14 DAY TRIAL // Elgato Systems has expanded its offerings with a new, external hardware encoder for quick conversions for iPods and Apple TV. The device has a USB stick form factor and can convert movies to the high quality H.264 (MP4) format.
Named Turbo.264, the device is designed to accelerate the export of movies by moving the computationally intensive software conversion of video files away from your Macintosh, leaving it free for other tasks. The speed gain is dependent on the machine you have, with older models seeing a significant boost, while the newer ones only see a moderate one. In the case of a Intel Core 2 Duo the export process is increased by a factor of 4, while on a Power PC G4, it goes up to a factor of 10.
One of the most important factors about the Turbo.264 and incidentally one that some might find lacking, is the resolution. The device supports a resolution of up to 800 by 600 pixels. While this may allow videos and TV recordings in PAL or NTSC formats to be converted to Apple TV with no scaling, it is not enough to take full advantage of the capabilities of the Apple TV. It does however support the standard resolutions for iPod and Sony PSP.
The device comes with its own video conversion software by Elgato and supports drag-and-drop ease. It also offers batch conversions and exports of unprotected DVD content (VOB files). Last but not least, Turbo.264 also accelerates exports from Macintosh video applications such as iMovie, QuickTime Pro, Final Cut Pro and EyeTV.
Turbo.264 is available immediately for US$99.95 in the Elgato Online Shop as well as through distribution. The package includes the USB 2.0 Hardware Encoder, the Turbo.264 software on CD-ROM, a user's guide on CD-ROM, a quick start guide as well as a USB extension cable.