System information

MX Control
4-6 Vicon MX Hardware System Reference
Timecode and Genlock Option Functionality
The following sections describe the functionality that the Timecode
and Genlock option for the MX Control supports for connecting to
external video sources:
• Genlock
• Timecode
• Frame Count on page 4-8
• Video Burn-in Window on page 4-8
Genlock
From the Vicon software on the host PC, you can configure the
MX Control to genlock to an external PAL, SECAM, or NTSC video
source that is plugged in to a Ref Loop socket. Genlock synchronizes
the MX cameras to the scan rate of the incoming video signal. This
includes support for the automatic uplock from lower-speed
broadcast cameras to Vicon’s higher-speed motion capture cameras.
You can configure whether this Genlock functionality is enabled in
your Vicon application software.
If no external video sources are connected, MX Control assumes that
it is to act as the synchronization master for the system.
Important
Video sourced from a non time-base corrected VCR may cause problems due
to the wide jitter bandwidth necessary to reliably lock the MX Control.
Timecode
From the Vicon software on the host PC, you can configure the
MX Control to trigger from or be time-stamped from VITC (Vertical
Interval Timecode) or LTC (Longitudinal Timecode) that is plugged in
to a Ref Loop socket. Timecode is a time signature that is present in
video or audio signals to provide positional information (i.e. time and
frame details) on magnetic videotape. Each frame has its own unique
timecode number.
Vicon MX supports forms of timecode that correspond with the
different frame rate requirements around the world:
• EBU (European Broadcasting Union): Based on cameras
operating at a multiple of 25 Hz. In this Vicon MX Hardware
MXhardware_Reference.book Page 6 Thursday, September 7, 2006 11:36 AM