Canobeam DT-150—Adventures in Free Space Optics

Sounds kinda like the title of a Sci-Fi novel, huh? In this case, I am referring to an incredible new product from Canon, the film and video optics specialists. Until recently, wireless transmission of video signals entailed Sat trucks, microwave beams, relays, receivers, transmitters, and usually a ton of headache and expense to get a marginal image. Usually, just the cost alone is prohibitive. Canon, building upon its line of Free Optics video transmitters, has recently released the CanoBeam DT-150, which smashes all boundaries usually associated with wireless video transmission.

The specs of the CanoBeam DT-150 are quite remarkable. The Canobeam DT-150 delivers UNCOMPRESSED HD- and SD-SDI video, audio, and bi directional control signals with NO DELAY via line of sight Free Space Optics at distances of up to 1 km. The CanoBeam operates at 1.485 Gbps, with a buffer that caches signal and corrects dropouts in transmission. It sounds too good to be true, right? Well, recently Ten Eighty Media and the good folks at Image Action in Oklahoma City, had the chance to put the Canobeam DT-150 through its paces. The challenge? Sending live SDI video signal of the nation’s largest rowing regatta to the world’s largest mobile HD Jumbotron—providing stunning eye candy for an estimated 60,000 spectators.

The environmental obstacles were huge. First off, video village was on the opposite side of the river from the HD Jumbotron. In years past, the signal was taken to the Jumbotron via over 8,000 feet of fiber optics—running down the bank of the Oklahoma City river, over the nearest bridge, and back upstream to the Jumbotron. With an estimated crowd of over 60,000 spectators and contestants, the client wanted to eliminate cable hazards for foot traffic. This would be the perfect place for wireless video, if it were in any way reliable or affordable. We decided to give the Canobeam a real world test, and bring 9000 ft. of fiber just in case…

Setup day 1. Video village was up and humming in just a few short hours. Our SDI switcher was kicking out beautiful signal to the transmitter end of the Canobeam. Our Canobeam engineer, Michael Bird, had the Canobeam transmitter on the bank of the river, on a 150mm tripod. Setting up this end was relatively simple—just a few dip switches and she was ready. Across the river, the receiver of the Canobeam was stationed a few feet away from the Jumbotron. The hard part was now ahead of us—lining up the transmitter and receiver. On the Canobeam transmitter, there is a spyglass. The goal is to line up the hash marks of the spyglass with the marks on the target of the receiver. In just a few minutes, Michael had the transmitter and receiver locked in with almost perfect connectivity and signal strength. We had video to the Jumbotron before the Jumbotron was even fully in place! Concerned that things had gone far too easy, the crew took turns obstructing and shaking various parts of the Canobeam. The only time the signal was lost was when the beam was completely covered up for several seconds. The device withstood a fair amount of vibration with no signal loss. On to the event!

Over the course of three days, hundreds of competitors, and thousands of spectators, the Canobeam worked flawlessly. We had various conditions--sunny days, overcast drizzly afternoons, high winds and dust, night—and none of them fazed the Canobeam. The uncompressed video was spectacular in image quality and stability. We estimated saving roughly 8 hours of set/strike time using the Canobeam over laying thousands of feet of fiber, not to mention the fear of damaging fiber. Each night, the Canobeam was torn down (to prevent theft), and each morning setting it up took less than 20 minutes. Our conclusion, quite simply, the Canobeam kicks ass for optically transmitting video signals. While we never tested the embedded audio feature, I would not hesitate to use the Canobeam for any application. It was almost too easy to use, with a little bit of basic knowledge of signal transmission. As a matter of fact, Ten Eighty Media already has events on the horizon that the Canobeam DT 150 will play a huge part in. Stay tuned for more information and pictures of the event, and feel free to call Ten Eighty Media at 972.359.9999 to discuss how the Canobeam DT 150 can “Make the Show Happen” for you!!