Video Hardware #

G05/SIML Has a sophisticated system for displaying large video installations, it consists of 5 projectors, and a PC with a Blackmagic Decklink Card. This is the primary means of driving the projector array. The Decklink Card is compatible with Resolume and TouchDesigner Software, as well as any other software that implements the Blackmagic SDK (This includes openFrameworks).

The Decklink Card has 8 SDI connections, each of these can either be an input or an output. The Decklink card in G05 is configured to be 5 Output / 3 Input. This means as well as outputting 5 Channels, one to each projector, we can recieve 3 inputs from other places. These inputs can be from anything that has an SDI Output like a camera, or anything with an HDMI connection that can be converted using a Blackmagic converter box.

These input channels can be accessed in the same softwares that support outputting using the card. Using the decklink card and software like Resolume or TouchDesigner, we can do things like duplicate the output from a laptop onto all of the projector screens at the same time.

Blackmagic 4k to Quad HD Box #

There is also a Blackmagic 12G to Quad 3G converter box which can split one 4k feed into 4 HD feeds. This allows us to output video to all the screens, using software that doesn’t support the Blackmagic Decklink Card, such as Unreal Engine.