News

Crestron announces DMCI to manage embedded HD data (2/11/2009)

Crestron’s new DMCI (DigitalMedia Card Interface) solution is a compact, rack-mountable enclosure designed to house a single DM Input Card to accept any AV source, including all analogue audio and video, computer, HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort signals, and output those signals as HDMI. DMCI even handles USB-HID over Ethernet for remote wireless keyboard/mouse control.

Combining the DMCI with a HD-MD8X1 or HD-MD8X2 QuickSwitch HD HDMI switcher provides an integrated source switching solution for home cinemas, meeting rooms and classrooms that include a variety of different signal formats that all must be displayed on 1080p displays via HDMI. DMCI manages HDCP, EDID and CEC data communication, and functions as a DM receiver as part of a complete Crestron DigitalMedia system.

Home cinemas, classrooms and conference rooms include a variety of analogue and digital signal formats, including DVD/Blu-ray players, PCs, MacBooks, streaming media over the Internet, which often are not fully integrated. New HD digital signals include embedded data such as HDCP, EDID and CEC, which create several new challenges for system design and installation. While there are several HDMI switchers available, none integrate other signal types or handles the digital control data. Combined with the HD-MD8x1 or HD-MD8x2, the DMCI is a cost-effective solution.

There is a wide selection of DMC input cards available for every audio/video signal type, allowing integrators to select the type and quantity needed for their design to accept composite, component, S-video, VGA, DisplayPort (multimode), DVI and Crestron DM source signal, and output HDMI to an HD display. The versatile DMCI enables installers to deliver the perfect solution for any room environment.

Any HDMI input can ordinarily accommodate DVI sources with just a simple passive adapter, but the design does not support audio signals. Loaded with a DMC-DVI card, the DMCI provides a means for merging DVI digital video and analogue stereo audio into a single HDMI output.

While HDMI transmits audio and video together on a single wire, a DMC-HD HDMI card allows audio to be extracted from the digital stream via its analogue stereo output, while simultaneously allowing the full HDMI signal to pass through unaffected. Also, the DSP-enhanced DMC-HD-DSP card accepts HDMI signals containing multi-channel surround sound audio and also provides a 2-channel down-mix signal, delivering the choice of either 2-channel or multi-channel audio to the HDMI output.

All Crestron digital solutions manage the data embedded in HD digital signals, necessary for reliable system performance. DMCI and QuickSwitch HD switchers process and control HDCP content protection, EDID signal format and resolution management and CEC consumer electronics control protocols. Without proper management of these data streams, sources will turn off, display images won’t fill the screen or systems simply won’t perform to specification. Crestron DMCI and QuickSwitch HD switchers pre-authorise the HDCP handshake between sources and displays to ensure fast, uninterrupted source switching.

Through its Cresnet connection to a control system, the DMCI can report EDID information about a connected signal for viewing on a touchpanel, or for auto-configuring a display device. Using the CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) signal embedded in HDMI, the DMCI can provide an alternative to conventional IR and RS-232 device control. The DMCI also provides a gateway for controlling devices directly through their HDMI connections, potentially eliminating the need for dedicated control wires or IR probes.

www.crestron.co.uk