Articulate Instruments SyncBrightUp User manual

SyncBrightUpTM
USERS MANUAL
Revision 1.1
Device triggered by an audio beep that superimposes a white mark on a video
signal and generates a sync pulse for the purposes of synchronisation
Address:
Articulate Instruments Limited
Queen Margaret Campus, Queen Margaret University Drive
Musselburgh EH21 6UU
UK
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email:[e-mail]

Manual for BrightUp unit. Document No. BrightUpManual_1.1 03.07.13
Copyright 2011 Articulate Instruments 2

Manual for BrightUp unit. Document No. BrightUpManual_1.1 03.07.13
Copyright 2011 Articulate Instruments 3
Contents
Definitions .......................................................................................................................... 4
Warranty ............................................................................................................................. 4
General EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) Guidelines ............................................... 4
Declaration of Conformity.............................................................................................. 5
Safety Precautions............................................................................................................... 6
Getting Started .................................................................................................................... 6
Inspection........................................................................................................................ 6
System Features .............................................................................................................. 6
SyncSyncBrightUp unit Description............................................................................... 6
Setup ............................................................................................................................... 7
Technical Details .............................................................................................................. 11
Specifications................................................................................................................ 11
General Environmental ............................................................................................. 11
Electrical Safety............................................................................................................ 12
Contact .......................................................................................................................... 12
Revisions....................................................................................................................... 12

Manual for BrightUp unit. Document No. BrightUpManual_1.1 03.07.13
Copyright 2011 Articulate Instruments 4
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not
represent a commitment on the part of Articulate Instruments Ltd. No part of this
manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose
without the written permission of Articulate Instruments Ltd.
Definitions
Warranty
Articulate Instruments Ltd warrants the SyncBrightUp against
defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from
receipt by the user. During that warranty period, Articulate
Instruments will either, at its option, repair or replace products,
which prove to be defective. Articulate Instruments can accept no
responsibility if the SyncBrightUp is used other than in accordance
with the instructions supplied. This warranty applies to the initial
purchaser only and is not transferable. Full Terms and Conditions
are contained in the Warranty Terms and Conditions enclosed with
the system.
General EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility)
Guidelines
Electromagnetic Interference
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is any signal or emission,
radiated in free space or conducted along power or signal leads,
that endangers the functioning of a radio navigation or other safety
service or seriously degrades, obstructs, or repeatedly interrupts a
licensed radio communications service. The SyncBrightUp unit is
designed to comply with applicable regulations regarding EMI.

Manual for BrightUp unit. Document No. BrightUpManual_1.1 03.07.13
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Declaration of Conformity
Marking
Manufacturer:
Articulate Instruments Ltd.
Queen Margaret Campus
Queen Margaret University Drive
Musselburgh EH21 6UU UK
[phone]
[phone] (Facsimile)
Product Designation: SyncBrightUp (Model SBU)
Product description: Generates synchronization signals on audio and
video channels in response to an audio pulse.
The above mentioned product(s) meet the essential requirements of:
Application of Council Directive: 2004/108/EC on the approximation of the laws
related to Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility, as amended by:
Council Directive 93/68/EEC.
Product Specific Standards:
EN55022: 2006 Information technology equipment. Radio disturbance
characteristics. Limits and methods of measurement.
EN55024: 1998 + A1: 2001, A2: 2003 Information technology equipment.
Immunity characteristics. Limits and methods of measurement.
Reference Standards to which Conformity is declared:
EN55022 : 2006 Radiated Emissions Class A
EN61000-4-2 : 1995 + A1, A2 ESD immunity ( +- 8kV air, +-4kV contact )
EN61000-4-3 : 1996 Radiated immunity ( 3V/m, 80Mhz-1000MHz, 80% 1kHz AM )
(EN61000-4-3 : 2006)
Testing Laboratory:
York EMC Services (2007) Ltd
www.yorkemc.co.uk
UKAS No 1574
I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the equipment specified by this declaration
conforms to the listed directives and standards
Signature: Date: 07 January 2011
Name: Alan Wrench
Position: Managing Director

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Safety Precautions
WARNING: To Prevent Fire or Shock Hazard, Do not
expose this system to rain or moisture.
Getting Started
Inspection
Upon receipt of your SyncBrightUp unit it should be examined
immediately for any evidence of damage. Damaged shipments
should be reported promptly to the carrier, who is normally liable for
such damage.
All documentation, airway bills and packing materials should be
retained in order to establish claims. After notifying the carrier of
shipping damage, please also advise Articulate Instruments Ltd so
that we may assist in damage claims and supply replacement
equipment if necessary.
System Features
− Works in conjunction with an NTSC or PAL video
source, a speaker/headphone source and a
microphone or line-level source.
SyncSyncBrightUp unit Description
The SyncBrightUp unit includes the following supplied
components:
− SyncBrightUp Unit
− 2x 1.5m stereo 3.5mm jack to jack cable
− 2x 1m BNC to BNC video cable
The SyncBrightUp unit is designed to provide synchronisation
signals on video and audio channels simultaneously in response to
an audio pulse or tone. Typically the unit is connected between a
composite video source (e.g. camera or ultrasound) and a
composite video recorder (e.g. PC with Adlink Angelo RTV frame
grabber) and also connected between an audio source (mic or line-
level) and an audio recorder (e.g. PC with soundcard). The unit
derives the trigger from the rising edge of a short tone or click from
a headphone level output from a PC soundcard or other audio
output device. When used in conjunction with the Articulate
Assistant Advanced software, video and audio data recorded on
separate channels can be temporally aligned. A set of four 2kHz

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Copyright 2011 Articulate Instruments 7
tones are generated by the unit at the same instant that a white
square is superimpose on four de-interlaced frames of the video
signal. A subsequent series of pulses on the audio sync signal
correspond to the vertical sync pulses on the composite video
signal. This allows the video frame rate to be measured with
respect to the audio sample rate and accurately aligned regardless
of any discrepancy between the nominal and actual sample rates of
either the signal or the recording devices.
To operate the system the following additional items are required:
− A sound source (e.g. Speaker output from PC soundcard).
− An audio input signal (e.g. microphone)
− An audio recorder (e.g. microphone input on PC soundcard)
− A video recorder (e.g. framegrabber video card in a PC)
− Software to align the video flash and audio sync signal (e.g.
Articulate Assistant Advanced)
Figure 1 SyncSyncBrightUp unit
Setup
The SynSyncBrightUp Unit is simple to use:
1. Connect the microphone or line source to the “Mic/Line In”
3.5mm jack socket. Set the switch to mic or line
appropriately.
2. Connect the “Mic/Line to PC”
3. Connect the Video output from the ultrasound machine (or
other video source) and the video input on the SyncBrightUp
unit with the BNC cable provided.
D. Mic/Line input
(mini-jack)
A.Speaker output
(mini-jack)
C.Mic/line output
(mini-jack)
B. Speaker input
(mini-jack)

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Figure 2 Sync and video inputs
4. Connect the video output on the SyncBrightUp unit with the
video input on your video capture card.
5. Connect the speaker output from the PC to the “spk to PC”
input.
The SyncBrightUp unit is now ready to be used.
6. The unit will automatically superimpose a white flash in the
top left of the video in response to the initial edge of a tone or
click on the audio input (spk in). At the same instant a set of
four 2kHz tones are superimposed on the audio output
(mic/line to PC) The start of each of these 4 tones is aligned
with the vertical sync from the video signal. Following the
four tones there are several pulses aligned with the vertical
sync of the video.
7. Optionally, the “spk out” can be connected to a speaker so
that the output from the PC speaker can be heard.
Video Sync-Bright-Up with soundcard
The PC produces an audio tone. That triggers the Sync-Bright-Up.
The SBU puts a bright square on the video and produces an audio
tone added to one of the microphone channels. That tone on the
audio input is used to sync the video and audio. It can be
superimposed on the same channel as the microphone input or on
a separate channel.
A. NTSC/PAL
Video output (BNC)
B. NTSC/PAL
Video input (BNC)

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Left
Right
Video Sync-Bright-Up soundcard/ADC
The PC produces an audio tone. That triggers the Sync-Bright-Up.
The SBU puts a bright square on the video and produces an audio
tone which is sent to the multichannel Analogue to Digital Converter
(ADC) card in the PC. The microphone input is also sent to the
multichannel ADC. All multichannel data is always synchronised.
Triggering the SBU
The duration of the trigger signal should be at least 20
microseconds. Once triggered, the sync output goes into a loop for

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around 180 horizontal sync cycles and once it comes out of that
loop if the trigger is still high it will retrigger so the upper limit on the
length of the trigger pulse is about 300ms. The amplitude of the
trigger signal should be at least 1.55V [this usually equates to
soundcard levelset at about 30% so set the output to about 40% to
ensure triggering from this source.
The SBU is triggered by the right audio channel only and the left
audio channel passes through the SBU to the speaker output
unchanged and presented as mono to both left and right
speakers/earphones. This means you can play audio prompts on
the left channel without it triggering the SBU and the participant will
only hear the prompt as a mono signal played though both
headphone channels and not hear the trigger beep.
NB. If you want to use audio prompts in AAA then record them
on the left channel ONLY to avoid triggering the SBU with the
audio prompt.. If you want the participant to hear the trigger beep
then record it on both channels otherwise record it on the right
channel only.
NB: If audio beep input to Speaker:to PC socket is present on the
left channel (tip of connector) but NOT on the right channel (ring of
the connector) then the SBU will not trigger.
The audio sync signal
Because the SBU produces a sync pulse signal only on the left
output channel, if recording stereo, the right channel will not have
the sync signal mixed into it. Useful if the trigger occurs while the
participant is talking.
Trigger signal (e.g. audio beep) must
be on the right audio channel or both
channels when input to Speaker:to PC
Audio signal transmitted from left
input (Speaker:to PC) channel to both
Speaker: to spk output channels.

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Technical Details
Specifications
SyncBrightUp Unit
Power Supply 3V dc (2x AAA batteries)
Power Consumption 50mW
Sync signal headphone level
Case Dimensions H26 x W56 xD110
Weight 0.120kg
Serial Number ________
General Environmental
Temperature (Operation) +10 to +40°C
Temperature (Storage/Transport) -15 to +60 °C
Humidity No Condensation 30 to 70%
When the PIC circuit receives an audio signal from the PC it
performs the following actions:
• wake from SLEEP
• switch on power to the sync separator and oscillator
• wait a few mSec
• for 100mS,
o send a pulse to the SyncBrightUp circuit to make a bright
square
o send a 1kHz tone to the PC audio input to sync the
system
o flash the LED to show that the circuit is working
• switch off power to the sync separator and oscillator
• go to SLEEP
The PIC wakes from SLEEP when it receives a signal greter than
130mV at its comparator input. The comparator is comparing the
audio input with 130mV from a potential-divider.
There is no off-switch. When the PIC is in SLEEP mode, it
consumes around 20uA. A pair of 1175mAh AAA Duracell cells will
last longer than their shelf life of 5 years.When receiving a tone on
the mic/line input channel, 2 frames (= 4 de-interlaced frames) of
video have a bright square are superimposed in the top right-hand
corner. At the same time 4 2kHz tones are superimposed on the
mic/line output. For 250mS following the 4 tones, VSync pulses
from the video channel are mixed into the audio signal mic/line
output. The PC can then sync its audio and video streams by
aligning the four de-interlaced frames with bright-up squares with
the four 2kHz tones. It can also estimate the video frame rate by
examining the VSync pulses during the following 250mS.
A typical audio recording looks like this:

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Copyright 2011 Articulate Instruments 12
There is some noise at the beginning as the sync-separator turns
on. There are 4 bursts of 2kHz for the 4 bright-up (de-interlaced)
frames. There are then approximately fourteen VSync pulses and
some noise as the sync-separator turns off.
NOTE: There is no off-switch. When the unit is in SLEEP mode, it consumes
around 20uA. A pair of 1175mAh AAA Duracell or equivalent cells will last longer
than their shelf-life of 5 years.
Electrical Safety
The SyncBrightUp unit should not be placed in contact with any
high voltage device when in use.
Troubleshooting
Problem – SBU does not respond to beep from AAA software i.e
the power light does not flash on.
Solution – The SBU only responds to a reasonable audio level. Try
increasing the speaker volume in the Windows audio mixer.
Contact
If you are experiencing problems with the hardware or software
which are not covered in this manual, you can contact
Articulate Instruments Ltd
Queen Margaret University Drive
Musselburgh
EH21 6UU
UK
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
WWW: www.articulateinstruments.com
Revisions
Revision Date Notes
1.0 07.01.11 Initial manual
1.1 03.07.13
More technical details added
14
pulses