Black Box ACU5100A Specifications

Put a stop to color drift

on your video screen!

Put a stop to color drift

on your video screen!

ServSwitch Wizard Skew Compensator

© 2007. All rights reserved. Black Box Corporation.

FREE 24-hour Tech Support: 724-746-5500

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FEA TURES

• Corrects color split or separation when
sending video over twisted pair.

• For use with higher cable grades, such
as CAT5e and CAT6.

• DIP switches for fine-tuning color skew.

• Works with most analog KVM or video
extenders.

• Daisychain units for greater distances.

• Installs at either the local or remote end.

• Interface powered.

• Mounts in Wizard Extender Chassis
(ACU5000A).

A ServSwitch Wizard Compensator installed in a

ServSwitch Wizard Extender (ACU5010A) system.

OVERVIEW

If you’re experiencing shadows on your color screen, the
problem may be in how the video signal is transmitted over
twisted-pair wires. And the ServSwitch Wizard

™

Skew

Compensator just may be the remedy.

The source of the skew

Twisted-pair cables typically have four pairs of wires and,
to reduce crosstalk interference between the wire pairs, each
of the pairs are normally twisted at slightly different rates.
While this type of construction helps digital data transmission,
it can be a problem when you use the same type of cable to
transmit analog video signals.

In a video transmission, three different wire pairs are
typically used to carry the red, green, and blue color
components of the image. This arrangement can be
problematic if a cable is too long and the twist rates of its
wire pairs are different enough. Why? Because there’s a
significant difference in the total length of wire that each
color signal has to travel. This causes the color signals to arrive
at their destination at different times and, in turn, skews the
video colors when they’re displayed. Colors may be slightly
offset from one another , resulting in a red, green, or blue
shadow around bright white objects.

Color-signal skew is more of a problem with higher­specification cables (such as CAT5e or CAT6), longer cables,
and higher screen resolutions. If, for example, your
installation runs a resolution of 1024 x 768 over 165 ft. (50 m)
of CAT5 cable, you’ll probably see minimal color separation.
But an installation running a resolution of 1600 x 1200 over
330 ft. (100 m) of CAT6 cable will probably get a noticeable
color split.

What the compensator does

The ServSwitch Wizard Skew Compensator is your answer

if can’t use a shorter or different type of twisted-pair cable

or reduce your screen resolution.

Installed between your video source and destination,
the device is designed to correct the video-color split or
separation. It does this by deliberately delaying one or two
of the color signals so that all the signals arrive at their
destination at the same time.

The Wizard Skew Compensator has 16 banks of slide
switches that correspond to colors on the different cable pairs.
By adjusting these top-panel switches on or off, you change
the control delay in nanoseconds on the individual wires
until the color skew is to your liking and trailing shadows
disappear.

This fine-tuning of the image ”by eye” can be done in
applications with or without a ServSwitch Wizard Extender
(ACU5010A or ACU5011A) installed. The extender, however,
can also be used to generate a report of recommended
settings for the Wizard Skew Compensator. The extender
compiles this report by applying signals to the cable to
measure the differences between the twisted pairs.
(Recommended settings should be fairly close to correct but
can be fine-tuned manually by using the switches on the
compensator.)

What you’ll need

To install the Wizard Skew Compensator in your
application, you’ll need four-pair (eight-wire) shielded
or unshielded twisted-pair cabling rated to at least CAT5.
One cable segment should be long enough to connect the

ServSwitch Wizard™Skew
Compensator (ACU5100A)

Keyboard

ServSwitch Wizard

Extender Remote Unit

(ACU5010A)

ServSwitch Wizard

Extender Remote Unit

(ACU5010A)

Mouse

CPU

Monitor

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6/8/2007
#26293

724-746-5500 blackbox.com

TECH SPECS

Enclosure — Steel and stainless steel
Cable Required — Between the ACU5100A and other devices: Four-pair

(eight-wire) Category 5 or higher shielded or unshielded twisted pair
(STP or UTP)

Distance (Maximum) — From video source to video destination: 100 to

200 m (328 to 656 ft.), however, the maximum distances depend on the
type and construction of the cables; (2) units can be daisychained to
support total distances up to 300 m (984 ft.); any patch cables used
must be as short as possible

Interfaces — Twisted-pair composite including VGA red, green, and blue

on three of the four wire pairs in a cable

User Controls — (16) top-mounted banks of (4) 3-terminal slide switches
Standards — VGA, SVGA, XGA, or XGA-2 video
Connectors — (2) RJ-45 F
Temperatur e Tolerance — 32 to 104˚F (0to40˚C)
Humidity Tolerance — 5 to 60% noncondensing
Power — From the interface
Size — 1"H x 6.5"W x 3.1"D (2.5 x 16.5 x 7.9 cm); rear edge of endplate

protrudes an additional 0.4" (1 cm); optional stick-on feet protrude an
additional 0.1" (0.3 cm)

Weight — 15.4 oz. (437 g)

Item Code

ServSwitch Wizard Skew Compensator ACU5100A

T o rackmount your skew compensator…

Rackmount Chassis for ServSwitch Wizard Extender

ACU5000A

ACU5100A

ACU5100A to your video source; and the other segment
should be long enough to connect the ACU5100A to the
video destination.

In order for you to experience optimal performance, both
cable segments should pass through the fewest patch-panel
connections as possible and the least possible length of lower­quality patch cabling.

Maximum cabling distances from the video source to video
destination vary because a lot of it depends on the type of
cable you use. Some cable with extreme skew can’t be
corrected by a single Wizard Skew Compensator if you intend
to send signals greater than 100 m (328 ft.). Average cable,
however, can becorrected for over total distances up to 200
m (656 ft.). Higher-quality cable supports even greater
distances. If your cable is good enough, you can daisychain
two Wizard Skew Compensators together to compensate for
skew over cabling distances up to 300 m (984 ft.)!

To install two compensators, run one cable from the video
source to the first compensator, another cable from the first
to second compensator, and a third cable from the second
compensator to the video destination.

Mounting options

If you intend to use the ServSwitch Wizard Skew
Compensator within a ServSwitch Wizard Extender system,
the compensator unit can be mounted conveniently and
easily in the Rackmount Chassis for ServSwitch Wizard Chassis
(ACU5000A), which is designed to be mounted in a standard
19" equipment rack. The Skew Compensator comes with a
pan-head screw for securing its endplate to the ACU5000A
chassis.

To mount the unit on a wall orsome other non-horizontal
flat surface, you’ll need adhesive mounting strips (not
included).

NOTE: For details on the ServSwitch Wizard Extender family,
request Product Data Sheet 26286 or go to blackbox.com and
search by code (ACU5010A) within our on-line catalog.

ACU5100A:

✦

ServSwitch Wizard Skew Compensator

✦

(4) Rubber feet

✦

Panhead screw for attaching the ACU5100A
to a Rackmount Chassis for ServSwitch Wizard KVM
Extender (ACU5000A)

✦

User’s manual

WHA T‘S INCLUDED