Blackmagic Design DeckLink Mini Monitor 4K PCIe Playback Card

Blackmagic Design DeckLink Mini Monitor 4K PCIe Playback Card

The Blackmagic Design DeckLink Mini Monitor 4K is a low-profile PCI Express playback card for professional video monitoring from a computer. It provides one 6G-SDI output and one HDMI 2.0a output, and it plays back all formats up to 2160p30, including high dynamic range material. The card is intended for editing, colour correction and playback workflows where the picture needs to be viewed on a professional SDI monitor, a television or an HDMI projector rather than only on the computer display, with the output format switching automatically to match the material being played.

Key features

• Low-profile PCIe playback card, PCI Express 4-lane generation 2
• 6G-SDI output and HDMI 2.0a output on the same card
• Playback of SD, HD, 2K, Ultra HD and 4K DCI formats up to 2160p30
• HDR playback with HDR metadata over HDMI, including PQ and HLG
• 10-bit YUV and 12-bit RGB broadcast-quality video output
• Support for Rec. 2020 and Rec. 709 colour spaces
• Hardware-based real-time colour space conversion
• Full-height and low-profile PCIe brackets included

Video outputs and formats

The SDI output is a single 10-bit connection that switches between SD, HD and Ultra HD. Supported standards include 2160p at 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 frames per second, 4K DCI at 23.98, 24 and 25p, HD formats up to 1080p60, 1080i and 720p, and SD PAL and NTSC. The HDMI 2.0a output supports the same broad format range and automatically configures itself for the connected display, with pixel-for-pixel HD output. SDI video sampling covers 4:2:2 and 4:4:4, while HDMI sampling covers 4:4:4, 4:2:2 and 4:2:0, with colour precision up to 12-bit Deep Colour.

HDR and colour handling

DeckLink Mini Monitor 4K supports high dynamic range playback on both outputs. HDR static metadata packing is supported over SDI and HDMI, with PQ and HLG transfer characteristics, so HDR material can be monitored with the metadata the display needs to interpret it correctly. The card supports the wide Rec. 2020 colour space used for Ultra HD work as well as Rec. 709 for HD. Colour space conversion is performed in hardware in real time, and HD material can be down-converted or cross-converted in software during playback when a lower-resolution output is required.

Audio and processing

Audio is embedded in the video outputs. The SDI output carries 16 channels of embedded audio in SD, HD and Ultra HD, and the HDMI output carries 8 channels. Audio sampling is at the television standard rate of 48 kHz with 24-bit precision. SDI metadata support includes RP 188 and SMPTE 12M-2 timecode and closed captioning. The card supports real-time effects in applications that use it, including DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer, which makes it a monitoring path for both editing and dedicated colour grading systems.

Installation and software support

The card fits 4, 8 and 16-lane PCI Express slots and ships with brackets for both full-height and low-profile cases, so it can be installed in a standard workstation or a compact chassis. Power consumption is 10 W, drawn from the PCIe slot. It operates on Mac, Windows and Linux systems, and developers can build custom playback solutions around it using the Blackmagic Desktop Video SDK, which is available for all three operating systems. Media Express software is also available for straightforward playback tasks when a full editing application is not required.