Nekochan Net

Hi

Anyone knows how to make a O2 Digital Camera Port to SDI (BNC )cable?

I looking for a miranda VIVO or DVC U2 2º hand affordable unit, but it´s hard to find...
Some time go I listen thats it´s possible to construct a simple cable (HD68 to SDI BNCs) to do this task...

Thanks in advance

Antonio

I'll be happy to know the trick too!
..Seems pretty possible to do, but I don't know how to make it true.

Good luck Antonio!

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Octane / Dual Head

http://twitter.com/GeekTronixShop

viewtopic.php?t=1394&highlight=vivo

and

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... adid=47128

Now we just need someone who can understand what the hell they are talking about in the thread an help us sort out how to make them.

I for one would love to know how to make this as I've been searching for either a Miranda Vivo or DVC US for ever...

Glenn

hm they are all talking about this SDI interface but there's no project design or schematics or anything. It's all talk and links to chip spec. sheets.
From some links to photos posted it seems they've bought National's interface kit that goes from parallel digital data to SDI so they can rig their DVD players and Satelitte tuners, and ouput video via serial. I'm not sure if that parallel digital data they are feeding into the SDI board is what O2 digital camera sends it seems what they are sending is 8bit data from the setop boxes, so not sure whether it'll work...and it's doubtful SGI will release any specifications beyond what's already available.

Check here,

I read through page after page of posts and finally found a link to the kits they were talking about.

There are some kits available with some pretty impressive specs

http://www.national.com/parametric/0,1850,1472,00.html

The CLC020 CLC021 and CLC030 and CLC 031 in particular.

Using both the CLC030 and CLC031 together you could have a box with SDI in and out.

I seem to remember someone writing somewhere that they had the pinouts for the O2 camera port and knew the name of the necessary connector for the whole thing to be possible.

The pinouts for the port are in the hardware manual, as with every port on every SGI... it's a 68pin 0.8mm Champ plug. If someone has a decent scope it should be possible to figure out how it works - the specs even tell you the clock rate (24.5 Mhz). There's a clock line plus ten data lines, and the doc (http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi/hdwr/bks/SGI_EndUser/books/O2_OG/sgi_html/apa.html#id54008) says it transmits a byte at a time plus hysnc and vsync, presumably using two lines a la component sync on a VESA monitor plug... it's 4:2:2, probably YCrYCbYCrYCbYCrYCb on the lines, each a byte.

Should be easy to figure out, and maybe to use a speedy lil' PIC to convert an SDI stream to fit down it. Anyone work in a lab? Project!

Below is a link to a detailed description of the Miranda VIVO O2 adapter. AFAIR it's a very simple layout - just a couple of crossed cables, not even a chip in the thing:

http://www.miranda.com/product.php?i=195&l=1

OK, but where is the hardware manual? If you mean that book you provide a URL to, well it certainly gives one a nice hint, but it isn't an actual pinout.

What that page gives may be sufficient to get partway (at least to build a SDI in board) with what should be some fairly simple reverse engineering, but it doesn't go the whole way.

If anyone can provide more information, I'd be interested.

Of course, I have yet to be able to get an AV module for my O2 for what I consider to be a reasonable price, but then, I've only been looking for a week or so.

...If the "NekoAdapter" for SDI turns in a success, I'll be happy adding the suitable support on VideoTrackerRT

I have two O2 AV Option Boards here.

_________________
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Octane / Dual Head

http://twitter.com/GeekTronixShop

What they are talking about doing is feeding ttl level Parallel SDI video (SMPTE-125M) into a serializer.

From SGI's techpubs, it appears that the video output is a rather simpler format than SDI. We could take a guess that the input is the same format. We also know that the camera is controlled via i2c.

I suspect that doing a plain SDI in/out adapter wouldn't be too dificult, but it likely would require someone be able to program CPLDs or FPGAs, and design a card that has the HD68 jack, power supply, FPGA/CPLD, a serializer and deserializer chips, and BNCs. All in all, not the most expensive stuff out there, but something that probably isn't cheap to make in small quantities. I don't want to make any promises about looking into it, but it does look doable to someone with the proper resources. I certainly would be interested in helping if someone else wanted to take on such a project.

On the other hand, my understanding is that the camera connector on the Indys is similar (obviously a different connector, but in that it does video in AND out, it is similar). I would be extremely interested in making a SDI adapter for that so that instead of taking up an expension slot with a hard to find indy video card, you could use the expansion slots for additional SCSI channels. I doubt there are really all that many people who would want to spend a few hundred dollars on their Indys, but it would be no end of cool to be able to make an Indy capable of real time uncompressed playback and recording.

Hi all
I talk to a friend about this conversor, and after read many replys, he told me that can do this conversor...
So, I will try and If it works I will send some commennts and my friend's contact (if anywone need help...)
I will try it with Jaleo (3.7.5) and Mistika (1.1) too...

Thanks everyone for your support

Antonio

PS: Sorry my bad English - but it´s not my native language...

Very interesting!... keep posted the advances!
Good luck!

_________________
Oh!, let me write that!


Octane / Dual Head

http://twitter.com/GeekTronixShop

Just wondering there's been progress on this at all?

The video format used by the O2 camera port is simple to understand. It shouldn't be that hard for someone to program a FPGA or CPLD to act as a translater between the camera port and SMPTE-125m (with SMPTE-125m, we can cheaply buy chips to convert to/from just about every other video type, either SDI or one of the various analog formats).

There are only two tricky bits. Bit one, there is a serial control bus that it used to figure out what is hooked to the port. One would need to know how a VIVO or U2 interacts with that bus if we want to build a device that acts like them. Doing this would require either insider information or a VIVO/U2 to compare against.

The second tricky bit is getting the skills and resources together to actually do it. This requires with a fair amount of gear, or at least access to it.

And I'm not sure that enough people would want to pay for it anyway. If it could be done for $300, who really would want it? Who here other than Assyrix really would use better than Y/C (S-Video), but doesn't have a company behind them to just buy the commercial solutions? Maybe a few, but a dozen?

If it matters, there's two different auctions on eBay with a Miranda VIVO in them. One has a nice looking O2 with a wacom tablet and Discreet Flint (no liscence) loaded on it, the other's just a VIVO.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 31179&rd=1

there used to be an O2 that had it too, but I can't find that one.. about the same price and you get an O2 and that tablet too. would've been a nice catch.

Also, Miranda still sells 'em, link is in the auction, as I recall.