The old school of thought was to get a “respectable” signal level to the television and hope the channel(s) weren’t snowy. Today we are dealing with a broadband spectrum of analog and digital signals on the same distribution network. This creates additional challenges.

If you’re one of the many people who own a smartphone, you’ve probably wondered how you ever got by without one. A similar concept that continues to gain traction is the SMART TV, which offers many of the same integrated Internet capabilities as smartphone devices. A SMART TV is sometimes referred to as a “hybrid TV” or a “Web-based TV” because it facilitates the convergence of RF commercial television signals with Internet-based digital information for a full spectrum of viewing and entertainment options in one device and over one cable.

Few things are more frustrating than a slow computer network. If you manage or own a gaming or hospitality establishment or any other type of commercial business, there’s a good chance that a sluggish network has resulted in angry customers and/or lost revenues at one time or another. In healthcare facilities, government or military installations, or educational institutions, an unresponsive network can hinder the ability to perform key functions or provide essential, even potentially lifesaving, services in a timely manner.

If you’re an IT professional, manager, or anyone who deals with video technology in a company or institution with 25 or more TVs, you may be somewhat familiar with the concept of RF video distribution. However, you might not be sure exactly what it is and how it works. In simple terms, RF video and television distribution is a highly effective method of transmitting video signals to your TVs and other devices using a combination of RF technology and high-bandwidth Category cable. The end result is a seamless convergence of voice, data, and video requiring only one piece of structured cable.

Baseband Video consists of one video picture being sent point-to-point, such as the video output of a VCR to the video input of a monitor. There exist two levels of service for baseband video: broadcast studio and consumer. These types describe, primarily, the quality of the signal. Broadcast studio quality requires a much higher signal fidelity, while the consumer quality baseband requirement is less demanding. In addition to the difference in signal fidelity, there is also a difference in the connectors typically used for the transmission of these signals. The broadcast baseband applications typically use a BNC connector and the consumer baseband applications typically use an RCA connector.

Z-Band Manufactures Two Versions Of Active Baluns:

Standard

Diplexer

As with everything else in the technology world, how we receive and view our video is changing. This leads to the question-which is better “RF Video or IP Video?” If you take away any inherent bias your answer is surprising— “neither.” Both have their place and here is why.