Difference Between VGA and HDMI

There are lots of differences between VGA and HDMI.

1. The first and probably most important is that VGA uses an analog signal and HDMI uses a digital one. Due to that, running a VGA signal directly into a HDMI connector on a monitor could actually damage it, because the analog signals are at a higher voltage level.

Figure: Analog and digital Video Signal

2. The second difference between VGA and HDMI is that VGA is just video, while HDMI contains channels for both video and stereo audio. So, when you connect them together, you need to bring the audio signal from the device which has the VGA connecter, via a separate cable, and connect it to the HDMI connector.
3. Another difference is that the wires in a VGA connector and the wires in a HDMI connector don’t match up. You can’t just connect the wire from pin #1 from one to pin #1 on the other and expect it to work, which is what those adapter cables do. In fact, you can’t connect the wire from pin #1 on the VGA connector to any of the pins on the HDMI connector, because they aren’t the same kind of signal.
4. Of course, the other big difference between the two is the native resolution between VGA and HDMI. When we use the term “native resolution” we’re talking about the actual number of rows and columns of pixels (dots of color) which appear on the screen. Many types of video equipment, from computer cards to monitors to video projectors can receive signals that are a higher or lower resolution, but it will always be presented in that native resolution.

From VGA to HDMI

It’s clear that a number of different things have to happen, all at the same time, to convert a VGA signal to HDMI; things that require more than connecting the two together. To do this, it is necessary to pass the VGA signal through a converter, which will take the VGA analog video signal and the stereo audio signals and convert them into digital signals which can then be sent out across a HDMI cable for connection to a monitor with a HDMI connector.

These converters “read” the analog signals being sent into them from your computer or other device, then create signals in digital which can be understood by your HDMI monitor. At the same time that these devices are converting the signal from analog to digital and from one format to another, they are scaling the image to fit the size and format of the monitor. This can also include the necessary scaling to accommodate widescreen monitor resolutions.

Why use FPGA for video wall controller?

FPGA stands for field-programmable gate array. That’s quite a mouthful, so let’s start with a basic definition. Essentially, an FPGA is a hardware circuit that a user can program to carry out one or more logical operations. Taken a step further, FPGAs are integrated circuits, or ICs, which are sets of circuits on a chip—that’s the “array” part. Those circuits, or arrays, are groups of programmable logic gates, memory, or other elements.

You might use an FPGA when you need to optimize a chip for a particular workload, or when you are likely to need to make changes at the chip level later on. Uses for FPGAs cover a wide range of areas—from equipment for video and imaging, to circuitry for computer, auto, aerospace applications, in addition to electronics for specialized processing and more. FPGAs are particularly useful for prototyping application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or processors. An FPGA can be reprogrammed until the ASIC or processor design is final and bug-free and the actual manufacturing of the final ASIC begins. Intel itself uses FPGAs to prototype new chips.

The New Frontier for FPGAs: Artificial Intelligence

Today, FPGAs are gaining prominence in another field: deep neural networks (DNNs) that are used for artificial intelligence (AI). Running DNN inference models takes significant processing power. Graphics processing units (GPUs) are often used to accelerate inference processing, but in some cases, high-performance FPGAs might actually outperform GPUs in analyzing large amounts of data for machine learning.

Microsoft is already putting Intel FPGA versatility to use for accelerating AI. Microsoft’s Project Brainwave provides customers with access to Intel Stratix FPGAs through Microsoft Azure cloud services. The cloud servers outfitted with these FPGAs have been configured specifically for running deep learning models. The Microsoft service lets developers harness the power of FPGA chips without purchasing and configuring specialized hardware and software. Instead, developers can work with common open-source tools, such as the Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit or TensorFlow AI development framework.

In the face of the fierce and rapid demand challenge of 5G and IoT market for embedded system developers, FPGA has become a popular choice for system development.Through the design framework of FPGA elasticity, for a large number of complicated data operations, such as image signal, sound signal, etc., will help to pursue high elasticity and optimal performance.As more and more embedded platforms begin to provide powerful edge computing capabilities for AI and IoT applications, FPGAs offer higher performance with lower power consumption and greater design flexibility for developers compared to ASICs.

The FPGA market is expected to reach $5.9 billion over the next five years, with an average annual growth rate of 7.6%, according to the study.With Intel and AMD and other large factories continue to promote FPGA technology,iSEMC is constantly committed to innovation and providing smarter products,It provides FPGA with high capacity and high efficiency with low delay, and the high reliability of industrial quality and the most complete specifications in the industry, which is the biggest advantage of iSEMC in the field of Video wall controllor for a long time.

Airport video wall displays:

Flight Information Display Systems (FIDS): As passengers move through the airport, flight status monitors are their source of truth regarding updates to their travel plans. Here, passengers stop to study the monitors to learn boarding times or the dreaded flight delay. Airports and businesses can leverage these displays to provide a more enjoyable layover experience. By widening its visual display, some created a vibrant video wall to feature both flight statuses and digital marketing signage to showcase restaurants and shops within the airport. The video walls are both visually appealing and informative and creating happy airport travelers.

Baggage Claim Display: Similar to the FIDS, airports can utilize the outbound areas—such as baggage claim and Arrival halls—to enhance the traveler experience. Not only was the airport able to keep passengers informed on all baggage claim information with beautiful displays, the airport was able to earn incremental revenue.

Digital Signage Increases Airport Security

Security Control Room: With a vast number of passengers and staff going through an airport every day. Security control rooms and command centers are vital components of airport functionality and video walls serve as a centerpiece to monitor multiple sources simultaneously (IP camera, video surveillance, performance metrics, airport operations, etc.).

Emergency Safety Warning System: In the case of an emergency (e.g., fire) airline travelers can be updated in real time via visual displays located throughout the airport terminals. A unified, centrally managed system can allow security command center staff can quickly switch between content displayed on monitors throughout the airport terminal to display instructions to passengers, such as emergency exit routes.

Digital displays keep passengers up-to-date on all airline information, provide appealing entertainment features, display advertisements for shops inside the terminal or in the local area and establish security protocol and making travelers happy.

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Screens are now a foundation of the way we work, communicate and collaborate.

Digital transformation is a hot buzzword today. Digital transformation means different things to different people (different industries), but all digital transformation projects share a single driving force: modernization to ensure your business doesn’t fall behind. Digital transformation is so broad that the list of commonalities isn’t long, but when you think about it, you’ll realize it’s true that every digital transformation has a visual element.

Humans are visual creatures. 90% of the information transmitted to our brain is visual. We seek and need visual input. Video is today’s means of communication, screens are driving the self-service revolution, our phones are lifelines, and they’re not really phones. If you remember what a phone used to be, you’ll know today’s cell phone is a computer with a screen.

The digital revolution is a screen revolution

A recent study states that 70% of digital transformation projects did not meet their goals. There’s lots of reasons behind those disappointing outcomes but almost all of them relate to people--to change management, to the mindset of the people involved. It’s worth making a few key points in that regard:

• People naturally gravitate towards displays and video, and those are key elements to communication, interactivity and collaboration today.
• Digital transformation needs to make interfaces, points of interaction and even the workplace itself intuitive, and intuitive means visual.
• The number of screens in use for customer engagement, for corporate communication and collaboration is steeply climbing and projections see that growth curve rising.

This brings us to the “why I should care” part. Video, digital displays, screens and video walls are a fundamental element of the IT landscape today, and that will only increase in the future. If you’re in IT, digital displays, large format screens, video walls and even LED walls are now part of your job or the job of someone else on your team. If they aren’t now, they will be soon.

So now we can realize that digital displays so important for Digital Transformation.

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What is HDBASET?

HDBASET is a high-definition digital display interface, that is, through a 100-meter/328-foot CAT5e/6 cable, an integrated connection between a high-definition video source and a remote display is realized to provide uncompressed high-definition 4k video, audio, Ethernet, and control signals And a maximum power of 100 watts.

HDBASET does not reset a new interface like HDMI and DISPLAY PORT, but uses 8P8C (RJ45 interface), which is familiar to the public, which is also an Ethernet interface. The transmission medium uses a network cable that we are very easy to obtain and familiar with. Therefore, HDBASET technology is a transmission technology that can complete multiple functions with only one cable.

So, what is its function?

The defect of the HDMI interface prompted the emergence of the HDBASET interface. HDMI only transmits audio and video signals, and the distance is also limited in length. The quality of good brand HDMI signals can only be maintained at about 30 meters, and the price of the cable is also high for most users. Although there are some other wireless technologies as alternatives to HDMI. But their biggest problem is that there is no power transmission channel, and the transmission rate is difficult to break through.

HDBASET is a standard based on network transmission, which can gather audio, video, network, control signals and power supply lines together, and use ordinary network cables as transmission cables for transmission.

Relatively speaking, what are its advantages?

1. The HDMI cable generally has a transmission distance of only about 30 meters, which greatly limits the use range of high-definition equipment, while the transmission distance of HDBASET can reach 100 meters.
2. HDMI cables are expensive, while HDBASETuses cheap and easily available CAT5/6 Ethernet cables as the transmission medium.
3. HDMI is a closed standard. Manufacturers need to pay a certain license fee for using the HDMI interface, while HDBASETis an open standard and no additional fees are required.
4. The HDBASETstandard currently supports a transmission rate of 20Gb/s, which is 4 times the HDMI transmission rate of 5Gb/s, and can fully meet all uncompressed 1080p or clearer 4Kx2K video transmission.

What is POE power supply?

POE (Power Over Ethernet) power supply refers to the technology of data transmission and DC power supply for other IP-based terminals without any changes to the existing Ethernet Cat.5 cabling infrastructure.

POE power supply, in short, is network cable power supply. The same network cable transmits both data and power. Therefore, POE power supply is mainly used in high-definition network digital monitoring systems, that is, network monitoring.

Advantages:

1. Flexible wiring, no complicated power supply wiring is required;
2. It can minimize the cost, save the construction and maintenance costs of power supply equipment, such as power cords, sockets, line transformations, etc., as well as installation labor costs and save installation time;
3. Flexible deployment, no restrictions on equipment deployment location;
4. The safety factor is high, the power supply can be centralized and the backup is convenient. At the same time, the power supply equipment can be connected to UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply), once the main power input is interrupted, the normal operation of the system can also be guaranteed;
5. Strong anti-interference ability, POE power supply can prevent the signal from being disturbed and make the monitoring picture clear.

Disadvantages:
The quality of the network cable is high, and the transmission distance is limited.

Reminder: Note that for safety, it is recommended to use a standard POE camera!

The method to identify non-standard POE: start the device, touch the 4/5 line and 7/8 line of the RJ45 port with two pens of the multimeter, and the dial shows a voltage higher than 10V DC, which is a non-standard POE device.

In general, the advantages of POE power supply outweigh the disadvantages, and the prospects are very broad.