User Manual

SDI2USB 3.0 Overview
1. SDI2USB 3.0 Overview
SDI2USB 3.0™ Epiphan's newest external frame grabber uses an SDI input
connection to transmit data to a video capture workstation through a USB 3.0 port or a
USB 2.0 port. The video capture workstation can capture, record and broadcast
uncompressed production-quality images and videos directly from 3G-SDI, HD-SDI
and SD-SDI sources. Both audio and video capture is supported and no peripheral
component interface (PCI) is required.
SDI2USB 3.0 captures video from an SDI video source. Meeting greater demands for
transferring larger files at faster speeds, this external frame grabber supports USB 3.0
technology, capable of transferring uncompressed data with speeds of up to 5.0
(Gbits/s) - about ten times faster than USB 2.0.
Note: In practice, transfer speeds are dependent on factors such as the task and
hardware configuration.
SDI2USB 3.0 is versatile and can be used with multiple workstation configurations. It
is backward compatible with USB 2.0 connections, however it transfers compressed
video with a lower quality when using USB 2.0.
SDI2USB 3.0 supports full HD capture rate of 60 frames per second. All captured data
is converted to RGB 24-bit color format. When SDI2USB 3.0 is configured to capture
and transfer video to third-party software, such as Window Media Encoder configured
for YUV color format, SDI2USB 3.0 converts RGB 24-bit color format to YUV color
format. When YUV 4:2:0 chroma subsampling is applied, video can be captured and
recorded up to 60 frames per second.
In addition to an input port, the SDI2USB 3.0 offers an SDI output port that can be
used for confidence monitoring. In the example below, a monitor connected to the
output port allows you to monitor the input signal and make quick adjustments if
required.
4 SDI2USB 3.0 User Guide