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Aurora Design World Converter WC-01 User And Technical Manual

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World Converter
Model WC-01
User and Technical
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  • Page 1 World Converter Model WC-01 User and Technical Manual...
  • Page 2 Copyright 2008-10 Aurora Design LLC. Revision 1.8 1 January, 2010 All specifications subject to change www.tech-retro.com...
  • Page 3 Introduction Introduction This manual covers the operation and technical aspects of the Aurora Design World Converter. This Converter is designed to accept any standard color NTSC, PAL or SECAM video signal and convert to one of many different output standards, both electronic and mechanical.

  • Page 4: Front Panel

    User Control Display Control Aurora Design World Converter Left/Right User Controls: These two rotary encoders are used to control all aspects of the converter. By default, the left encoder is the Menu Control, and the right encoder is the Select...

  • Page 5: Lcd Display

    Introduction Control. (This can be changed in the System Settings Menu) These controls can be rotated in either direction, and pushed to make selections. The converter is powered on and off by holding both these controls in for 1 second. LCD Display: This high contrast, 20 character, 2 line display is used to make all changes, and to display status of the converter.
  • Page 6 Introduction Ref Input: This RCA or BNC connector is used to supply a reference signal to the converter for mechanical standards. The signal can be a Line, Frame or Mains reference. The input is DC coupled internally, and has an adjustable threshold settable in the Output Settings Menu.

  • Page 7: Audio Output

    Introduction RF Output: This F connector provides the RF output from the modulator. This output should terminate into a 75Ω load. It should only be used to connect directly to the antenna terminals of a television set, and never be used for broadcast purposes. The RF System, RF channel and output gain on this connector can be selected in the Output Settings Menu.

  • Page 8: Power Output

    Introduction the monochrome output will still be present on the composite video output, this connector provides three separate outputs that contain the color information. For mechanical standards that contain sync information, like that of the NBTV, the sync information will not appear at this output, only on the composite output. For complete information about the characteristics of this output, please refer to the Specifications section found later in this manual.
  • Page 9 Menus Menus The basic menu structure is shown below: (Also see Appendix A) Turn Menu Control Turn Select Control Quick Settings Idle Menu Status Menu Menu (Display Standard) Push Menu Control Push Menu Control Push Select Control Push Menu Control Advanced Settings Output Settings Input Settings...

  • Page 10: Output Standard

    Menus Note: All settings are factory defaulted to the most appropriate values for each standard. Typically the converter can be used with no other selections than the output standard. The defaults can be restored at any time through the Advanced Menu. Idle Menu: This is the highest level menu, and is the menu the converter enters on power up or when inactive.

  • Page 11: Color Type

    Menus an RF System is selected. The desired RF Channel to be used for the RF Output is selected in this menu. Any of the defined channels for the selected RF System can be selected in this submenu. For complete list of available output standards, please refer to the Supported RF Systems section found later in this manual.
  • Page 12 Menus Ref Output Type: This submenu is always available and is used to select the Reference Output Type. The possible selections are: Disabled - No Reference Output Line Pulse - Line square wave Line Sine - Line sine wave (mechanical only) Frame Pulse - Frame square wave Frame Sine - Frame sine wave (mechanical only) Mains Pulse - Mains frequency square wave (mechanical only)

  • Page 13: Gamma Correction

    Menus The Mechanical Driver Output has a detection system that senses what is plugged into the connector, and only allows the selections appropriate for the device. For instance, if a monochrome LED array is connected, you would not be able to select a color output.

  • Page 14: Input Settings Menu

    Menus connector on the converter. If an external device is attached to the converter that requires power, it can be enabled when the appropriate output standard is selected. Input Settings Menu: This menu is entered from the Idle Menu by selecting it with the Select Control. Once in the Input Settings Menu, specific aspects of the inputs to the converter are set.

  • Page 15: Video Standard

    Menus Video Hue: This submenu is used to set the hue of the video input decoder. This setting only affects NTSC signals on the composite and S-Video inputs. It is adjustable from -90 to +90 degrees. This can be used to correct for a poor or out of spec video input signal. Video Sharpness: This submenu is used to set the Luma Sharpness (peaking) of the video input decoder.

  • Page 16: System Settings Menu

    Menus Normally this setting should be left in Auto Detect, and the converter will use the first active video signal it finds. If there are multiple video sources connected to the converter, the desired input can be manually selected. Note, the component RGB and RGBS inputs can not be detected automatically, and must be selected manually.

  • Page 17: Power Saving

    Menus Power Saving: This submenu is used to set the Power Saving feature. When no video input is detected on the converter for the selected amount of time, the converter will power itself down. This feature is not available when Converter Bypass mode is selected. The possible selections are: Disabled - Converter will never power down automatically Power Down: 1 Hour - Converter will power down in 1 hour of inactivity...

  • Page 18: Advanced Settings Menu

    Menus Control Swap: This submenu is used to swap the function of the front panel controls. This is one of the special cases that must be selected by pushing the Select Control. If the user would prefer to have the Menu Control on the right and the Select Control on the left, they can be swapped in this submenu.

  • Page 19: Default Audio

    Menus Default Audio: This submenu is used to select the type of audio when no video input is detected. The possible selections are: Disabled - No audio output when no video input detected Test Tone -24dB - A -24dBFS 1KHz sine wave is output when no video detected Test Tone -18dB - A -18dBFS 1KHz sine wave is output when no video detected Audio Inputs - The audio inputs are passed through when no video detected NTSC Reverse 3:2:...
  • Page 20 Menus User RF Audio Modulation: This submenu is used to set the audio modulation type, and video/audio channel spacing of the User RF System. The possible selections for the modulation type are: AM -12dB AM -6dB FM -16dB FM -12dB And for the carrier spacing are: ----- Used for full independent AM carrier frequency, no sound trap...

  • Page 21: Quick Settings Menu

    Menus through the number of active entries in the table, with a maximum of 32 entries. Note: the possible values for Name characters are as follows: * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z User RF Video Frequency:...

  • Page 22: Zoom Image

    Menus Zoom Image: This submenu is always available and is used to zoom the video image to correct for 16:9 letterbox images. Television is frequently broadcast at wide screen 16:9 letterbox which does not fit the standard television screen. This control zooms the image to correct for this, typically increasing the actual image resolution.

  • Page 23: Output Color

    Menus Output Color: This submenu is only available when a color electronic or mechanical standard is currently active. For electronic standards, the user can select between “On” and “Off”. This provides a quick way to disable the color portion of an electronic signal. For mechanical standards, the user can select between “Orange”, “White”, and “RGB”.

  • Page 24: Output Level

    Menus Blue Gain: This submenu is only available when an electronic sequential standard or mechanical standard is currently active. It allows the gain of the blue output, or blue fields of an electronic sequential standard to be set from 0.000 to 1.995 gain. Output Level: This submenu is only available when a mechanical standard is currently active, and a monochrome device is attached.

  • Page 25: Status Menu

    Menus Status Menu: This menu is entered from the Idle Menu by turning the Select Control. This menu is for information purposes only. No user settings are available. The following submenus are available from the Status Menu: Video Input: This submenu is always available and displays the currently detected video input, both which input is active, and what type of video.
  • Page 26 Menus Frame Ref 60Hz Mains 50Hz Mains Note, an asterik (*) will appear before the 60Hz Mains or 50Hz Mains if the reference is incorrect for the selected standard and the frame rate is being adjusted. This submenu is only available when an electronic standard is currently active. The displayed information is as follows: RF Sys: xxx Chan: xxx Where Sys xxx would show the currently selected RF System, such as A, and...

  • Page 27: Input Voltage

    Menus be displayed such as follows: 333ma/RGB This can be used to validate the correct device is attached to the converter. Input Voltage: This submenu is always available and displays the voltage on the input power connector as follows: Input Voltage: 12.1V Main Temp: This submenu is always available and displays the temperature of the main circuit board in degrees Celsius as follows:...

  • Page 28: Operation

    Operation Operation To operate the converter, connect the supplied power adapter to the converter and to the Mains supply. The converter is powered on and off by pushing both the Menu Control and Select Control simultaneously and holding for approximately 2 seconds.
  • Page 29 Operation monaural audio source is available, it can be fed to either input. For additional audio gain, a “Y” cable can be used with a monaural source to feed both inputs. An additional benefit of the converter can be found in it’s video processing path. Since most early television sets did not have Vertical Blanking Interval Suppression, or Chroma Traps, retrace lines and moire patterns can be visible when using modern video signals.
  • Page 30 Operation Basic converter connections to mechanical televisions Mains Reference Amplifier Amplifier Amplifier Amplifier (alternate) To Lamp To RGB Lamp To Phonic To Lamp Coil Baird Televisor Western Televisor These drawings only represent typical connections to mechanical televisions. Many different types of mechanical televisions were created, and are still being built today by hobbyists.
  • Page 31 Reference/Current Driver Option Reference/Current Driver Option This optional daughter card provides high power outputs for direct connection to mechanical televisions. The Reference Driver provides up to 20W of power to drive a motor, phonic coil, or loud speaker. The Current Driver provides three 333ma current drivers to directly drive an RGB or monochrome LED array.
  • Page 32 Reference/Current Driver Option reducing power dissipation in the converter to a minimum. When first enabling the Driver, or changing it’s settings, a momentary flash will be observed on the LED. During this flash, the system calculates the load, and automatically adjusts the voltage out to the minimum required.

  • Page 33: Theory Of Operation

    Theory of Operation Theory of Operation In order to convert between different video standards, two main goals need to be realized, spatial correction and temporal correction. The first, spatial correction involves changing the resolution, size and aspect ratio of the incoming video to the output video format.
  • Page 34 Theory of Operation Frame Memory: Micron MT48LC8M16A2-7E 8M x 16 SDRAM Image Memory: Spansion S29GL256P / S29GL512P-11 16M X 16 / 32M X 16 FLASH ROM Microcontroller: Freescale MC9S08AW60CFG 8 bit, 40MHz controller 64KB program FLASH User Memory: Microchip 24LC16B-I/SN 16Kb EEPROM 1 Million erase/write cycles Data retention >...
  • Page 35 Theory of Operation Topology A block diagram of the circuitry is shown below: Left Right Encoder Encoder User Microcontroller Memory (System Control) Display ( E E P R O M ) Component V i d e o Input Video DAC, Composite Filter, Output...
  • Page 36 Theory of Operation The incoming video is digitized and processed by the TVP5146M2 using a 14.318MHz reference crystal to the ITU-601 (formerly known as CCIR601) specification. The video is quantized, processed for brightness, contrast, chroma gain and hue, among others, and output at the ITU rate of 27MHz on a 10 bit, time multiplexed bus, with alternating luma and chroma samples.
  • Page 37 Theory of Operation component video frames, so there are always eight frames of video stored at any given time. All processing is done to the luma and chroma components, with further processing of the color space done from YUV to RGB when required. All previous processing was done synchronous to the ITU clock, so no additional clocks were necessary.
  • Page 38 Theory of Operation of the video due to internal processing, and sent out the audio output connector and the audio RF modulator. Detailed Analysis Generating an output clock: As shown in the previous section, a clock, synchronous to the output standard must be generated.
  • Page 39 Theory of Operation 375,375 = 3 * 5 * 5 * 5 * 7 * 11 * 13 Calculating the number of clocks per frame in the 405/72i output standard yields the feedback counter of: 1275 clocks/line * 405 lines = 516,375 clocks/frame Finding the factors of 516,375 yields: 516,375 = 3 * 3 * 3 * 3 * 3 * 5 * 5 * 5 * 17 Eliminating common terms yields:...

  • Page 40: Spatial Correction

    Theory of Operation input, for instance 625/25i to 405/25i. When converting between different frame rates, frames must be created or reduced normally, so the VCXO does not provide any benefit. Even a small error between these two clocks will result in a drift between the input and output over time that will cause a repeated or dropped frame.
  • Page 41 Theory of Operation has 720 x 486 pixels, we need to scale the horizontal by 2:1 and the vertical by 3:4. A three tap FIR filter is used to eliminate the high frequency components of the original quantized video data, and then sent to a 2:1 scaler. The data is then sent to the frame memory.
  • Page 42 Theory of Operation of order if played back to an interlaced standard, the process of de-interlacing, or converting the image to a progressive one, removes this temporal distortion. This is similar to the above method, and while image data from the original video is discarded, no visual loss occurs as long as the outputted frames are temporally correct.
  • Page 43 Theory of Operation This was done to simplify the broadcasting of films which was the major source of material at the time. Two problems arose using this frame rate. The first is that the frame rate is so low, the perceived flicker in the image is objectionable to a human viewer.
  • Page 44 Theory of Operation 4 Film Frames 24 fps 5 Video Frames 30 fps Because 2 fields are identical every 5 fields, (i.e. B1 and D2) this process can be detected and removed from the video. By comparing successive fields as they are quantized, the original 24fps film can be completely reconstructed and used for the 24fps based output standards.
  • Page 45 Theory of Operation same frequency. This reference clock is used by the modulators for an internal PLL with an external loop filter. High quality film capacitors are used in the loop filter to minimize microphonics as is the case with any ceramic capacitor. The microcontroller programs the modulators as to frequency, modulation type, etc.

  • Page 46: Video Output

    Specifications Specifications: Base Converter Video Input: Supported Standards: NTSC 29.97fps / PAL 25fps / SECAM 25fps Video Quantization: 10bit A/D, 10 bit data Video Input: Composite - 1Vpp, 75Ω impedance S-Video - 1Vpp, 75Ω impedance Component - 1Vpp 75Ω impedance Video SNR: 54dB Video Output:...
  • Page 47 Specifications Audio I/O: Audio Sample Rate: 39.0KHz Audio Quantization: 20 bit Audio Input: Unbalanced, > 20KΩ impedance -10dBV nominal input level 0.2Vpp to 5Vpp maximum Audio Output: Unbalanced, < 100Ω impedance 5Vpp maximum Audio Response: 20Hz to 16KHz, +/- 2db Audio SNR: >...
  • Page 48 Specifications Weight: 12oz (340g) Power Requirements: 2.1mm X 5.5mm center positive connector 7.5-20Vdc 3.0 watts typical (base converter only), >90% efficiency 45 watts maximum (with optional Reference/Current Driver under maximum load) Switched Power: 2.5mm X 5.5mm center positive connector 4A maximum Humidity: 20% - 80% non-condensing Temperature:...
  • Page 49 Supported Output Standards Supported Output Standards 819/25iE 4:3 interlaced electronic (France, 1949-1983) 819/25iF 4:3 interlaced electronic (Belgium, 1949-1983) 625/25i 4:3 interlaced electronic (PAL, 1950-Present) [PAL, PAL(Nc), SECAM] 567/25i 4:3 interlaced electronic (Philips Denmark experimental 1948-1949) 525/72i 4:3 interlaced electronic (GE U.S.A. experimental, 1946) [seq] 525/30i 4:3 interlaced electronic (NTSC 1941-Present) [NTSC, PAL(M), seq] 455/25i 4:3 interlaced electronic (Germany/France, 1935-1956) 441/30i 4:3 interlaced electronic (RMA U.S.A., 1937-1941)
  • Page 50 Supported Output Standards 45/15i 1:1 triple interlaced mechanical (Western Television U.S.A., 1929-1932) 39/12.5p 4:3 progressive mechanical (Germany, 1932) 32/12.5p 2:3 progressive mechanical hybrid (NBTV, 1995-Present) 30/16.6p 4:3 progressive mechanical (France, 1932) 30/12.5p 4:3 progressive mechanical (TeKaDe Germany, 1930) 30/12.5p 3:7 progressive mechanical (Baird, U.K, 1928-1932) 24/20p 6:5 progressive mechanical (GE U.S.A.
  • Page 51 Supported RF Systems Supported RF Systems System A (UK, Ireland) [Pos, AM], channels 1 thru 14 System B1 (Western Europe) [Neg, FM], channels 1 thru 12 System B2 (Italy) [Neg, FM], channels A thru H1 System B3 (Australia) [Neg, FM], channels 0 thru 12 System B4 (New Zealand) [Neg, FM], channels 1 thru 11 System B5 (Morocco) [Neg, FM], channels 4 thru 10 System B6 (East Germany) [Neg, FM], channels 1 thru 11...
  • Page 52 Supported RF Systems System USR (User Custom), up to 32 channels Note: “X” Systems were experimental used before the present naming convention.
  • Page 53 Pinouts Pinouts Most connectors on the converter are industry standard, and therefore follow industry standard pinout. The three mechanical Mini-DIN connectors are custom pinout as follows: Mechanical RGB Output: 1 - Detect 2 - Ground 3 - Ground 4 - Ground 5 - Green Output 6 - Red Output 7 - Blue Output...
  • Page 54 Pinouts ground, the converter will make the appropriate settings for the connected device. The currently defined devices are as follows: 0Ω - Monochrome NEON driver (external) 205Ω - RGB NEON driver (external) 374Ω - 50ma/channel Monochrome LED 560Ω - 75ma/channel Monochrome LED 787Ω...

  • Page 55: Menu Structure

    Menu Structure Menu Structure Idle Menu (displays current standard) Quick Settings Menu Status Menu (from Idle turn Menu Control) (from Idle turn Select Control) Zoom Image Video Input Pan Image Ref Input Freeze Image RF System/Channel Frame Phase RF Video Carrier Line Phase RF Audio Carrier Color Phase...

  • Page 56: Revision History

    Software/Firmware Revision History Revision History Revision 1.8:2.1/1.8, 1 January 2010: 1) Added PLL Hold control. 2) Changed Reference Input behaviour to force output to match AC Mains frequency. This means the output frame rate will be adjusted to match the AC Mains frequency better matching standard AC synchronous motors.
  • Page 57 Software/Firmware Revision History 2) Improved edge rate control. 3) Improved mechanical DLL/PLL performance. 4) Changed behaviour of Mechanical Current Driver to remember it’s settings for each standard even if the load is removed. 5) Increased startup speed. Revision 1.3/1.3, 03 February, 2009: 1) Greatly reduced amount of calculations required to add a new standard.
  • Page 58 Software/Firmware Revision History Revision 1.0/1.0, 24 September, 2008: 1) Initial release.

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