Projects	Metadata

Metadata are "data about data". They explain what structure, content and what basic condition of the transferred data. This allows for a quick identification for Archival, copyrights and many other areas in a media production facility.

Metadata are located in the blanking field of a digital video stream and therefore are part of the video signal. This procedure is similar to the well know analog video metadata such as Time Code, Camera ID's, VPS and WSS. In comparison to analog video, about a thousand time more information fits into the digital blanking interval. This amount of space allows for a extensive amount of description information to be transported with pictures and video clips. Typically used for closed captioning data, UMID and spatial camera position data.

Due to the wide variety of applications where metadata can be used, metadata has been given wide array of rules and possibilities for implication. EBU and SMPTE associations have taken the task of designing a norm so that data from most applications can be transported via normal routes without loss of data. The Metadata dictionary is a large dynamic collection of "data groups", which is always growing with new applications. Therefore in order to create norms for data transfer, the list must constantly be expanding to deal with potential new applications.

Aside from these specific catalogued data groups, there is an area reserved for "user specific" data. This allows users to add any data they chose along with the "normed" metadata into the blanking interval.

How data is transported to the video, is explained in the MXF-standard for file transfer and the SMPTE- Norm-291 for Digital video. In digital video, metadata's are a part of the "Ancillary data", that is located in the blanking interval.

Rubidium series modules "DA,DY,HA and HY" can convert computer data for a normed transport via metadata into the digital video (SDI, HD-SDI) and also can read the metadata and export it into computer format via one of its outputs (serial or Ethernet). In addition, the metadata's can also be inserted into the visible screen.