, 48 kHz. (Note: If the source movie is larger than 320×240 it will be scaled to fit within 320×240 preserving aspect ratio. Resolution is maintained if 320×240 or smaller. Frame rate is maintained when 30 fps and smaller.)

iPhone Video:
H.264 Baseline Profile (up to Level 1.3), 900 kbps max. 480×360 max., 30 fps max. Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 128 Kbps, 48 kHz. (Note: If the source movie is larger than 480×360 it will be scaled to fit within 480×360 preserving aspect ratio. Resolution is maintained if 480×360 or smaller. Frame rate is maintained when 30 fps and smaller.)

Sony PSP Video:
H.264 Main Profile, 1.5 Mbps, 480×270, 30 fps. Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 128 Kbps, 48 kHz. (Note: A source with 16:9 aspect ratio will produce a 480x270 destination movie while a 4:3 video results in a 362x272 file.)

YouTube Video:
H.264 Baseline Profile Low-Complexity, 1.5 Mbps max., 640×480 max., 30 fps max. Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 128 Kbps, 48 kHz. (Note: If the source movie is larger than 640×480 it will be scaled to fit within 640×480 preserving aspect ratio. Resolution is maintained if 640×480 or smaller. Frame rate is maintained when 30 fps and smaller.)

YouTube HD Video:
H.264 Main Profile, 5 Mbps max., 1280×720 max., 30 fps max. Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 128 Kbps, 48 kHz. (Note: If the source movie is larger than 1280×720 it will be scaled to fit within 1280×720 preserving aspect ratio. Resolution is maintained if 1280×720 or smaller. Frame rate is maintained when 30 fps and smaller.)

HD 720p:
Video: H.264 Main Profile, 10 Mbps max., 1280×720 pixels at 30 fps max., Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 160 Kbps, 48 kHz (Note: If the source movie is larger than 1280×720 it will be scaled to fit within 1280×720 preserving aspect ratio. Resolution is maintained if 1280×720 or smaller. Frame rate is maintained when 30 fps and smaller.)

HD 1080p:
Video: H.264 Main Profile, 10 Mbps max., 1920×1080 pixels at 30 fps max., Audio: AAC-LC, stereo, 160 Kbps, 48 kHz

Custom profiles:
H.264 High Profile, 1080p, 30 fps, 10 MBit/s max.

**WarHammer** · 20-03-2009

Dedicated hardware is always faster at doing exactly that task than general purpose hardware, such as the Core 2 Intel CPUs. Accelerators are the key to the future of working with HD content. The more you can offload to an accelerator like this, or the graphics card, the less CPU you'll use, the less power you'll consume, and the less heat you'll put out.

**Uriah** · 20-03-2009

Hello , It seem to be pretty fast. However, newer Macintoshes are also pretty fast. It took about 3 hours to rip my copy of Serenity using t.264. It took Handbrake about 5 hours on my 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo Mac Mini with 1 GB memory. Keep in mind that QuickTime conversion to h.264 is notoriously slow. Handbrake and MPEG Streamclip provide much faster results but the off-loaded t.264 encoder beat them handily and freed up a large chunk of the main Mac's CPU cycles.