What Thunderbolt's 10Gb/s - & $600 - buys
2 products from Blackmagic Design give stark contrast to the differences between Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 - in price and function. With Thunderbolt you get more - and you pay for it.
Blackmagic Design BD makes pro video products. Their UltraStudio interfaces are breakout boxes for getting audio/video content on and off computers.
The Thunderbolt UltraStudio 3D costs $995. The USB 3.0 costs $395.
$600? Whoa!
The bandwidth difference But Thunderbolt and $600 buys a lot of functionality:
- 2x the SDI video I/O + analog video I/O
- HDMI I/O
- 2x the digital audio channels
- Full 1080p60 video vs 1080i60
- Full 4:4:4 video sampling
- 3Gb/s HD & 2k SDI video rate support
- 3D Processing dual stream & frame packed capture & playback.
That is a lot more flexibility and standards support. Only you can decide if that is worth another $600. (See the detailed comparison here.
The Storage Bits take Last month I asked Would you pay $200 for Thunderbolt?. Now we have a 2nd data point on Thunderbolt pricing.
BD has done a smart thing: the Thunderbolt box offers a lot more functionality for a lot more money. How much is Thunderbolt and how much is functionality?
While 3D's allure is fading, video pros will want it in their toolbox. 2K support - video @ 2048 x 1556p24 - is more important for future proofing your content.
But if I were an aspiring indie film maker shooting a Robert Rodriguez El Mariachi-style feature film on a $7,000 budget, the cost difference is prohibitive. And if that were the case I probably wouldn't be using Macs either.
2 data points don't make a trend. Yet it looks like Thunderbolt is staking out the high-end of the market - a market that MacBook Pros happens to own.
Ultimately though, everyone would do well to remember that volume drives the IT market. And if Thunderbolt's costs limit its volume it will, like Firewire end up a tiny and costly niche.
Comments welcome, of course.