Ross VRC-100 User Manual

VRC-100

VANC Receiver

User Manual

VRC-100 User Manual

• Ross Part Number: VRC100DR-004-03

• Release Date: April 30, 2012.

The information in this manual is subject to change without notice or obligation.

Copyright

© 2012 Ross Video Limited. All rights reserved.
Contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of

Ross Video Limited. Reproduction or reverse engineering of copyrighted software is prohibited.

Patents

This product is protected by the following US Patents: 4,205,346; 5,115,314; 5,280,346;
5,561,404; 7,304,886; 7,508,455; 7,602,446; 7,834,886; 7,914,332 . This product is protected by
the following Canadian Patents: 2039277; 1237518; 1127289. Other patents pending.

Notice

The material in this manual is furnished for informational use only. It is subject to change without
notice and should not be construed as commitment by Ross Video Limited. Ross Video Li mi ted
assumes no responsibility or liability for errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this manual.

Trademarks

• is a registered trademark of Ross Video Limited.

• Ross, ROSS, ROSS®, and MLE are registered trademarks of Ross Video Limited.

• openGear® is a regsitered trademark of Ross Video Limited.

• DashBoard Control System™ is a trademark of Ross Video Limited.

• All other product names and any registered and unregistered trademarks mentioned in
this manual are used for indentification purposes only and remain the exclusive property
of their respective owners.

Important Regulatory and Safety Notices to Service Personnel

Before using this product and nay associated equipment, refer to the “Important Safety
Instructions” listed below to avoid personnel injury and to prevent product damage.

Product may require specific equipment, and/or installation procedures to be carried out to satisfy
certain regulatory compliance requirements. Notices have been included in this publication to call
attention to these specific requirements.

Symbol Meanings

This symbol on the equipment refers you to important operating and maintenance (servicing)
instructions within the Product Manual Documentation. Failure to heed this information may
present a major risk of damage to persons or equipment.

Warning — The symbol with the word “Warning” within the equipment manual indicates a

potentially hazardous situation, which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury.

Caution — The symbol with the word “Caution” within the equipment manual indicates a

potentially hazardous situation, which, if not avoided, may result in minor or moderate injury. It
may also be used to alert against unsafe practices.

Notice — The symbol with the word “Notice” within the equipment manual indicates a

potentially hazardous situation, which, if not avoided, may result in major or minor equipment
damage or a situation which could place the equipment in a non-compliant operating state.

ESD Susceptability — This symbol is used to alert the user that an electrical or electronic

device or assembly is susceptible to damage from an ESD event.

Important Safety Instructions

Caution — This product is inteded to be a component product of the DFR-8300 series

frame. Refer to the DFR-8300 Series Frame User Manual for important safety instructions
regarding the proper installation and safe operation of the frame as well as its component
products.

Warning — Certain parts of this equipment namely the power supply area still present a

safety hazard, with the power switch in the OFF position. To avoid electrical shock, disconnect
all A/C power cords from the chassis’ rear appliance connectors before servicing this area.

Warning — Service barriers within this product are intended to protect the operator and

service personnel from hazardous voltages. For continued safety, replace all barriers after any
servicing.
This product contains safety critical parts, which if incorrectly replaced may present a risk of
fire or electrical shock. Components contained with the product’s power supplies and power
supply area, are not intended to be customer serviced and should be returned to the factory for
repair. To reduce the risk of fire, replacement fuses must be the same time and rating. Only use
attachments/accessories specified by the manufacturer.

EMC Notices

United States of America
FCC Part 15

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a class A Digital device,
pursant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection
against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This
equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used
in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful
interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at their own
expense.

Notice — Changes or modifications to this equipment not expressly approved by Ross Video

Limited could void the user’s authority to operate this equipment.

CANADA

This Class “A” digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.
Cet appariel numerique de la classe “A” est conforme a la norme NMB-003 du Canada.

EUROPE

This equipment is in compliance with the essential requirements and other relevant provisions of
CE Directive 93/68/EEC.

INTERNATIONAL

This equipment has been tested to CISPR 22:1997 along with amendments A1:2000 and
A2:2002, and found to comply with the limits for a Class A Digital device.

Notice — This is a Class A product. In domestic environments, this product may cause radio

interference, in which case the user may have to take adequate measures.

Maintenance/User Serviceable Parts

Routine maintenance to this openGear product is not required. This product contains no user
servicable parts. If the module does not appear to be working properly, please contact Technical
Support using the numbers listed under the “Contact Us” section on the last page of this manual.
All openGear products are covered by a generous 5-year warranty and will be repaired without
charge for materials or labor within this period. See the “Warranty and Repair Policy” section in
this manual for details.

Environmental Information

The equipment that you purchased required the extraction and use of natural
resources for its production. It may contain hazardous substances that could
impact health and the environment.

To avoid the potential release of those substances into the environment and to diminsh the need
for the extraction of natural resources, Ross Video encourages you to use the appropriate
take-back systems. These systems will reuse or recycle most of the materials from your
end-of-life equipment in an environmentally friendly and health conscious manner.

The crossed out wheelie bin symbol invites you to use these systems.

If you need more information on the collection, resuse, and recycling systems, please contact
your local or regional waste administration.

You can also contact Ross Video for more information on the environmental performance of our
products.

Company Address

Ross Video Limited Ross Video Incorporated

8 John Street P.O. Box 880
Iroquois, Ontario, K0E 1K0 Ogdensburg, New York
Canada USA 13669-0880

General Business Office: (+1) 613 • 652 • 4886

Fax: (+1) 613 • 652 • 4425

Technical Support: (+1) 613 • 652 • 4886

After Hours Emergency: (+1) 613 • 349 • 0006

E-mail (Technical Support): [e-mail]

E-mail (General Information): [e-mail]

Website: http://www.rossvideo.com

Contents

Introduction 1

Overview.............................................................................................................................. 1-2

Functional Block Diagram...................................................................................................1-4

User Interfaces..................................................................................................................... 1-5

Documentation Terms and Conventions.............................................................................. 1-6

Installation 2

Before You Begin................................................................................................................2-2

Quick Start...........................................................................................................................2-3

Installing the VRC-100........................................................................................................2-6

Cabling for the VRC-100..................................................................................................... 2-8

Software Upgrades.............................................................................................................2-10

Features.................................................................................................................. 1-2

DashBoard Control System™...............................................................................1-5

Static Discharge..................................................................................................... 2-2

Unpacking.............................................................................................................. 2-2

Install the VRC-100...............................................................................................2-3

Configure the VRC-100 ........................................................................................ 2-3

Connecting GPIOs................................................................................................. 2-5

Rear Modules......................................................................................................... 2-6

Installing a Rear Module....................................................................................... 2-6

Installing the VRC-100 .........................................................................................2-7

Rear Module Cabling ............................................................................................ 2-8

Connections Overview ................................ ..........................................................2-8

User Controls 3

Card Overview................................................................................................................. . ... 3-2

Control and Monitoring Features......................................................................................... 3-3

Status and Selection LEDs on the VRC-100......................................................... 3-3

Configuration 4

General Settings................................................................................................................... 4-2

Selecting the Metadata to Monitor....................................................................................... 4-3

Selecting the Metadata to Monitor........................................................................4-3

Setting the Address of the Metadata......................................................................4-3

Setting Timeouts for Detecting Loss of Metadata............................................................... 4-4

Selecting the Alarm Conditions ............................................................................4-4

Specifying How to Display the Metadata............................................................................4-5

Status Block Display Options................................................................................4-5

Active Format Descriptor Display Options...........................................................4-5

Logo Logs Display Options ..................................................................................4-5

Local Time and Date Display Options..................................................................4-6

Caption Decode Display Options.......................................... ................................4-6

Audio Metadata Monitoring Options ....................................................................4-7

VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03) Contents • i

Timecode Display Options ....................................................................................4-7

Selecting the Background Color............................................................................4-7

Setting GPIO Inputs and Outputs.........................................................................................4-9

Defining Screen Layouts....................................................................................................4-10

Defining the Default Screen Layouts and Sequencing........................................4-10

Controlling the Screen Layouts using GPIOs...................................................... 4-10

Monitoring..........................................................................................................................4-11

Connecting Alarms to GPIOs..............................................................................4-11

Monitoring using DashBoard ..............................................................................4-11

Specifications 5

Technical Specifications ......................................................................................................5-2

Service Information 6

Troubleshooting Checklist...................................................................................................6-2

Reset Button...........................................................................................................6-2

Warranty and Repair Policy.................................................................................................6-3

ii • Contents VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03)

Introduction

In This Chapter

This chapter contains the following sections:

• Overview

• Functional Block Diagram

• User Interfaces

• Documentation Terms and Conventions

A Word of Thanks

Congratulations on choosing an openGear VRC-100 VANC Receiver. Your VRC-100 is part of a
full line of Digital Products within the openGear Terminal Equipment family of products, backed
by Ross Video’s experience in engineering and design expertise since 1974.

You will be pleased at how easily your new VRC-100 fits into your overall working environment.
Equally pleasing is the product quality, reliability and functionality. Thank you for joining the
group of worldwide satisfied Ross Video customers!

Should you have a question pertaining to the installation or operation of your VRC-100, please
contact us at the numbers listed on the back cover of this manual. Our technical support staff is
always available for consultation, training, or service.

VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03) Introduction • 1–1

Overview

Features

The VRC-100 is a SMPTE 292 VANC receiver card which decodes known VANC data and
metadata and overlays the results on the video. It converts difficult to understand metadata to
comprehendible English and presents it as an overlay on the video that carries it. The VRC-100
may be customized to best suit your application. Decode just the metadata of interest and display
it how you want it and where you want it on the screen. It has a large library of known metadata
types from which to choose. The card supports up to eight overlay screens controlled by GPIO or
a PC over a LAN allowing for a fast switch from one set of metadata to another. You also get
alarms on the loss of metadata which can be on-screen, via GPIO or over the LAN.

If you work with SMPTE 292 video, this is the product that will let you know what data and
metadata it contains and whether or not it is correct. The VRC-100 provides a number of
innovative tools to simplify your workflow.

The following features make the VRC-100 the solution of choice for monitoring the VANC:

• SMPTE 292 input on a 75-ohm BNC jack located on the rear module

• SMPTE 292 output with overlay for connection to a display

• Provides a DID/SDID map of the VANC space showing what metadata is being carried

and where

• Decoding of many important metadata formats so that you will not only be able to tell

what is present but also if it is correct

• Control over the metadata that is displayed, so that you can quickly switch between

views. This is important if you want to monitor more data than will fit on a single screen,
or if you monitor for different data on different signals.

• Automatic timed sequencing of different screens of data or control by GPIO (switches)

• Alarms to alert you when critical metadata in not present in your signal

• Matching of a set of stored configuration against the incoming audio metadata. Any

differences are highlighted in red for easy identification.

• Configuration of the card can be saved to the PC and restored at any time. This includes

switching from one configuration to another and loading different cards with the same
configuration

• GPIO logic-level inputs and outputs for compatibility with a broad range of control and

monitoring equipment

• Displays all the DID/SDID VANC packets in a map format and will decode and display

the following data or metadata:

› CEA-708 caption streams; DTVCC, 608 embedded and XDS embedded streams
› Active Format Descriptors (AFD)
› Audio Metadata
› Broadcast Flag
› Time-code
› Logo Insertion triggers (CBS LIDIA V format)
› Text Tags, packets carrying text identifiers

• Generic Data, detection of a packet by DID/SDID

• Non-volatile settings allow “set-and-forget” operation

• Rear modules provide video bypass

1–2 • Introduction VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03)

• Cards are hot-pluggable for ease of configuration and maintenance.

• Control and monitoring via the DashBoard Control System™

• Fits in the DFR-8300 series frames

• Fully compliant with openGear specifications

• 5-year transferable warranty

VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03) Introduction • 1–3

Functional Block Diagram

CPU

HD-SDI MON OUT

HD-SDI OUT 2

EQUALIZE/

DESERIALIZE

ANALYZE

VAN C

OSDHD-SDI IN

HD-SDI OUT 1BYPASS

SERIALIZE

SERIALIZE

GPIOs

MUX

This section provides the functional block diagram that outlines the workflo w of the VRC-100.

Figure 1.1 Simplified Block Diagram — VRC-100

1–4 • Introduction VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03)

User Interfaces

The VRC-100 includes the following user interface.

DashBoard Control System™

The DashBoard Control System™ enables you to monitor and control openGear frames and cards
from a computer. DashBoard communicates with other cards in the DFR-8300 series frame
through the Network Controller Card. The DashBoard Control System software and manual are
available for download from our website.

For More Information...

• on the VRC-100 menus in DashBoard, refer to the chapter “Configuration” on page 4-1.

• on using DashBoard, refer to the DashBoard User Manual.

VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03) Introduction • 1–5

Documentation Terms and Conventions

The following terms and conventions are used throughout this manual:

•“Board”, and “Card” refer to openGear terminal devices within openGear frames,

including all components and switches.

•“DashBoard” refers to the DashBoard Control System™.

•“DFR-8300 series frame” refers to all version of the 10-slot frames (DFR-8310 series),

20-slot frames (DFR-8321 series), and any available options unless otherwise noted.

•“Frame” refers to the DFR-8300 series frame that houses the VRC-100 card, as well as

any openGear frames.

•“GPIO” refers to the DC signals used by one device to control another (General Purpose

Input-Output).

•“Metadata” some of the VANC data that the VRC-100 monitors (such as closed

captioning) is “data essence”, not metadata. For convenience, this manual uses the term
“metadata” to refer to all VANC data types.

•“Operator” and “User” refer to the person who uses VRC-100.

•“System” and “Video system” refer to the mix of interconnected production and terminal

equipment in your environment.

•“VANC” refers to the Vertical Ancillary Data space of a serial digital video signal, and is

defined by SMPTE-291M.

• The “Operating Tips” and “Note” boxes are used throughout this manual to provide

additional user information.

1–6 • Introduction VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03)

Installation

In This Chapter

This chapter provides instructions for installing the VRC-100, inst alling the card into the frame,
cabling details, and updating the card software.

The following topics are discussed:

• Before You Begin

• Quick Start

• Installing the VRC-100

• Cabling for the VRC-100

• Software Upgrades

VRC-100 User Manual (Iss. 03) Installation • 2–1