What is SDI2USB 3.0?

SDI2USB 3.0™ is Epiphan's professional-series external SDI (3G-SDI, HD-SDI and SD-SDI) video grabber. It captures images and video from SDI video sources and digitizes them on your laptop or workstation via connection to a USB 3.0 port.

The video capture workstation can record and/or stream the resulting uncompressed diagnostic-quality images and videos. On Windows, both audio and video capture is supported for SDI sources. Thanks to Epiphan Video capture technology, this small, portable product connects directly to your computer's USB 3.0 port - no need for a large workstation with a free peripheral component interface (PCI) slot.

SDI2USB 3.0 captures video and audio from any 3G-SDI, HD-SDI or SD-SDI source. Meeting greater demands for transferring larger files at faster speeds, this external video grabber supports USB 3.0 technology, capable of transferring uncompressed data with speeds of up to 5.0 (Gbits/s) - about ten times faster than USB 2.0.

In practice transfer speeds are dependent on factors such as USB load and hardware configuration.

SDI2USB 3.0 is versatile and can be used with multiple workstation configurations. It is backward compatible with USB 2.0 connections, however it transfers video at a reduced frame rate when using USB 2.0.

Using the included Epiphan Capture Tool, SDI2USB 3.0 captures full 1080p HD in RGB-24-bit color at 30 frames per seconds and supports resolutions up to 1920×1080. When working with third-party software, such as Windows Media Encoder with YUV 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling, 1080p video is captured and recorded 60 frames per second. Note in all cases the SDI video signal is captured in RGB 24-bit color and in the case of YUV 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling, it is converted to this new color space.

For more information about maximizing the frame rate when capturing, recording and streaming video using third-party applications, refer to the How to Record Video using Window Media Encoder tutorial on Epiphan’s website.

In addition to an input port, the SDI2USB 3.0 offers an SDI output port that can be used for confidence monitoring. In the example below, a monitor connected to the output port allows you to monitor the input signal and make quick adjustments if required.

The SDI2USB 3.0 video grabber is fully compatible with DirectShow in Windows. This means you can use it with a number of different third party applications for capturing, recording and streaming video.

SDI2USB 3.0 is part of Epiphan’s complete line of video and audio signal capture products. For more information about all Epiphan’s video signal capture products, refer to the USB Video Grabbers page on the Epiphan Video website.