Blackmagic Design Duplicator 4K
December 2016 – While testing equipment for the broadcast studio upgrade, we tested the Blackmagic Duplicator 4K. The 25 card slot unit is designed to make simultaneous copies of live video streams up to 2160p60. For large live events where many copies have to be made simultaneously, the units are stackable and can be connected via a 12G-SDI Loop Through. To support all of the encoding needs of SD a through UHD formats, the device features both H.264 and H.265 CODECs.
The unit is simple to use and supports the SDI Start/Stop commands, so the direct control from a camera is simple. The unit is designed to record and encode the video stream from almost any format on the low priced SD Card units in real time. The unit fits in a standard rack, and can format all 25 cards at one time with front panel buttons and without the aid of an external PC, so setup for an event is fast and easy.
We tested the unit with content ranging from SD to 1080p60 live streams. The unit was simple to connect and use. The unit has the internal codecs that allow for encoding of up to 1 hr of 4K UHD content on a single 8GB SD card. The resulting H.265 encoding is playable directly on Mac, Windows PCs and 4K TVs with an SD card slot, no external player is needed.
The unit was remarkably straight forward to connect and use. It was simply connected into the SDI data flow, set the recording format on the front panel and then hit the record button. For long distance applications, such as at an exit merchandise stand that is away from the capture location, the unit can support an optical connection on the input signal. The unit supports 12Gb/s optical fiber with an SFP modular connection which allows the Duplicator to be up to 10,000m from the camera/mixer for the first input unit. The only configuration is the selection of the input source. All other functions including the stackability remain local to the device. The unit was tested on a short run of the optical connection with no change in performance.
The immediate recording and availability of the content, including an append function to create a single play back file, even with multiple breaks in the recording flow (intermission, half time, change of stage or set) makes the device a high quality and professional recording device, even for novice operators. If you can transmit good looking content, this unit can capture and duplicate the content with almost no learning curve or setup time. This makes it a great unit for schools, performance groups and clubs/small venues .
