The New Genlock Generation of Broadcast Signals from Precision Time

摘要

raditional genlock circuitry relies on astreaming broadcast signal to operate. Whether color black(blackburst), tri-level sync, timecode or DARS, wedistribute these signals to all of our locked devices wherethey are used to generate deterministic output timing. Thenext generation of genlock will not be based on legacyanalog TV waveforms or digital bitstreams, but instead willuse network-distributed precision time to synthesize theiroutput signals. While in many ways this represents aquantum shift in how device synchronization isaccomplished, particularly at the system level, many thingsunder the hood don’t change that much.This paper presents the concept of generation ofbroadcast signals from precision time (such as IEEE-1588)and the beneficial changes to system design this enables. Itdelves inside equipment to look at both how legacy genlockand signal generation subsystems work as well as how theyare adapted to utilize the new genlock and fully replace thelegacy genlock subsystems of the past in digital video andaudio applications. Additionally, the systemization of thistechnology to replace the traditional reference distributionarchitectures is discussed.