ViDelay Video Delay Lines

Dave Jones Design has a line of video delay lines called ViDelay. These mixed analog/digital devices allow a live video signal to be delayed for a specific amount of time.

These are very simple to connect and use. They are simple black boxes with a video input and a video output. They accept any standard video signal (PAL, NTSC, SECAM, or industrial formats) that is 1 volt peak to peak, either black and white or color. No jumpers or switches need to be changed to select the format. In fact there are no controls at all. The video comes out at the same level and color content as it went in, just delayed by a specific amount of time. 

ViDelays can be ordered with any pre-set delay between one millisecond and 19.9 seconds, though they are not cost effective for delays shorter than a few frames. They can be modified by us at any time to change the amount of delay, though the cost of that will depend greatly on whether a shorter or longer delay is required compared to the original delay. Delays shorter than the original delay can often be changed in the field by replacing a couple of small parts in the ViDelay.

The ViDelay comes in a 2RU rackmount box that is about 3.5 inches tall, 13 inches deep, and 19 inches wide. The rackmount ears can be removed, in which case it is 16.75 inches wide. There are fans in the box to allow air to flow across the digital circuitry. 

ViDelays are built using state of the art surface mount technology for the video circuitry and gate array technology for the digital circuitry. They have anti-aliasing filters on the input and a low pass filter with sineX/X compensation to assure a clean transition from analog to digital and back to analog with no digital artifacts. 

A ViDelay can be easily converted between 110 and 220 volt operation by changing a couple of jumpers inside the case. 

The ViDelay does not do any sync processing or timebase correction. If you feed in a signal with bad sync, it will come out with bad sync. If you feed in a video signal that is stable, then you get back a stable signal. If you feed in a signal from a VHS tape, when it comes out of the delay it will look exactly as it did coming out of the tape. The only difference in the signal will be that it is DC restored and has it's frequency rolled off at 5.5 MHZ for broadcast compatability. 

The ViDelay is video only. It does not delay audio.

The ViDelay, with delays up to 9.94 seconds cost $6000. With delays up to 19.9 seconds they cost $7000. The delay is not adjustable. It must be specified at the time the unit is ordered, and can not be changed. Allow 4 to 6 weeks after placing an order for one of these to be manufactured.