RT Com USA’s Credenza CR-94M is the company’s first hybrid AV router designed to solve many of the problems in analog/digital combination AV systems.
In systems with up to nine analog and digital AV sources, the three-rack-unit matrix router manages the signals to achieve an ideal image on up to four connected displays, according to the company.
The router is designed to overcome the challenges of EDID conflicts, format conversion, audio embedding, and distant sources. Most common analog and digital AV source signals are supported and each can be fully matrixed, scaled, and output to four digital displays, RT Com USA says.
RT Com USA general manager Andy Fliss says that in today’s market nearly every system includes both analog and digital video sources. Some integrators create two discreet, parallel systems, while others attempt to convert sources to a single format for distribution. Either way is costly and uncertain, but RT Com has attacked the issue head-on.
“The most common problems we see in the field seem to be related to hybrid systems,” Fliss said. “The mixing and matching of scalers, format converters and signal extenders creates installation nightmares, so we decided to create a product line to simplify the process.”
The CR-94M provides nine video inputs, including four digital HDMI/DVI with SPDiF audio, two analog video inputs supporting VGA, component, S-video or composite and three extender inputs that can be Cat-x or fiber optic.
Analog video is converted to digital and all nine video sources can be routed to any or all four scaled HDMI outputs. These four outputs can be set up to scale the video to match each connected display. The audio for each source, whether digital or analog, can be routed independent of the video and then embedded in the HDMI outputs. Analog audio outputs and balanced audio inputs are also provided.
Fliss says that practical applications for this product can range from standard conference rooms, where all of the equipment is housed in-room, to homes where legacy analog source components need to be included in new digital systems.
The Credenza CR-94M will be introduced with MSRP of $9,999 and will be exhibited at the 2010 CEDIA EXPO in Atlanta Georgia, Booth 4045.
