Mini Converters will keep up with you when quality really counts. Its fully SDI digital construction means it never suffers from video noise and will always connect video cleanly between equipment, without any change in quality.
Flexibility for High End Production
The SDI video standard was designed for total flexibility. All equipment connects together using simple coax BNC cables and the connection can be more than 100 meters or 300 feet apart. SDI doesn't use compression so you can record video to any kind of broadcast or high end consumer deck completely independently of the tape format. Modern equipment such as Mini Converters allow for video rate switching between standard definition 270 Mb/s, high definition 1.485 Gb/s or high definition 3 Gb/s video rates, so newer HDTV equipment can be integrated into existing systems.
Unlike DV, which is only 4:1:1 color sampling with only 1 red and 1 blue video sample per 4 luma samples, SDI is normally 4:2:2 with twice the color resolution. When doing feature film work, or other high end multi-layer video editing, SDI allows full 4:4:4 video where full color resolution is available. When running 4:4:4, you can also connect video using RGB color space instead of the normal YUV color space, which is perfect for feature film work. Traditionally SDI equipment has been expensive, however Blackmagic Design has changed the industry and finally made SDI affordable for everyone. Now SDI is the production format of the choice for high end, corporate, on-location and live broadcast video worldwide.
Compatibility when it Counts
SDI has the compatibility to connect every kind of video equipment together, from all tape format decks, monitoring and distribution. No matter what the tape format, there will be a model with SDI connections. This means you don’t have to worry about tape formats and non linear editing file formats standards, with SDI it all connects together seamlessly. SDI has absolutely no latency, so unlike FireWire you get instant response on NLE timelines. SDI also allows direct monitoring, as all good video monitors have SDI input options or use analog converters such as Multibridge and HDLink for LCD monitoring. For audio perfectionists, SDI has a massive multi-channel audio capability with video capture cards such as DeckLink using up to 12 channels for HD audio capture.
That’s great for 5.1 surround sound work. And like the video, all audio is digital so there is no generation loss of any kind combined with perfect AV sync. There are thousands of SDI based products on the market ranging from million dollar telecine film scanners down to low cost analog converters for a few hundred dollars, and they're all fully compatible with each other.
Choose RGB or YUV Workflow
Due to the historical requirement for compatibility with black and white television and video compression, all video is normally YUV based. YUV is a term used to describe Y, Cr, Cb video where black and white video is transmitted separately to color red and blue video. Unlike composite NTSC/PAL video, color is not mixed, eliminating problems such as chroma crawl and luma/chroma intermixing. YUV video is useful because color detail can be reduced without affecting the visual image quality to the human eye. Normal SDI video uses the 4:2:2 sampling where for every 4-black and white (luma or Y) pixels there are two color pixels for red and blue. YUV is fully compatible with most television requirements and is the native format for SDI video connections. For feature film and other high end work, many people like to work in RGB because film, telecine film scanners, computers and video monitors natively work in RGB, thereby eliminating color space conversions. However, RGB requires full color detail called 4:4:4 which uses extra bandwidth carried on a second SDI cable. Blackmagic Design's Multibridge Eclipse and Pro, as well as DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 capture cards support both YUV and RGB color, so unlike other products, you can choose the best color space for your workflow.
