Magenta Setting the Bar Even Higher

HDMI & DVI Signal Management

For over a decade, Magenta has been developing and manufacturing the world’s best performing and highest quality signal management equipment for the Pro AV and digital signage marketplace. By listening to our clients and by working with them to understand and address their challenges, we are continually refining our product vision and direction. Today, we know that HDMI and other native digital connectivity standards are playing a major role in our client’s system strategy for audiovisual content delivery and presentation.

Magenta’s MultiView and Infinea product offerings have traditionally set the bar high for performance and quality. The products have been defined and distinguished by the technical approach taken to optimize their design. Magenta continues with this tradition as we address new and future requirements in both signal management and new product offerings. We are pleased to introduce the M-HDX and Opto Matryx solutions for native signal connectivity in the HDMI & DVI signal domain.

M-HDX™ “eXtreme eXtension for DVI and HDMI”

The M-HDX is Magenta’s digital signal extension solution for the industry’s most demanding applications and most discerning clients. The M-HDX link is based on technology that can transport full bandwidth, full motion and full color depth HDMI 1.3 1080p/60 or VESA 1920 X 1200 (reduced blanking not required!) over a single strand of multimode fiber. Other products use two or even four strands of fiber just for the video and may require CAT 5/6 to support other signals. M-HDX supports fiber distances of 1ft to 2,000ft (over 600m) and offers industry exclusive features for integrated auxiliary signaling. In addition to carrying full-HD HDMI or high resolution DVI, the M-HDX supports full duplex serial communication and fully separate (from embedded HDMI audio), CD quality stereo audio. The separate stereo audio feature eliminates the need for embedders and de-embedders typically needed for applications where audio is supplied from an alternate source or where audio will be presented through non-HDMI hardware. In keeping with Magenta’s commitment to performance and product value, the M-HDX transports the HD audiovisual signals without introducing any form of compression or latency. The system provides faithful, real-time, end to end performance; an attribute so vitally important for many real-world applications, including:

The benchmark-quality video together with the audio and auxiliary signal performance would be of little use without a rock solid HDCP / EDID channel. While it’s understood that many commercial applications don’t yet involve HDCP, some already do and others inevitably will. Installations that include the requirement for full HD from set top boxes (STBs) or from Blu Ray players already demand HDCP support. As some integrators and installation professionals already know, not all HDMI equipment supports HDCP in a consistent fashion. With other extension technologies, the expectation of HDMI plug and play performance can often lead to surprises, frustration, and downtime and loss revenue. Set top boxes as an example, are notorious for being problematic because of their abbreviated HDCP handshake cycles. Even with long native HDMI cables (equalized or not) sources like set top boxes can stump even the most experienced installer by invoking the “dreaded flashing or black-screen treatment.” The round-trip propagation time through long HDMI cables can cause an HDCP timeout condition rendering operational instability or failure. Aside from long HDMI cables, the same condition can occur with other currently available extension technologies. To avoid these circumstances, Magenta’s HDCP channel uses an innovative technique to seamlessly support the EDID and HDCP handshake. The M-HDX eliminates many variables and takes the guesswork out of HDMI signal extension. It also provides the robust 24/7 reliability and signal performance that Magenta’s reputation has been built on.
No other HDMI link solution combines the performance, rich feature set and single fiber advantage offered by the M-HDX.

Opto Matryx™ Scalable & modular digital audiovisual matrix switching platform

Magenta’s Opto Matryx brings the legendary performance, density, flexibility and reliability of the Mondo Matrix to the digital domain. Like the Mondo, our Opto Matryx provides an expandable building block approach to native digital audiovisual switching.

The system is based on a chassis that accommodates pluggable modules, to support I/O. Each chassis provides fully redundant power, filtered cooling and sophisticated control capabilities. By selectively populating a single chassis with the octal I/O modules, it can be configured to support matrix dimensions of 8 X 8 to 32 X 32 in steps of 8. As with the Mondo, even larger switches can be built by cascading multiple frames together. Matrix dimensions can be expanded to 96 X 80 with many other sizes and I:O ratios being possible.

Currently available Opto Matryx I/O modules support HDMI (without HDCP) and DVI signals that are ported through standard HDMI connectors. Modules that support local I/O for stereo audio and full duplex serial will be available shortly. Full matrix HDCP capable I/O modules and M-HDX compatible fiber optic output modules are also scheduled for imminent release. All current and future Opto Matryx modules share full compatibility with the chassis, so a simple and seamless system upgrade path is assured.

Within its monolithic switching architecture, the system supports HDMI and DVI together with auxiliary signals. This eliminates the need for multiple, signal-specific, switching subsystems together with their added cost and complexity. In other words, user supplied, separate stereo audio (non-embedded) and full duplex serial communications can be accommodated within one switching fabric along with the HDMI or DVI signals.

For instances where source equipment is located near the switch, native digital video signals can be ported directly into the matrix via standard HDMI cables. Likewise, at the output side, where display equipment may be located close to the switch, connections can be made via the same standard HDMI cabling. Local injection and extraction of auxiliary signals via DIN connectors will be supported in the same way, by the soon to release multi-signal I/O module set.

Since the switch is expandable to substantially large I/O configurations, it’s very likely that at least some (if not most) of the source and destination equipment will be located too far from the switch to make use of native, HDMI cables or any type copper cabling for that matter. That’s the reason for the introduction of the Opto Matryx’s integrated extension feature. Fiber optic output modules will be available for applications where distances between the switch and sink locations exceed the “copper limit” which is about 45 ~ 50m for 1080p/60 sources. The integrated extension modules will provide fiber connectivity via SC connectors and will be fully compatible with Magenta’s M-HDX receivers for a very clean installation and ultra-high performance video, audio and serial signal delivery. Of course, individual M-HDX extension links can be used ahead of the switch, on the input side as a solution for distant source connectivity.

The copper and fiber I/O flexibility is a key feature and benefit of the Opto Matryx environment. The switch serves equally well in applications where matrix dimensions range from “modest” to “substantial.” The Opto Matryx system is well suited to address smaller installations via copper connectivity and much larger systems where the reach and performance of fiber is a necessity. The modularity of the Opto Matrix enables the highest order of flexibility while optimizing cost. Together with the M-HDX the Opto Matryx provides a world class, digital audiovisual connectivity solution.

Magenta Delivers the Future of AV Extension and Switching

New Voyager Series is the World's First All-Format Fiber Optic Signal Distribution Platform

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