8x8 DigitalMedia™ Switcher
Crestron
DM-MD8X8
fit into the squarer standard 4:3 television signal. The images are then
expanded for viewing in their original format on a wide-screen display
device. Wide-screen or letterboxed DVDs that are not anamorphic have less
detail when projected on a wide-screen monitor. In other words, a non-
anamorphic wide-screen DVD is designed to be shown letterboxed on a
standard "square" TV but appears with a black box all around the image
when shown on a larger 16:9 widescreen TV. To fill a 16:9 screen, a non-
anamorphic DVD has to be blown up, resulting in loss of resolution and
detail. Conversely, a DVD that is anamorphic, enhanced for 16:9, or
enhanced for wide-screen delivers 33 percent more resolution than regular
letterboxed transfers, is designed to be shown on a 16:9 TV, and does not
need to be blown up. When one of these DVDs is shown on a "square" TV,
it is often subject to anamorphic down-conversion artifacts unless the TV
has a vertical compression feature.
Anamorphic down-conversion
Processing present in all DVD players that converts the image from an
anamorphic DVD for display on a regular 4:3 TV. In the initial setup of a
DVD player is a choice between a 16:9 or a 4:3 TV; the 4:3 options engage
this processing, which often introduces artifacts such as jaggies and
undulations during pans.
Aspect ratio
The ratio of width to height in a video picture or other graphic image.
Standard U.S. TV broadcasts and computer monitors feature a 4:3 aspect
ratio; HDTV has a much wider 16:9 ratio.
Authentication
Authentication ensures that digital data transmissions are delivered to the
intended receiver. Authentication also assures the receiver of the integrity of
the message and its source (where or whom it came from). The simplest
form of authentication requires a username and a password to gain access to
a particular account. But authentication protocols can also be based on
secret-key encryption, such as DES, or on public-key systems using digital
signatures.
Component video
The elements that make up a video signal, consisting of luminance and two
separate chrominance signals, expressed either as Y R-Y B-Y or Y P
b
P
r
.
Deep Color
A color depth standard associated with high-definition TVs and video gear
that include HDMI 1.3a connections. The Deep Color standard supports
10-bit, 12-bit and 16-bit color bit depths, up from 8-bit, which is the current
standard for consumer video. DigitalMedia supports all but the 16-bit color
depth. All earlier versions of HDMI supported just 8-bit color. (Because
video is based on three primary colors, you'll sometimes see Deep Color
described as 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit.) A higher color bit depth enables
finer gradations between different shades of the same color for smoother
gradients and reduced color banding. Deep Color gives TVs the potential to
display billions rather than millions of colors, but in order to see that
improvement, the entire video production chain has to use it (camera,
editing, format, player, display).
DisplayPort
A digital display interface standard put forth by the Video Electronics
Standards Association (VESA) that defines a new licensefree,
royalty-free, digital audio/video interconnect, intended to be used primarily
between a computer and its display monitor,
or a computer and a home-theater system.
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8x8 DigitalMedia™ Switcher: DM-MD8X8
Operations Guide – DOC. 6755A
