Fremont, California, USA - February 1, 2018- Blackmagic Design today announced the all new Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter and Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter which convert standard television industry connections for video, audio, power, talkback, tally and more into a single SMPTE hybrid electrical and fiber optic cable. This allows cameras to be placed up to 2 km away from a studio or outside broadcast truck using a single cable. The Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter is available for US$2,995 and the Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter is available for US$2,995. Both fiber converters are available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.
Whether it’s in a studio or out at a large sporting venue, customers working in live production often need to place their cameras both far away and close to the action. SDI connections are common, but they have limited range. Plus, when working in large theaters or massive stadiums, it can also be hard to find locations with power. Running multiple cables for power, talkback, tally, video and audio feeds normally requires expensive interfaces and extenders. This can make set up incredibly complex and increases the chances of a technical error.
The Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter and Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter solve this problem by converting all essential connections and full camera power into a single convenient SMPTE hybrid electrical and fiber optic cable that can be run long distances up to 2 km away. That means cameras can be placed anywhere and connected back to broadcast trucks parked outside of a venue or back to a central control room in a studio.
The new Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter and Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter transform your URSA Broadcast and URSA Mini cameras into a complete studio solution. One converter is located on the camera and one is located far away back in the studio or outside broadcast truck. It’s the perfect solution for news, magazine style talk shows, game shows, multi camera sitcoms and even massive outdoor sporting events. Best of all, it costs tens of thousands less than other broadcast camera solutions. This means web producers, professional AV customers, houses of worship and educators can now afford to use the same high end broadcast technology that professional broadcasters use.
The cable used between the camera and studio converters is a standard SMPTE 311M hybrid electrical and fiber optic cable with a standard SMPTE 304 connector on each end. The cable features a 2 way fiber pair, data pair and power pair, along with a central strength member that gives it the needed durability for continuous use.
The Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter provides an industry standard 200 volts of power to the camera converter for both the camera and its accessories. The converters at each end have dedicated micro controllers that continuously monitor power and will instantly cut it if a leak is detected. High voltages to the SMPTE cable are not enabled until the converters ensure that all safety checks have been completed. This means Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter and Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter are compliant with SMPTE fiber standards, making them incredibly safe to operate. At the camera end, power is stepped down and made available to the camera and accessories via standard 12 volt connections.
The Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter attaches to the back of URSA Mini and URSA Broadcast cameras and converts all of the video and audio connections, along with camera control, PTZ, talkback, tally and power into the SMPTE hybrid electrical and fiber optic cable.
Because studio cameras are operated from the rear camera position, the camera fiber converter also adds standard studio camera controls to the back of the camera. Customers get control for return feeds, dual intercom controls with the ability to mix in program audio, record, focus and iris controls, headset connectors, audio and more. The camera converter even includes a V mount plate on the top for attaching accessories such as a professional Blackmagic Studio Viewfinder.
The Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter, which is located at the other end of the camera chain back in the studio or outside broadcast truck, converts all of the signals from the camera back into standard television industry connections that can then be connected to camera control units, live production switchers, audio mixers and more. Both converters feature familiar broadcast controls and are designed to work exactly the way experienced camera operators expect.
The converters feature standard television industry connections, including the latest 12G-SDI, for working with all HD and Ultra HD formats up to 2160p60. Customers get an Ultra HD camera feed, 3 independent return HD feeds, full remote camera control, PTZ, and ethernet. For talkback, the converters feature two dual channel intercoms with 5 pin XLR connections for professional talkback headsets. In addition, there is a redundant back up intercom that can be used to set up or troubleshoot if the fiber link is down. The camera converter also includes a 10 pin connection for tracker talkback, which provides an additional talkback feed for a crane operator when both headsets are already in use, and a tally output.
Communication between the two converters is via standard 10G Ethernet. That means all video and return feeds are IP video based. The converters use high end, lossless broadcast quality 10-bit video encoding and decoding. All other connections such as talkback, tally, camera control and lens control are also converted to IP. Both converters are designed to be super fast and have extremely low subframe latency, providing the kind of incredible realtime performance customers need when working on live productions.
The Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter features an extremely durable all metal design that perfectly matches URSA Broadcast. It features full size standard television industry connections with dust caps to protect them, along with an integrated V-Lock mount on top for adding a Blackmagic Studio Viewfinder. The Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter features a rack mountable design with a front panel that features a 5 inch LCD and an optical fiber connector, so customers can conveniently plug remote cameras in and instantly see the feed.
To complete the live production solution, Blackmagic Design today also announced a new ATEM Camera Control Panel, which is a compact remote camera control unit designed to control up to four different URSA Broadcast, URSA Mini, Blackmagic Studio or Blackmagic Micro Studio cameras. The ATEM Camera Control Panel works with any ATEM live production switcher and features a large LCD screen, professional joystick, and control buttons that allow a single operator to monitor and adjust a wide range of technical parameters such as the black level, gain, color balance, shutter speed and more. This leaves camera operators free to focus on the creative aspects of live production such as framing and composition. The ATEM Camera Control Panel will be available later this year.
“The new Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter and Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter enable customers to finally create a complete professional broadcast camera chain that’s actually affordable,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “It’s exciting because the new converters, along with URSA Broadcast and the upcoming ATEM Camera Control Panel, make it affordable for professional broadcasters to use more cameras than ever. This also means that web producers, educators, AV companies and anyone else that wants to create high quality programs can now afford the same professional technology that high end broadcasters have used for years!”
Availability and Price
The Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter is available for US$2,995 and the Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter is available for US$2,995. Both products are available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.
Press Photography
Product photos of Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converter and Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converter, and all other Blackmagic Design products, are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images
About Blackmagic Design
Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.
