724-746-5500 | blackbox.com
Page 18
724-746-5500 | blackbox.com
Chapter 5: Operating Instructions
5. Operating Instructions
5.1 DVI Input
When the VideoPlex4 is powered up successfully and the Power, Input, and Status LED indicators are lit, a DVI input mode has
been detected and is working normally.
If the Input LED indicator is not on, make sure a single- or dual-link DVI cable is correctly fitted to the appropriate sockets.
At high resolution, DVI signals cannot normally be guaranteed beyond 16 feet (5 m) cables because of the nature of the signal
losses inherent in the DVI cables and connectors. Equalization hardware on the VideoPlex4 compensates for these losses and
supports cable lengths of up to 64 feet (20 m) even at full dual-link resolutions (330 MHz pixel clocks). Lower resolutions will
allow even longer cable lengths.
Once the LED indicators are lit, the VideoPlex4 will display the source across all four screens according to the configuration that is
stored in its non-volatile memory. The VideoPlex4 is factory configured to display the input image as a 2x2 split as shown in
Figure 3-1.
5.2 Output
To connect to an analog output, DVI-I-VGA cables are required. To connect to a DVI output, a DVI-D cable is required.
5.3 Configuring the VideoPlex4
The VideoPlex4 has a USB port to allow a host PC to connect to the VideoPlex4 box and for the user to program its
configuration. Once configured, the VideoPlex4 will run standalone without needing a USB connection and will auto-detect input
resolutions and adjust internal scaling to drive the output monitors consistently.
5.4 Frame-lock
The firmware running on the VideoPlex4 will detect when input and/or output timings are set to identical frame rates and will
automatically frame-lock the syncs in these cases. In all frame-lock modes, the timings are configured to share a common
reference clock, so there will be no drift in synchronization, and therefore no requirement for continual adjustment that can
sometimes upset LCD panels. The frame-lock status is shown in the VideoPlex4 Control Application.
