Instruction manual

Appendix A – EDID Programmer
109
Epica DGX 16 and Epica DGX 32 Instruction Manual
Appendix A – EDID Programmer
EDID Programmer software is provided for re-programming the EDID EEPROM chips on
Epica DGX DVI Input Boards if necessary. This software is available on the AMX AutoPatch CD
or at www.amx.com.
EDID Overview
EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) is a data structure established by the Video Electronics
Standards Association (VESA) to enable plug-and-play support by enabling easy configuration of
a computer’s graphics subsystem based on the capabilities of the attached display device.
EDID information includes items such as the following:
 Manufacturer’s name
 Product type
 Supported video resolutions and refresh rates
 Color space and filter chromaticity
 Detailed timings
When a computer is directly connected to a display device, it can use the display device’s EDID
information to determine an initial compatible video signal to send. With the computer’s display
controls, the user can modify this selection to another compatible signal based on the provided EDID
information.
With DVI (which requires EDID on the display devices), using EDID information has extended beyond
computers to other source devices, such as DVD players. As long as the source device sends a
compatible signal, the plug-and-play feature will work.
Matrix Switchers and EDID
Matrix switchers, such as the Epica DGX 16/32, provide the ability to route one source signal to many
potentially different types of display devices. Through the use of compatible DGX SC Fiber Receivers
featuring SmartScale™, in almost all cases, incompatibilities between source device resolutions and
displays are automatically resolved as each receiver independently scales each source device’s video to
the display’s native resolution.
In cases where local DVI outputs are used and a resolution incompatibility exists (or if a source device
desires a specific resolution), the DGX DVI input board is provided with the ability to update the EDID
emulation file (by updating each input’s EEPROM chip) which comes pre-loaded with an AMX
AutoPatch EDID set.
This EDID set consists of some of the most common EDID settings in use today, including VESA and
HDTV settings encompassing 8 resolutions with Standard Timings and 4 resolutions in 12 formats for
Established Timings (for timing details, see page 54). In many cases, the matrix switcher can be used
straight out of the box with no adjustments (see “Determining the Need for EDID Programming” on
page 110).
The EDID Programmer software has been provided for cases where additional in-field programming of
the EDID chips is needed. The Programmer can be used for the following:
 Reading and saving EDID data from a device
 Writing EDID data to an AMX AutoPatch matrix switcher’s input connector’s associated
EDID EEPROM