Rosendahl mif 4 User manual

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Instruction Manual
mif 4
Rosendahl mif 4 is a professional midi timecode interface with
LED display, sync input and USB port
www.rosendahl-studiotechnik.com

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Contents
1. Unpacking and mounting into a 19" rack page 3
2. Powering up and selecting timecode SOURCE page 4
3. LTC input mode page 5
4. MTC and USB input modes page 6
5. GEN generator mode page 7
6. DISPLAY modes page 9
7. Firmware update page 11
8. Declaration of conformity page 13
9. Specifications page 14
1. Unpacking and mounting into a 19" rack
mif 4 comes with the following accessories:
1 pcs power adapter with country-specific clip
1 pcs USB cable
2 pcs 1U rackmount brackets
1 pcs user manual that you are now reading
The unit is shipped with four small plastic feet mounted underside
with Philips screws.
If you want to rackmount your mif 4, please detach the four plastic
feet first and keep the M3x6mm Philips screws.
Now remove the black countersunk screws on the left and right side
of the unit to assemble the rack mount brackets using the M3x6mm
Philips screws.

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2. Powering up and selecting timecode SOURCE
Connect the USB port to a host computer or use the external power
adapter to supply your mif 4.
Each time the unit is powering up the installed firmware version is
shown in the display for two seconds.
This manual relates to firmware version 1.0 from December 2010.
The left key is used to select the timecode SOURCE.
Short keypresses will navigate through the four input modes:
LTC: longitudinal timecode (SMPTE 12M) from the LTC IN
MTC: midi timecode from the MIDI IN.
USB: midi timecode from a host computer connected via USB.
GEN: manually or MMC controlled timecode generator mode.
Holding down the left key for two seconds causes
(1) a JAM SYNC from applied, running timecode into the GEN mode
(2) or if no timecode signal is present, you will be able to store the
default SOURCE setting to non volatile memory.
(See generator section for more informations about JAM SYNC)

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3. LTC input mode
LTC is longitudinal timecode according SMPTE 12M, there are 80
bits containing time, userdata and a syncword.
The unit detects the incoming LTC frame format automatically.
The FPS LEDs 24, 25, 30 and DF indicate the detected format.
24 FPS timecode is used for movie productions.
25 FPS timecode is the standard European video frame rate but is
also common for European audio productions.
30 FPS timecode is used for audio and high definition video
productions in Japan and the US.
30 FPS pull down resulting in 29.97 FPS is used for NTSC or high
definition video productions (pull down).
30 and DF indicates the drop frame format used only for pull down
video applications where correlation to time of day is mandatory.
These LEDs are all unlighted if no input signal is applied, so they
also serve to indicate ISP (Input Signal Present) status.
Continious timecode, running forward, within +/- 6% of nominal
speed will be translated into MTC timecode and sent to the MIDI and
USB output ports. Simultaneously stable, regenerated LTC is fed to
the LTC output.
I.e. 29.97 FPS non drop timecode is 30 FPS timecode running 0.1%
slower (defined as 1000/1001 pull down rate) and within the 6%
window.
The timecode speed is displayed in the DISPLAY mode CAL.
1.0000 indicates timecode running at nominal speed.
29.97 FPS non drop timecode will be displayed as 30 FPS running at
0.9990.
29.97 DF drop frame timecode is indicated by
LED 30 and LED DF with a calibration factor CAL 0.9990
23.98 FPS is indicated by LED 24 and a calibration factor 0.9990.

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Timecode faster or slower than 6% or timecode running reverse is
translated into so-called MTC full messages.
MTC full messages are used to spot a DAW or other MTC controlled
software to a specific location, just like a locater.
In operation mode SOURCE = LTC a video sync input signal
does not influence the LTC to MTC translation process.
Synchronisation is always referenced to the LTC Input signal,
indicated in CAL DISPLAY mode by "I" ( I1.0000 ).
The default timecode standard after powering up is defined by the
non volatile stored settings made in the generator setup (section 5).
Detection of a different timecode standard takes one time 2-3
seconds. A correctly setup default standard avoids this delay each
time after powering up.
4. MTC and USB input modes
Digital Audio Workstations as well as lighting and show control
software use MTC midi timecode for synchronisation.
mif 4 reads MTC to regenerate synchronised, stable LTC and MTC
timecode.
MTC timecode can be quite unstable and jittery caused by the
latency of computer operating systems. For this reason, mif 4 makes
use of slow and integrating sync algorithms.
If the unit receives an MTC full message, it will stop and generate a
short burst of stationary LTC timecode.
The unit repeats one LTC frame 8 times.
On the LED display there are DECIMAL POINTS to separate hours,
minutes, seconds and frames (00.00.00.00.).
The rightmost decimal point (to the right of the frame digits) is used
as a LOCKED indicator.

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If the unit is in sync and outputs locked timecode, this LOCKED
indicator will light up. In MTC or USB input modes the LOCKED
threshold is < 5ms, in LTC mode < 100µS.
If the incoming midi timecode is jumping or drifting away so that mif 4
is unable to follow the source it will display ERROR 01 in MTC mode
or ERROR 02 in USB mode.
In this case a stop and restart of the timecode synchronisation will be
executed.
5. GEN generator mode
To edit and start the timecode generator manually please select the
generator mode (SOURCE = GEN) and display mode timecode
(DISPLAY = TC).
Now press and hold the left key for about two seconds until the
HOUR digits and the right key start blinking.
Change the "HOUR" setting with the right key.
Holding down this key for a second will automatically count up the
"HOUR" value.
Press the left key again to navigate to MINUTES.
Change the "MINUTES" value using the right key.
Press the left key again to navigate to FPS section.
(FPS = Frame Per Second).
Select the timecode standard 24, 25, 30 or 30 drop using the right
key.
Press the left key once again to start the timecode generator
manually.
If there is an external video sync signal applied matching the
selected frame rate, the timecode generator will be started
genlocked.
So the start of picture (vertical sync) matches the start of the 80 bit
LTC timecode word and MTC quarter frame F1 0x.

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Applied pull down video syncs (i.e. NTSC = 480i59.97) will change
30 FPS timecode frame rate automatically into pull down 29.97 FPS
timecode frame rate.
CAL display 0.990 informs about pull down timecode rates.
Stop the timecode generator manually by pressing the left key again.
The generator userbits can be edited accordingly when display mode
is set to UB. The usebit display shows 8 digits separated by decimal
points. Each userbit group/digit can be set to hexadezimal values
from 0 to F.
Userbits are used for coding date, takes or film reel numbers and are
handled completely separated from the timecode data.
MMC:
In GENERATOR mode you can also remote control the timecode
generator by sending MMC midi machine control comands via USB
or MIDI ports.
Example: DAW software sends MMC comands to control the mif 4
timecode generator genlocked to video syncs and then slaves itself
to the returned MTC midi timecode generated from the mif 4 to
achieve video genlocked playback start (locked to a virtual machine).
JAM SYNC:
If you are using the unit in LTC, MTC or USB mode and an external,
running timecode signal is present, you will be able to execute a JAM
SYNC by holding down the left key for two seconds.
JAM SYNC switches from an external timecode mode (LTC, MTC or
USB) over to GEN generator mode and is continiously generating
the actual running timecode.
In all operation modes (LTC, MTC, USB and GEN) the left key is
illuminated red when the timecode generator is running.

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6. DISPLAY modes
Press the right key to select one of four display modes:
TC timecode in hours, minutes, seconds and frames.
UB so-called LTC userbits, 8 nibbles shown hex from 0 to F.
CAL showing the speed of the timecode output.
Display mode CALIBRATION is showing the factor of the current
timecode speed used related to nominal speed.
Examples:
1.0000 = nominal, 0.9990 = pull down, 1.0001 is + 0.01% (100 ppm).
On the left side of the display the letter "r" indicates reference
locked,
the video reference input signal is used for synchronising the actual
timecode generation.
"I" stands for Input and indicates that only the timecode input source
is used to synchronise the actual timecode generation.
LTC mode always references to the input signal even when a valid
reference signal with matching frame rate is applied.
In MTC or USB mode the video reference is used when the frame
rate matches the timecode standard, i.e. 25 FPS timecode standard
together with PAL 576i50 video syncs.
Pull down video syncs force 30 FPS and DF timecode sources to be
referenced to 29.97 (CAL = 0.9990).

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In GENERATOR mode the following video syncs are accepted as
reference, depending on the selected timecode standard:
24 FPS: 1080p23, 1080p24, 576i47, 576i48
25 FPS: 576i50, 720p50, 1080p25, 1080i50, 1080p50
30 FPS and 30 DF:
720p59, 720p60, 480i29, 480i30, 1080p29, 1080p30,
1080i59, 1080i60, 1080p59, 1080p60
REF displays the automatically detected video reference standard
applied on the video sync input:
576i47 "slow PAL", pull down, for movie applications only
576i48 "slow PAL", for movie applications only
576i50 standard PAL video sync
480i59 standard NTSC video sync
480i60 b&w video sync, only for special postpro apps.
720p50 hd video 720 lines, progressive 50
720p59 hd video 720 lines, progressive 60 pull down
720p60 hd video 720 lines, progressive 60
1080i47 hd video 1080 lines, PSF 24 pull down
1080i48 hd video 1080 lines, PSF 24
1080i50 hd video 1080 lines, interlaced 50
1080i59 hd video 1080 lines, interlaced 60 pull down
1080i60 hd video 1080 lines, interlaced 60
1080p23 hd video 1080 lines 24 pull down
1080p24 hd video 1080 lines 24
1080p25 hd video 1080 lines 25
1080p29 hd video 1080 lines 30 pull down
1080p30 hd video 1080 lines 30
1080p50 hd video 1080 lines 50
1080p59 hd video 1080 lines 60 pull down
1080p60 hd video 1080 lines 60
Most common SD and HD video standards are printed bold.