Things You May Not Know about Video SFP Optics

Maybe most of people are familiar with SFP optical transceiver. However, when it comes to video SFP optical transceiver, it may be not as familair as SFP optical transceiver to many of people. Then in this article, Gigalight (gigalight.com) will detailedly introduce the video SFP optical transceiver module.

What Is Video SFP Optical Transceiver?

Video SFP transceiver is also regarded as digital video transceiver or Serial Digital Interface（SDI for short）video transceiver. Similar to SFP optics, video SFP optical transceiver is small, hot-pluggable one, matching with fiber optic cables for application. But what is different from SFP optics is that video SFP optics is used for video transmission. It is known that the video is transmitted in a uni-directional way, which means that the video link can be simply transmitted via a signal fiber or coax signal. The fator has been the main drive force to create different pinouts for the video SFP (as shown below). Therefore, video SFP optical transceiver can have either two optical transmitters/two optical receivers or one optical transmitter and one optical receiver.

Why to Use Video SFP Optical Transceiver?

With the rapid evolution of the broadcast video transmission for high-capacity HD and Ultra High-Definition (UHD) digital transmission, it is necessary to produce a kind of fiber optic transceiver that can achieve high level in video image transmission. With SDI interface, video SFP transceiver is able to support SDI video pathological signal and ensure the quality of video transmission.

Types of Video SFP Optical Transceiver

Video SFP transceiver can be divided into various types according to different factors. For example, according to operating wavelength, they can be classified into 1310nm, 1490nm, 1550nm and CWDM wavelengths video SFP transceivers; according to operating rate, they can usually be divided into 3G-SDI, 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI video SFP transceiver. The following is about the respective introduction to these three optics.

3G-SDI Video SFP optics is with a data rate up to 3Gbps, specifically designed for high performance in the presence of SDI pathological patterns for SMPTE 259M, SMPTE 344M, SMPTE 292M and SMPTE 424M serial rates. It is generally applied for television broadcasting. However, with the advancement of technology, it is also widely applied in global security applications such as high-end surveillance or unmanned systems, allowing simple designs or upgrades with full HD cameras.

 3G-SDI

The data rate of 6G-SDI video SFP optics is twice that of 3G-SDI transceivers, which means it is possible to deliver a payload of 6 Gbps. Therefore, they are not only designed for SDI pathological patterns for SMPTE 259M, SMPTE 344M, SMPTE 292M and SMPTE 424M serial rates but also for SMPTE 2081. 6G-SDI video SFP transceiver is often used in camera, video, security monitoring applications and 4K /HDTV/SDTV service interfaces.

12G-SDI video SFP transceiver is specifically designed for high performance in the presence of SDI pathological patterns for SMPTE 259M, SMPTE 344M, SMPTE 292M, SMPTE 424M, ST2081 and ST-2082 serial rates. They are mainly used for SMPTE ST-297-2006, ST2081 and ST-2082 compatible electrical-to-optical interfaces and UHDTV/HDTV/SDTV service interfaces.

Applications of Video SFP Optical Module

Currently, video SFP optics is mainly used in these aspects:

1. Applied in HD Camera or Monitor System

There are usually multiple HD end-devices in HD camera or monitor system. Therefore, one HD video matrix can be used as one end which provides multiple video SFP ports, and multiple HD-SDI equipments can be used as the other ends.

2. Applied for Broadcast Video Transmission

Broadcast video transmission needs high-density cabling. Thus, HD-SDI equipment with high-density video SFP ports is needed.

On account that 3G-SDI, 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI are digital baseband signals, long-distance transmission on copper cable will definitely be limited. Thus, optic fiber cables, 3G-SDI, 6G-SDI, 12G-SDI video SFP transceivers are perfect for long-distance video transmission.

Conclusion

Generally speaking, video transmission plays a key role in the daily life. To ensure the high-level video digital transmission, video SFP optical transceiver is in great favor. In addition, for the above mentioned video SFP optical transceiver module, Gigalight currently can provide or customize 3G-SDI SFP, 6G-SDI SFP+, 12G-SDI video SFP+ optical transceiver for you. More information is at Gigalight official website.