AJA Dante AV 4K Series Operating instructions

Dante AV 4K Series
4K/UHD SDI/HDMI to Dante AV Ultra Transmitter
and
Dante AV Ultra to 4K/UHD SDI/HDMI Receiver
Version 1.0
Published April 12, 2023
Installation and Operation Guide

Dante AV 4K-T and 4K-R Installation and Operation Manual v1.0 2 www.aja.com
Notices
Trademarks
AJA® and Because it matters.® are registered trademarks of AJA Video Systems, Inc.
for use with most AJA products. AJA™ is a trademark of AJA Video Systems, Inc. for
use with recorder, router, software and camera products. Because it matters.™ is a
trademark of AJA Video Systems, Inc. for use with camera products.
Corvid Ultra®, lo®, Ki Pro®, KONA®, KUMO®, ROI® and T-Tap® are registered trademarks of
AJA Video Systems, Inc.
AJA Control Room™, Science of the Beautiful™, TruScale™, V2Analog™ and
V2Digital™ are trademarks of AJA Video Systems, Inc.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Copyright
Copyright © 2023 AJA Video Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. All information in
this manual is subject to change without notice. No part of the document may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying or recording, without the express written permission of AJA
Video Systems, Inc.
Contacting AJA Support
AJA Technical Support is free and available to help you answer questions or
resolve issues with any of your AJA products. When calling for support, please have
all relevant information at hand prior to calling.
To contact AJA for sales or support, use any of the following methods:
Email: suppor[email protected]
Phone: [phone]
Web: https://www.aja.com/support/contact
Shipping: 180 Litton Dr. Grass Valley, CA 95945 USA

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Contents
Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Contacting AJA Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Chapter 1 – Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Dante AV Ultra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Dante Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
High Quality and Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Convenient Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
JPEG 2000 Video Codec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Video Transport & Expected Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
I/O Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Dante AV 4K-T Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Dante AV 4K-R Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
LED Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Dante AV 4K-T and Dante AV 4K-R Front Panel LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Dante AV 4K-T Rear Panel LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Dante AV 4K-R Rear Panel LEDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2 – Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Prior to Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Physical Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Base and Surface Mount Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Rack Mount Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
System Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Optional Equipment to Prepare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Other AJA Products to Use with Dante AV 4K-T and 4K-R. . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Other Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Required Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Dante Controller Software (MacOS or Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Installing Dante Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Uninstalling Dante Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 3 – Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Power Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Power up a Dante AV 4K-T or Dante AV 4K-R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Important Guidelines for Using the Ethernet Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Discovery and Auto-Conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Automatic Network Conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Automatic Discovery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Launching Dante Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Using Dante Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Introduction to the Dante Controller Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Network View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Device View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Renaming Dante AV 4K-T & 4K-R Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Already Familiar with Dante Controller for Audio?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Video Channels are Routed like Audio Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Flows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Video Channels are Unicast by Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

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Introduction to Video Multicasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Routing for Video Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Unicasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Multicasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Audio Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Infrared: IR-Over-IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Advantages of IR-Over-IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Implementing IR-Over-IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Serial Control over IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Advantages of Serial Control Over IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Implementing Serial Control Over IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
USB over IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Advantages of USB Over IP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Implementing USB Over IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
User Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
What can I do with Presets? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
When are Presets Helpful? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Device Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Saving Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Applying Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Chapter 4 – Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Dante Applications for PC or Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Dante Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Dante Via . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Dante Virtual Soundcard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Third Party Software Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Chapter 5 – Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Troubleshoot Using the Dante AV 4K-T and 4K-R LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Troubleshoot Using the Dante Controller Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Automatic Notication of Device Errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
On-Screen Warning and Error Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Computer Conguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Network Conguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Troubleshooting Dante IP Address Conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Troubleshooting Switch Conguration and Cabling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Appendix A – Specications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Dante AV 4K Tech Specs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Appendix B – Safety and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Warranty and Liability Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Limited Warranty on Hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Limitation of Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Governing Law and Language; Your Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Dante AV 4K-T and 4K-R Installation and Operation Manual v1.0 5 www.aja.com
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Overview
The AJA Dante AV 4K-T and 4K-R devices encode and decode video and audio
streams to and from the Dante AV Ultra IP video protocol, JPEG 2000 video codec,
simplifying AV signal delivery while providing an efficient way to transmit audio
and video signals in sync between a wide range of devices.
Building on years of robust IP audio networks, AJA Dante AV encoders and
decoders enable an easy path to upgrade your existing Dante audio network to
deliver high-quality visually lossless video up to 4K/UltraHD for delivery across
1 GigE networks. AJA also offers the OG-DANTE-12GAM, an OpenGear 12G-SDI/
Dante 64-Channel audio embedder/disembedder card. Now you have a powerful
way to create a video and audio Dante network with high quality, precision sync
with the new Dante AV 4K-T and 4K-R Dante AV Ultra devices.
Dante AV Ultra
AJA's Dante AV 4K-T and Dante AV 4K-R devices support the Dante AV Ultra
standard. Dante AV Ultra delivers up to 4Kp60 at sub frame latency for the most
demanding applications while still running on 1Gbps networks.
Dante Audio
Dante audio allows uncompressed, multi-channel, low latency 24-bit, 48 kHz
PCM24 digital audio to be distributed across a switched Ethernet network using
standard TCP/IP protocols while meeting the stringent quality requirements of
professional audio. The AJA Dante AV 4K-T and Dante AV 4K-R devices provide an
attractive option for integration of video and audio devices into the Dante world.
Features
High Quality and Precision
• Dante AV Ultra video using a network efficient JPEG 2000 codec.
• Dante support – allows 12G-SDI and 4K HDMI video and 8 channel embedded
audio support to and from the Dante ecosystem.
• Fully time-aligned and separately routable audio and video streams.

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Convenient Control
• Unified control of audio and video using Dante Controller.
• Fully validated implementation of DHCP 2.2 over IP.
• Easy control of remote devices via USB HID, serial, and IR over IP.
• Dante Controller is used to route the audio and video paths. It is also used for
all Dante AV network status and configuration.
• Unique and especially useful KVM capability.
Compatibility
• Dante AV works with cost-effective 1Gbps networks.
• Direct Show driver for broad application compatibility.
• Instant compatibility with over 3,000 existing Dante-enabled audio products.
• Compatible with a range of additional optional Dante Software from Audinate
including Dante Via and Dante Virtual Soundcard.
• Significant Interoperability with other 3rd party video software.
JPEG 2000 Video Codec
AJA's Dante AV 4K-T and Dante AV 4K-R devices implement JPEG 2000. JPEG 2000
was selected as the video coding standard for digital cinema in 2004. It supports:
• Lossy and lossless coding
• Up to 16384 components
• Bit depth up to 38 bits/sample
• Terapixel images
• Resolution and quality scalability
• Progressive decoding and sub-frame latency
• Region-of-interest accessibility
Video Transport & Expected Bandwidth
Dante video is optimized to run on Gigabit Ethernet and has a bandwidth cap of
700 Mbps. Video bandwidth is impacted by the following parameters:
• Resolution
• Frame rate
• Chroma sampling
• Color bit depth
• Compression codec used
• Content shown
Dante video flows must be Multicast if video is sent to more than one destination.
NOTE: See "Multicasting" on page 32.

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I/O Connections
Dante AV 4K-T Connectors
Figure 1. Rear View of Dante AV 4K-T (Transmitter) Connectors
12V Power Ethernet 1 POE+ Ethernet 2 RS-422/VISCA
SDI In SDI Reference Out
USB 1 USB 2
USB
Host
HDMI In
IR
Out
IR
In
Audio Out L/R
Power
• 12VDC, DIN-4 connector
Ethernet 1
• POE (+) on Primary Ethernet port
• 1 x Neutrik etherCon RJ45 Connector (Rugged)
• 1 Gbps (Dante AV & POE+)
Ethernet 2
• 1 x Neutrik etherCon RJ45 Connector (Rugged)
• (For future use)
SDI In
• 1x 12G-SDI input
• YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit
• 8 channel embedded audio support from SDI input
Reference Out
• BNC Ref output connector (For future use)
HDMI In
• 1x HDMI 2.0 input- RGB, YCbCr, 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 8-bit, 10-bit, & 12 bit
• 8 channel embedded audio support
NOTE: For specific details and limitations, see AJA Dante AV-4K and 4K-R Video Formats
document at v1.0 at https://www.aja.com/products/dante-av-ultra#support
Serial
• 1 x DB-9 RS-422/ VISCA Serial Port
USB
• 2 x USB 2.0 Type A Connector
• 1 x USB-Mini Host connector
IR over IP
• 3.5mm IR Out and IR In jacks for IR over IP

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Audio Out
• Analog RCA Audio Monitor Outputs
Dante AV 4K-R Connectors
Figure 2. Rear View of Dante AV 4K-R (Receiver) Connectors
12V Power Ethernet 1 POE+ Ethernet 2 RS-422/VISCA
SDI Out SDI Reference In
USB 1 USB 2 USB
Host
HDMI Out
IR
Out
IR
In
Audio Out L/R
Power
• 12VDC - DIN-4 connector
Ethernet 1
• POE (+) on Primary Ethernet port
• 1 x Neutrik etherCon RJ45 Connector (Rugged)
• 1 Gbps (Dante AV & POE+)
Ethernet 2
• (For future use.)
SDI Out
• 1x 12G-SDI Output
• YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit
• 8 channel embedded audio support
Reference In
• BNC Ref input (For future use)
HDMI Out
• 1x HDMI 2.0 output
• RGB, YCbCr, 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 8-bit, 10-bit, & 12 bit
• 8 channel embedded audio support
NOTE: For specific details and limitations, please see the AJA Dante AV-4K and 4K-R
Video Formats document at v1.0 at https://www.aja.com/products/dante-av-
ultra#support
Serial
• 1 x DB-9 RS-422/ VISCA Serial Port
USB
• 2 x USB 2.0 Type A Connector
• 1 x USB-Mini Host connector
IR over IP
• 3.5mm IR In and IR Out jacks for IR over IP

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Audio Out
• Analog RCA Audio Monitor Outputs
LED Indicators
Dante AV 4K-T and Dante AV 4K-R Front Panel LEDs
Figure 3. Dante AV 4K-T and Dante AV 4K-R Front Panel LEDs
Power
• Single-color Green LED
• Green indicates power is supplied to the board
Codec
• Single-color Green LED
• Green indicates the codec is active
System: Dante System Status
• Tri-colour LED
• Solid green – All OK, sync achieved
• Amber – Booting up, awaiting sync
• Red – System failed to boot correctly
• Off – No power
Status: Dante Software Status
• Tri-colour LED
• Solid green – Software running
• Blinking green – Identify function activated
• Solid or blinking red – Software fault or exception
• Off – No power

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Sync: Clock Synchronization Status
• Tri-colour LED
• Solid green – Dante network clock follower, sync achieved
• Blinking green – Dante network clock leader
• Amber – Syncing in progress
• Red – Error achieving sync
• Off - No power
HDCP: Status of HDCP on the HDMI Input or Output
• Tri-colour LED
• Solid green - non-HDCP unprotected video sync or source detected
• Blinking green – HDCP protected content detected
• Solid red – Invalid non-HDCP video sync or source
• Blinking red – Failed HDCP negotiation
• Blinking Amber – HDCP negotiation in progress
• Off - No power
Dante AV 4K-T Rear Panel LEDs
Figure 4. Dante AV 4K-T Rear Panel LEDs
Ethernet 1 POE+
Power Status LED
Ethernet 1
Lock Status LED
Ethernet 2
Power Status LED
Ethernet 2
Lock Status LED
SDI Lock
Status LED
HDMI Lock
Status LED
SDI Lock Status
• Green means the receivers are locked (though not necessarily a supported
video format)
• Off means not locked/present
HDMI Lock Status
• Green means the receivers are locked (though not necessarily a supported
video format)
• Off means not locked/present
Ethernet 1 Link Status LED
• Follows the standard ethernet lighting convention for Link LED*
Ethernet 1 Activity Status
• Follows the standard ethernet lighting convention for Status LED*
Ethernet 2 Link Status LED
• Follows the standard ethernet lighting convention for Link LED*
Ethernet 2 Activity Status
• Follows the standard ethernet lighting convention for Status LED*