Video Switch Card

The Diverse multi channel video switch card plugs directly into a PC and enables switching between the channels connected, providing a single video output that can be taken to a single display. Up to 16 input channels can be multiplexed to a single video output.
The sync pulses of each selected video channel are monitored and their status relayed to the PC. This allows either intelligent switching to skip unused channels, or alarms to be triggered if a camera fails or is disconnected.
Software for the system is available to select the channels, sequence a pre-defined list of channels or scan all possible channels. The video capture option will take the selected channel directly into PC memory and compare it with the previous picture captured from that channel, only channels where changes are happening are displayed. The speed of this is about 1-2 seconds per frame on a fast PC, about a 30 second sequence with 16 cameras.
The multiplexer is a series of high quality video switches routing the video signal from the chosen channel to the output channel. The switches are supplied as semiconductor switches in the standard unit. For broadcast standard video, where noise, isolation and crosstalk are premium parameters, there is a relay based version. This has slower selection speed but provides a high quality of switch.
Video sources are normally assumed to be CCIR. However, NTSC and other video standards can be accommodated, with special versions for the data acquisition system.

The system suits a variety of video selection applications, including:

• Security and surveillance
• Broadcast monitoring
• Machine vision
• Metrology

Tel. +44 (0) 1223 84 44 44