HDLink is the only LCD monitoring converter to include the quality of 4:4:4 SDI input combined with a fully digital LCD connection. There are many great reasons why HDLink is the number one choice for quality monitoring.
Fully Digital HD Monitoring
HDLink connects SDI video direct to your display using DVI-D, DisplayPort or HDMI, so you get a fully digital connection to the screen. This totally eliminates noise and other analog limitations to your monitoring. Because a 1920 x 1200 resolution LCD monitor can display the 1920 x 1080 resolution HDTV image direct, you can actually see every single pixel in the HD image. That means you get full resolution and full digital HD monitoring for unprecedented clarity of image. Even a 23 inch CRT monitor cannot show full resolution HD because of natural frequency roll in the shadow mask. LCD monitoring is ideal in environments where you need full resolution HD monitoring, without afterglow and other annoying CRT problems.
Flexibility for High End Production
The SDI video standard was designed for total flexibility. All equipment connects together using simple coax BNC cables with connections of up to 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 independent of the tape format. Modern equipment such as Videohub allows for switching between standard definition 270 Mb/s, high definition 1.485 Gb/s or 2K 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 4:2:2 and has twice the color resolution. However, when doing feature film work or other high end multi-layer video editing, HD-SDI allows two connections for full 4:4:4 video where full color resolution is available. When running Dual Link 4:4:4, or single link 3 Gb/s SDI 4:4:4, you can connect video using the RGB color space instead of the normal YUV color space, which is perfect for feature film work. Blackmagic Design also supports 16 bit rendering where possible, so full bit depth is always persevered. Although SDI was previously expensive, Blackmagic Design has singly changed the industry making SDI affordable for everyone. Blackmagic Design has helped to make SDI the production format of 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. That 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 Mini Converters 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 16 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 over 1 million dollar telecine film scanners down to low cost analog converters for a few hundred dollars, and are all fully compatible with each other.
Choose RGB or YUV Workflows
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 2 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. Blackmagic Design converters as well as the DeckLink HD Extreme capture card support both YUV and RGB color, so unlike other products, you can choose the best color space for your workflow.
Feature Film Video Quality
SDI features twice the color resolution of DV so you get incredible quality graphics and effects. All Blackmagic Design products use full 4:2:2 10 bit SDI video with video stored at full resolution using 10 bit depth. If you're doing higher quality feature film work, then 4:4:4 HD-SDI is perfect. The low cost HDLink Pro model has two inputs for Dual Link HD 4:4:4 10 bit RGB support using two SDI connections. HDLink Pro and HDLink Optical Fiber feature a single SDI input at 3 Gb/s for connecting to newer equipment with single link 4:4:4 HD-SDI or 2K via SDI connections. 3 Gb/s is fully compatible with SD and HD-SDI so get the flexibility to change between workflow's instantly.
From the most advanced video production companies in Hollywood to individual, freelance, creative users, video & audio professionals all rely upon Blackmagic Design to deliver quality everyday. With the superior quality of SDI, you have the ideal solution for jobs that can't suffer from inadequate quality or performance, as can be the case with FireWire based solutions or analog video. With Blackmagic Design you get the best quality and SDI compatibility at the most affordable price ever.
