Blackmagic SDI Expander 8x12G

Monitoring right at the rack

The front 2.2″ LCD display shows video, audio, standard and timecode, and the spin knob scrolls through all inputs. Three buttons make selecting sources and destinations easy without a computer, while the built-in speaker and 6.35 mm headphone output allow quick audio checks.

A robust bridge between SDI and IP

Two 100G QSFP28 ports carry redundant streams according to SMPTE 2022-7. A separate 1G RJ45 port handles NMOS control, configuration and updates; two internal power supplies keep the unit running even if one power feed fails.

Quiet operation in the control room

Front-to-back cooling with multiple fans is very quiet, so the expander also suits a rack right in the control room. Each 2110 IP stream carries 16 channels of embedded audio; the front USB-C port is used for setup and updates.

Redundancy that keeps broadcasts on air

The expander converts in both directions at the same time: eight independent 12G-SDI channels to SMPTE-2110 and a separate set of eight SMPTE-2110 channels back to 12G-SDI. That is 16 conversion channels in a single 1U unit.

Two separate 100G Ethernet paths support SMPTE 2022-7 Seamless Protection Switching. The unit compares RTP packets by sequence number and uses the data that arrives first at every moment, so switching between redundant paths is seamless, with no dropped frames or audio glitches.