Product data

Tel [phone] | www.black-box.de
6 |
BLACK BOX
®
Education | Distribution Components
Source Devices
Digital signage publishers
Also called digital signage appliances, these function essentially as storage
devices to play back digital content, such as MPEG or Windows
®
AVI
media, Flash
®
animations, PowerPoint
®
movie files, and audio. They can
operate on their own (directly connected to a screen), but are usually on a
network with their own IP address, enabling management via a browser-
based interface.
They can also be set up to deliver RSS and XML data feeds, and other
Web-based content in real time to your displays. They’re usually Windows
or Linux
®
based PCs by design with spacious drives and high-performance
processors. They’re called publishers because they contain the software
that enables you to manage content distribution, as well as creative design
tools to set up and insert media into zones within a signage presentation.
Other video sources
This can be as simple as a Blu-ray or DVD player, or a robust dedicated or
shared server hosted centrally or in a distributed environment.
These devices can also be used to bridge the connection between your
digital signage publisher and a content management system. For instance,
prerecorded video and other content can originate from the content
management system or a video library. For corporate applications, your
AV distribution system can be connected to an Oracle
®
database or a
CRM system, and in retail applications, digital signage screens can link
to a PoS database running on a network and tracking available inventory.
Source devices can also be whatever it takes to link a Internet or WAN
feed to your video distribution or digital signage system, including network
gateways or CATV or DTV set-top boxes.
Extenders
For maximum reach and image control in your AV distribution or signage
application, you’ll likely need devices that enable you to send signals
farther than what’s possible when using video cabling by itself. These
transmitter/receiver combos enable you to send DVI, VGA, or other types
of video (as well as audio) from a PC or other source devices to remote
screens.
These devices include:
• In-lineextenders,likeamplifiersandboosters,whichareinstalled
within a video cable run.
•Baluns,whicharedevicesthatconnectabalancedline,suchas
twisted-pair cable, to an unbalanced line, such as coaxial cable.
Many versions are available for VGA and other analog RGB video
standards, as well as CCTV camera connections.
•CATx-basedextenders,whichconvertthesignalforextension
over CAT5 or higher-grade cable, enabling you to use inexpensive
wiring for your long-distance extensions.
•Fiber-basedextenders(ortransceivers),whichconvertanddistribute
AV signals over interference-free fiber cabling at very long distances.
•Broadcasters,whicharelikeextendersinthattheytypicallyuseCATx
cabling to distribute video to remote locations. However, they also
support multiple channels for multisite distribution.
•QAMmodulators.Theseencodeandmodulatevideoinputand
create an HDTV channel for low-cost video distribution over existing
RF cabling. Simply use the QAM tuner of an HDTV to receive the
channel.
•IP-basedstreamersandencoders/decoders.Thesedevicescompress
and encode source video for extending over a LAN using lossless
compression technology. They can be for multipoint distribution
(multicast) or point to point (unicast).