Ultra scope

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Nigel,

UltraScope is a combination card and software package. There is a x1 lane PCI Express card which plugs in to your PC. It has conventional SDI input and output and also the new optical fiber SDI input and output so it’s right up to date with all the latest technology!

Regards

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Nigel Thompson]

ok that optical sdi thing i have not seen b4 2day, but i think it’s a great idea. lets see how it picks up

but that Ultrascope sounds like a plan, 700bucks is cheap, but i disagree with the article saying scopes these days a re inaccurate.

Im a mac person so i guess i have to buy a cheap windows box to run this thing. no biggy, but i need scopes bad.

Oh and why a 24 inch monitor?

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[Luke Maslen]

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for your questions as they are all really good questions and it’s interesting to learn what people are wondering when we announce new products.

[Nigel Thompson] “i disagree with the article saying scopes these days a re inaccurate.”

This comment referred to the software scopes in NLE software which just aren’t very accurate and we have lots of editors and colorists telling us that they just can’t use them because they are inaccurate. Hardware scopes definitely are accurate and companies like Tektronix make fantastic scope hardware. However the interface to a lot of scopes is not very elegant so we’ve tried to make the UltraScope interface really nice to use.

[Nigel Thompson] “Im a mac person so i guess i have to buy a cheap windows box to run this thing. no biggy, but i need scopes bad. “

Technically there is no reason why we couldn’t have made UltraScope for Mac. In fact if we receive lots of requests for Mac support, we could do it easily. However as this is a PCI Express card, the only Mac in which it could be used is a Mac Pro and it would be a complete waste to have a dedicated Mac Pro just to use this card as there is no such thing as a low-end Mac Pro. There are a lot of low cost PC’s which would be perfectly suitable for use with the x1 lane PCI Express card in the Ultrascope package so that’s why it’s Windows-only at this stage.

[Nigel Thompson] “Oh and why a 24 inch monitor?”

The requirement for a 24 inch monitor is because the UltraScope interface is 1920 x 1200 pixels. This allows us to have a large, elegant interface with all 6 scopes on the screen simultaneously. If you are visiting NAB 2009, please drop by our booth and take a look at the UltraScope interface and you will then see why the 24″ display is required.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Shane Betts]

Hey Luke!

So, does that mean we need a dedicated machine to run Ultra Scope? If so, is it possible to run more than one Ultra Scope in a given PC? It uses a 1x slot. Can we have 2 or more US cards in various slots and run it to all suites or would we have just the one US card and switch from suite to suite?

Cheers
Shane Betts (I don’t work there anymore)

[Luke Maslen]

Hey Shane!

‘Good to hear you’re still asking the tricky questions! UltraScope is so new that I don’t think there has been time for any discussion of running multiple UltraScope cards in the one PC.

I’ll raise the question when the engineers return from NAB but I’m guessing they will suggest that, rather than buying a more expensive PC which can handle multiple cards reliably, you could use an SDI router and just switch your source signals using the router. I believe that would be a far more reliable and robust solution which would enable you facility to use the scopes on every piece of SDI hardware that you have and allow you to add extra equipment as your facility grows. The number of PCI Express slots in a PC would be quite limiting and would restrict you to monitoring a very small number of SDI video sources so I think a router would provide far greater flexibility.

As you know, we manufacture the Videohub series of SDI video routers. We’ve just introduced a couple of new models at the show. Studio Videohub is the smallest one with 16 inputs and 32 outputs with a price of just US$4,995. It might be small but it supports SD, HD and 2K signals via SDI. We also have the Broadcast Videohub with 72 x 144 and have just announced the Enterprise Videohub with 144 x 288 routing connections.

I don’t think everyone will need an Enterprise Videohub but the Studio Videohub should be great for smaller workgroups and will make a great partner for UltraScope if you don’t already have an SDI router.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Kristian Lam]

Hi,

To add on to Luke’s suggestion, why not mirror your Ultrascope monitor using the DVI Extender into the Videohub. That way the Ultrascope’s output will always be available to any monitor in your facility!

regards

Kristian Lam
Blackmagic Design

[Baz Leffler]

Boy it’d be handy if it could do automatic QC reports like the Tektronix does…. maybe next year?

Baz

What would I do without the ‘UNDO’ button!!!!

[Devin Crane]

I didn’t see much for PC requirements. will any PC with an PCIe slot work? For instance a Dell Inspiron?

[Dino]

Yea, what’s the minimum system we can get away with? Any home brew builders out there want to come up with the smallest, cheapest package the Ultrascope will work in? Might be a new business opportunity for you.

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Baz,

Thanks for your suggestion which I’ll pass on to the engineers. I’m not sure that could happen on the current product as there is no RS-422 port but it’s a good idea so I’ll make sure the engineers consider it for the future.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design