Designed specifically for HDV editors in a studio environment, the Miranda HD-Bridge DecXC ingests m2t (MPEG-2 transport stream) files from a camera, deck, computer or DVHS device and outputting 4:2:2 uncompressed media, thus preventing your HDV images from being compressed in the RGB color space. The HD-Bridge also offers 422 machine control, making it a perfect add-on for some of Sony’s new HDV decks such as the HVR-M15U and HVR-M25U or the JVC BR-HD50.

Featuring proprietary cross-conversion software that’s built right into the system, the HD-Bridge converts clips to 4:2:2 output footage that most broadcasters and post houses prefer to work with for better compositing and color correction.

Additionally, the HD-Bridge is designed for converting 4:2:2 to m2t format so that the media may be printed back to HDV tape if necessary, saving render time in a software-only environment. The HD-Bridge is entirely real time.

What makes this product unique? Upon ingest of an HDV stream, the Miranda box will convert the signal so you can view it externally during capture, via either SDI (Serial Digital Interface) or component output. Time code is passed for frame-accurate deck control. The SDI outputs give you either a "clean" stream (no time code or graticule tags), or a stream with OSD (On-Screen Display) showing safe areas. This means you can have an onscreen monitor with embedded time code and markers, while you print to tape with embedded AES audio and no window burn or markers. The only thing missing here is an output for DVI, which would make this perfect for field use as well.

Pixel aspect ratio (PAR) and screen aspect ratio (SAR) are both auto-sensed by the device, yet you can also specify output SAR. YpBpR or RGB are user-selectable for output. The Miranda box will convert the audio stream to PCM, output both in analog, as well as AES-EBU format, for digital monitoring or pass-through.

Easily identifiable with its unique bright purple color, the box’s layout is clean and crisp. However, a rack-mounting option would have been nice. With stiff SDI cables and heavy AES cables coming from the back of our console, it was difficult to keep the lighter-weight box in one position. But in a rack mount, we would have had an easier time controlling the cables, or at least could have prevent ed the stiff cables from forcing the box into one position or another. I don’t think a rack mount would have added to the cost; perhaps future versions will offer this as an after-purchase option.

The HD digital-to-analog converter in this unit are sweet. When I viewed 4:2:2 straight from the camera to a Sony BVM19 HD monitor, switched to the FireWire input/component outputs of the Miranda, and then switched to the SDI output, I saw no changes in the image quality, telling me that the HD-Bridge was properly converting the signal after HDV compression.

One feature that could have been added to this device is the ability to ingest the 4:2:2 uncompressed stream from the camcorder and convert it to SDI, making it even more useful in live shooting/studio environments. Having uncompressed input to SDI output would make this device very attractive outside the broadcast/post production house workflow, giving users a perfect way to capture SDI to a Blackmagic Design or similar HD-SDI input card on a fast desktop system. Miranda also includes a detection system that will either insert black frames or kill capture/output (user selectable) for an informed capture. You can also save your own configuration settings, making this perfect for the studio with a lot of hands on deck. No more bickering about who left what settings at which value.

Overall, this box is very comprehensive in operation while maintaining an easy workflow that anyone can grasp without ever opening the owner’s manual.The menus are clean and easy to follow, as is the owner’s manual, if you do decide you need to consult it.

I tested this box with the JVC GY-HD100U set to both 24p and 30p, and with the Sony AVR-A1U and HVR-Z1U camcorders at all the various frame rates for both PAL and NTSC. Regardless of the signal, the HD-Bridge knew immediately what was incoming and switched to that setting. One outstanding feature of the HD-Bridge is its ability to convert 1080i to 720p, even 720p 60 (59.94), or vice-versa. The owner’s manual says that the box also works well with SD video on ingest, but I didn’t test the DV aspects.

Later this month at NAB, Miranda will be introducing the next version of the HD-Bridge DecXC, the HD-Bridge Dec+, which will offer several new features including ASI input, genlock and native 24p support. Pricing for the Dec+ will be announced at the show (and posted on www.studiodaily.com).