A wide variety of audio and video formats and connector types is in use today. A subset of these is supported by the Silicon Graphics® Onyx2™ and Origin2000™ systems and their video and audio hardware and options.
Devices using the same connector types or formats can typically be connected directly without special intermediate hardware. Other devices can be connected through third-party components that bridge the differences between them.
This document gives information on some of the third-party components that solve such connection problems. It focuses on connecting to the DIVO (Digital Video Option) board and DG5-2/GVO option board:
parallel digital video in/out
component and composite analog video in/out
It also gives information on connecting to the audio built into the BaseIO (Media I/O) card, which is standard in Onyx2 systems and optional in Origin servers:
ADAT® open optical interface (in/out)
AES3-1992 (also called AES/EBU) in/out
stereo analog audio in/out
This document focuses on the connection problems that are the most likely to be encountered; it cannot cover all possible situations. It provides neither a complete nor a recommended list of useful components, and does not specifically recommend the components listed. Factors such as technical features, availability, or local conditions can determine the connection solutions best for the situation. However, the industry-recognized products listed in this document should perform adequately. Many of the components listed in this document are or have been in use at Silicon Graphics.
Besides the components listed here, other products within the same manufacturer's product lines, as well as products from other manufacturers, can also solve the connection problems. Furthermore, you can use third-party video and audio cards (such as PCI cards) to solve input/output needs. These cards have their own supported formats and connector types. Where the connector types are the same as those covered in this document, the information in this document applies.
This document is written for the person using video I/O hardware, such as the DIVO and GVO video boards, or audio I/O hardware with Silicon Graphics workstations and servers, such as Onyx2 and Origin2000 systems.
Many current Silicon Graphics owner's guides, programming guides, and user's guides are available through the World Wide Web: http://www.sgi.com/.
This document contains the following chapters:
Chapter 1, “Video,” illustrates connections to video equipment, lists equipment, and gives information for equipment suppliers.
Chapter 2, “Audio,” illustrates connections to audio equipment, lists equipment, and gives information for equipment suppliers.
The following video standards are mentioned in this document:
| CCIR 601 | Serial digital video (4:2:2); supports NTSC and PAL timing on DIVO and GVO, 8- and 10-bit components | |
| SMPTE 272M | Serial digital video with support for embedded audio |
The following audio standards are mentioned in this document:
| ADAT | Open interface created by Alesis® Corporation, carrying eight channels of digital audio, each up to 24 bits at 48,000 samples per second on plastic optical fiber. | |
| AES3-1992 | Also referred to as AES/EBU (Audio Engineering Society/European Broadcast Union). The data format used on the two-channel digital audio input and output BNCs. It includes
|
The following terms are equivalent in this document:
CCIR 601
serial digital video
4:2:2
This document refers to this format as CCIR 601.
 | Note: Helvetica Bold font is used for labels on hardware, such as the names of connectors. |