New Card Offers 18 HD Signals over One Fiber

LAS VEGAS, JUNE 9, 2010 – MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems, a premier provider of fiber optic-based video and audio transport and routing solutions for broadcast and pro A/V applications, will showcase its new openGear-compatible HD-4400-CWDM at InfoComm 2010 . Making its InfoComm debut, MultiDyne’s HD-4400-CWDM will provide customers with unprecedented density, redundancy and control – offering a massive 18 HD signals on one fiber.

The HD-4400-CWDM card transports four 3G, HD-SDI signals over one fiber. This fiber can be patched to additional HD-4400-CWDM cards, for a total of 18 3G HD-SDI signals over one fiber, in just five slots. With such high density, one openGear 2RU frame can transport a total of 18 bi-directional signals (36 3G, HD-SDI signals over two fibers), making the solution ideal for high-capacity fiber trunking of 3G HD-SDI signals in any broadcast facility.

For more information on MultiDyne’s full range of openGear solutions, please visit http://www.multidyne.com/productdetail.cfm?ProductID=248.

About MultiDyne:
For more than 30 years, MultiDyne has been a leading provider of innovative and outstanding video and fiber-optic-based transport and routing systems for the broadcast, cable, satellite, production, digital cinema, pro A/V, corporate, retail, surveillance, teleconferencing, judicial arraignment, transportation, government, military, and healthcare markets. MultiDyne’s fiber optic transport and routing systems for video, SDI, 3G HD, DVB/ASI, VGA, DVI, HDMI, audio, AES, Ethernet, data, CATV, as well as the company’s other broadcast accessories are used worldwide by such industry leaders as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, RAI, BBC and the Department of Transportation. MultiDyne provides a seven-year warranty on its core product line. For more information, call MultiDyne at 1-877-MULTIDYNE or 1-516-671-7278, visit the company’s Web site at www.multidyne.com, or send an e-mail to sales@multidyne.com.

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Media Contact:
Heather Dinolfo
D. Pagan Communications, Inc.
+1 (631) 659-2309, ext. 16
heatherd@dpagan.com

Company Contact:
+1 (516) 671-7278, ext. 301
marketing@multidyne.com

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Company Showcases High-Density openGear Solution and Companion Cards at NAB 2010

LAS VEGAS, APRIL 13, 2010 – MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems, a premier provider of fiber optic-based video and audio transport and routing solutions for broadcast and pro A/V applications, is featuring the openGear-compatible HD-4400 four-channel fiber optic transport system at NAB 2010 (Booth C7637). The high-density, multirate, 3G HD-SDI SMPTE fiber optic transport system with a 4×4 matrix on both the transmitter and receiver is one of MultiDyne’s first offerings as part of the openGear terminal equipment platform group and is now shipping.

First introduced by Ross Video, the openGear platform is based on an open architecture, 2RU modular frame that accommodates up to 10 cards in the DFR-8310 frame and up to 20 cards in the DFR-8320 frame. MultiDyne’s HD-4400 and additional companion cards give customers using the openGear platform more options for fiber optic transport without having to invest in multiple frame standards.

“MultiDyne is pleased to announce that our HD-4400 solution is now shipping, giving our customers a simple, cost-effective way to integrate new MultiDyne fiber optic equipment into their existing openGear frames,” says Frank Jachetta, managing director, MultiDyne. “With limited space in today’s mobile production trucks, the HD-4400 is the perfect high-density solution for video pool feed distribution. The new openGear companion cards in our product line-up will also make working in such challenging situations easier, meeting the needs of modern high-definition, on-the-go sports and news production environments.” 

Ideal for high-capacity fiber trunking of 3G HD-SDI signals in a broadcast facility, the HD-4400 transmitter card accepts four multi-rate HD-SDI electrical signals with speeds of 5 Mb to 3 Gb per second as inputs. These inputs are equalized, re-clocked and converted to four optical outputs. The receiver card accepts four fiber optic inputs and converts them to four electrical outputs, which are re-clocked and line buffered. Both the transmitter and receiver cards include a 4×4 matrix switcher to cross-connect any of the four input and output channels.

The HD-4400’s 4×4 switching and cross-connect feature provides 3G HD signal routing and automatic redundancy capability. The system can also transport four redundant 3G HD-SDI feeds with automatic protection switching, supporting SDI, HD-SDI, 3G HD-SDI, DVB, ASI and SMPTE standards 424M, 292M, 259M and 310M.

MultiDyne has also expanded its commitment to the openGear platform with the addition of several new companion cards for the HD-4400. These companion cards will target a wide variety of applications, with features including signal distribution, conversion, embedding, de-embedding and synchronization. Solutions available immediately include the 4005 Triple 3G/HD/SD Re-clocking Distribution Amplifier, 4018 Quad Monitoring Converter – SDI to Analog Composite and the 4035 Input Processor for HD/SD Analog and HD/SD-SDI Input with audio embedding/de-embedding and frame sync.

For more information on MultiDyne’s range of openGear solutions, please visit http://www.multidyne.com/productlist.cfm?CategoryID=103.

About MultiDyne:

For more than 30 years, MultiDyne has been a leading provider of innovative and outstanding video and fiber-optic-based transport and routing systems for the broadcast, cable, satellite, production, digital cinema, pro A/V, corporate, retail, surveillance, teleconferencing, judicial arraignment, transportation, government, military, and healthcare markets. MultiDyne’s fiber optic transport and routing systems for video, SDI, 3G HD, DVB/ASI, VGA, DVI, HDMI, audio, AES, Ethernet, data, CATV, as well as the company’s other broadcast accessories are used worldwide by such industry leaders as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, RAI, BBC and the Department of Transportation. MultiDyne provides a seven-year warranty on its core product line. For more information, call MultiDyne at 1-877-MULTIDYNE or 1-516-671-7278, visit the company’s Web site at www.multidyne.com, or send an e-mail to sales@multidyne.com.

Fiber Optic Transmission Systems, Fiber Optic Transport Systems for Broadcast Television, Multiple signals, New Products, News, Uncategorized

 Clear-Com^® and RTS^® Two- To- Four Wire Intercom Bridge

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, SEPTEMBER 14, 2009 – MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems, a premier provider of fiber optic-based video and audio transport and routing solutions for broadcast and pro A/V applications, introduces the COMMS-2000 Two Wire to Four Wire Intercom Interface to its European customers at IBC 2009 (Stand 2.A54).

The COMMS-2000 interface allows for the conversion of a single channel of standard or TW party-line intercom to four-wire audio, while also converting call signals to RS-422 data. It also offers the capability to convert the signal back to its original form. The resulting audio and RS-422 data from the COMMS-2000 can then be sent to a Clear-Com Matrix port, fiber optic converter such as the MultiDyne Fiber-Comms or connected to another COMMS-2000 over twisted-pair cable such as CAT-5E. With its excellent hybrid null, offering superior isolation between sender and caller audio, and wide-range level controls, the COMMS-2000 may also be used as a high-quality stand-alone two-to-four-wire converter. It is also a cost-effective integrated component for the LiGHTBoX™ field portable fiber optic transport system.

Ideal for mobile productions, the COMMS-2000 offers a lightweight, compact size in a design that does not call for an additional power source, as the COMMS-2000 obtains its DC operating current through the party-line connection on pin two of its XLR connector. Long copper cable runs are no longer required as the COMMS-2000 utilizes lightweight UTP cables. When used with a Clear-Com Matrix system, the COMMS-2000 allows a party-line channel to be connected to the Matrix frame with up to 5000 feet of cable. The COMMS-2000 can easily be rack-mounted, with up to three units fitting across a standard 1-RU rack space.

For systems where only one or two party-line channels are needed, the COMMS-2000 is ideal. Simply run UTP cable from the Matrix frame to the COMMS-2000, which is connected to and powered by the party-line system. A rear panel dip-switch on the COMMS-2000 allows the four-wire audio and RS-422 data to be connected to the RJ-45 jack, instead of an all-inclusive, hardwired DB-15 connector, simplifying set-up.

“When combined with our new Fiber-Comms four wire optical extender for intercom and IFB, the COMMS-2000 becomes a vital component to our user’s intercom-over-fiber transport needs,” says Jim Jachetta, senior vice president of engineering and product development. “With more and more broadcast and AV setups incorporating intercom communications equipment, the COMMS-2000 allows for intercom connectivity through a standard analog audio fiber optic link.”

In addition to its acting as a visual indicator, when used with two COMMS-2000 units, the call signaling function can be used to trigger relays or functions in other intercom equipment. An amber data LED provides the user with continuous status on the data link between two COMMS-2000 units and will indicate whether or not a proper link has been established. The COMMS-2000 also includes internal jumpers to select different band rates for the RS-422 data.

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MultiDyne, LiGHTBoX, and the MultiDyne logo are registered trademarks of MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems. Clear-Com and RTS Systems are registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Fiber Optic Transmission Systems, IBC 2009, News, Tradeshows Add new tag, COMMS-2000, fiber optic systems, IBC 2009, intercom

High Resolution Graphics and Video Transmission for DVI

The quality and fidelity of a signal over short and long distances is difficult to maintain over copper.  As signals increase in bandwidth and bit rate, it becomes more and more difficult for systems to transport these high bandwidth signals even a short distance over copper.   This becomes very apparent when working with high resolution vided and graphics.

A computer generated RGB or UXGA signal at 1600 by 1200 pixels requires and analog bandwidth of close to 500 MHz.  If the signal is digitized, requires and data transport bit rate of 3 to 4 Gbps.  How do we transport these signals?  The answer is “Not very far over copper”.   There are many copper based products that will transport these signals but at a cost in performance and video quality.

High bandwidth signals such as RGB, DVI and HDMI all benefit by the use of fiber.  Systems like the one pictured below in figure 28, offer state-of-the-art fiber transport over one fiber for RGB/UXGA Video, Audio, Data and Ethernet.

Synchronous, Single Fiber, Digital, RGB and VGA Fiber Optic System

RGB-5000 RGB/UXGA Video, Audio, Data & Ethernet Fiber Optic Link, Figure 28

Many applications today require the same video or graphical signal to be displayed on a series of monitors.  An example may be an airport terminal where arrival and departure information is displayed every 100 feet.   This application requires a long daisy-chain of units that can drop and repeat the same signals to each monitor every 100 feet.

System are available with the drop and repeat or daisy-chain feature.  As shown in figure 29, one transmitter can send the video signal to the first receiver.   The first receiver decodes the optical signal and generates an output for the local monitor.  The receiver also repeats and re-generates the optical signal to send to the next receiver in the chain.  This technique saves on installation and equipment costs.  The alternative would be to run a fiber from each monitor back to the control room.  Instead, one fiber can feed many monitors.

Synchronous, Single Fiber, Digital, RGB and VGA Fiber Optic System with Daisy Chain

Daisy Chain or Drop and Repeat Video Fiber Transport, Figure 29

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Compressed Digital Video

When compression is introduced into a video transport system, a drastic reduction in bandwidth can be implemented.  A digital composite signal requires 144 Mbps and an HD-SDI signal requires 1.485 Gbps.  When considering a system that will transport many channels of digital video, an enormous amount of bandwidth is required.  A compression system removes redundant or repetitive information from the digital data stream.  A compression or transmission encoding scheme will take advantage of limitations in the human eye.  The human eye has lower sensitivity or resolution to color detail.  Many compression or encoding schemes take this into account and compress or omit certain color details.

There are two basic types of compression systems, Lossless and Lossy. A lossless compression system does not degrade the video or audio quality.  The receiver unit recovers the original uncompressed information.  A lossless compression system strictly removes repetitive information from the data stream.  Most video content has repetitive information from one video frame to the next.  For example, the background image may not change from frame to frame. Therefore there is no need to resend this information if it stays the same.    Unfortunately a lossless compression schemes does not offer significant bandwidth savings.  A compression rate of 3 to 4 times is needed pected.

A lossy compression scheme can achieve very high levels of compression but at the cost of image or signal quality.  A lossy compression algorithm removes detail from the original image.  Once the information has been removed, it cannot be reconstructed.   There are many compression and encoding schemes used in video transport.  The 4:2:2, 4:1:1 and 4:1:0 encoding schemes mentioned earlier are a technique used to reduce bandwidth.  Since the human eye has less sensitivity or less resolution for color, these encoding schemes cut bandwidth for the color information.  The human eye has more resolution horizontally than vertically.  When taking this into account, most video formats have a higher horizontal resolution than vertical.

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Digital in the Television and Video Industries

A digital signal can mean different things to Video and CATV engineers, causing much confusion. The most common types of digital video and digital audio are as follows:

Uncompressed digital video and audio

Lossless compression of digital video and audio

Lossy compression of digital video and audio

Complex digital modulations schemes such as 64 QAM, 256 QAM, 16 VSB, 64 QPSK, etc.

SONET, ATM or other telecom base standards.

Serial digital interface or SDI

High definition or HD-SDI

Digital Audio or AES/EBU

The process of digitizing a standard NTSC video signal is straight forward.  The typical bandwidth of a video signal is 4.5 MHz.  Typically a sample rate of four times the video bandwidth is used or about 18 Mega samples per second.  The analog to digital converter or A/D typically have a sampling resolution of 8, 10 or 12 bits. This process generates a serial digital data stream of about 144 Mb/sec to 270 Mbps.  The video signal is typically encoded in a digital format at the video source or in the video camera.  Depending of the digital video format, the analog video will be samples at about 13.5 Mega samples per second and then encoded in one of several standards such as 4:2:2, 4:1:1 or 4:2:0.  While these encoding schemes are not referred to as compression, they omit or remove certain information to reduce the systems bandwidth requirement.  In the encoding schemes above, the three digits refer to the three common components of video.  The first component is luminance (Y) or the light intensity of the video signal.   The second is the color signal of red minus luminance or R-Y.  The third component is the color signal of blue minus luminance or B-Y.  These three components are referred to as YUV.  The numbers 4:2:2 have to do with the fact that twice the bandwidth is used for the Luminance (Y) channel than the two color channels. This technique is a form of compression that will be addressed later in the chapter.  HDTV or high definition video requires a data rate of 1.485 Gbits/second for one uncompressed signal.

The most efficient means of analog video transport utilizes analog to digital conversion.  Once video and audio signals are converted to digital information, many channels can be combined into one high speed data stream using Time-Division Multiplexing or TDM.   The high speed serial digital data stream is then converted to light via a laser or LED.  The block diagram below in Figure 19, shows the building blocks of an 8 channel video fiber optic transmitter.
Figure 19

The receiver unit performs the reverse function as shown in figure 20 The light or optical signal is received by a PIN photo detector. The optical signal is converted back into a serial data stream.  The data stream is de-multiplexed using TDM.  The digital data is then converted back to video and audio via digital to analog D/A converters.

Figure 20

Digital video transmission has many advantages over analog transmission.  Analog fiber optic system requires high linearity optical components that are expensive and require fine tuning and complex calibration procedures.  Once a video or audio signal has been digitized, it can be transported via fiber using readily available digital telecom optical components for both Multimode and Singlemode applications.  A digital system has a higher immunity to noise and superior performance characteristics compared to an analog system.  A digital signal can be regenerated and repeated virtually indefinitely without signal or performance degradation.

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Fiber Optic Transmission Systems

Digital Modulation

The digital bit is the basic unit of digital information. This unit has two values one or zero. The bit represents the electronic equivalent of the circuit being on or off where a zero equals off and a one equals on.  One bit of information is limited to these two values. The digital information is transmitted through the Fiber serially one bit at a time.

A digital pulse train represents the ones and zeros of digital information.  And the pulse train can depict high and low electrical voltage levels or the presence and absence of a voltage.

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