Sep 11 2007
Stratos Optical Technologies, a leader in fiber optic system solutions for the broadcast industry, will be showcasing the latest evolution to their popular digital video fiber optic media converter rack (VMCR) product line at IBC 2007. Stratos has developed a new family of digital video optical multiplexing/ transport racks that allow customers to pre-configure 16 uni-directional or 8 bidirectional channels in a single 19”x1 RU package. The product is compatible with all digital video rates from 19.4 Mbps ATSC through uncompressed SMPTE 292M HD rates.
For users, the studio-facing connectivity is a traditional 75-ohm coaxial BNC port. Behind that is an array of media converters that feed optical signal into a CWDM (coarse wave division multiplexer) that outputs all the signals from the studio-facing side to a single transmit and receive optical pair. As purchased, the VMCR-CWDM package enables users to simply plug a BNC-terminated coax video signal line into one rack and mate to the appropriate coax port in another, using fiber as the transport media. This solution allows multiple signals over a single fiber pair, enables distance for the application, and offers tremendous weight savings benefit versus coax cable.
For end-users, the ability to purchase a pre-configured transport system eliminates the work, risk and lead-time involved with sourcing, integrating and installing individual active and passive components including media converter transmitters and receivers, CWDM passive modules, and separate frames. For integrators, the time and cost savings translates to an improved bottom line and one-stop customer support. Field-proven Stratos racks provide an easy-to-use solution for managing the power, monitoring and cabling on both the coax and fiber side of high-density broadcast video transport networks. Standard features include: redundant 110/220 VAC power supplies; built-in Digital Diagnostic Monitoring Interface for remote identification and monitoring of the VMC’s via a 10/100 Ethernet-compliant web-enabled port; and flexibility to populate with any mix of Stratos VMC’s or Mini-VMC’s in any combination of SD or HD protocols. Models are available in 16 and 18 port versions and connectivity is front coax/rear fiber or rear coax/rear fiber.