Harkwood Services Sync-One2 User manual



Issue18.08 Firmwarev2.0.0

Sync-One2



UserManual



Sync‐One2isaneasytousehandheldtoolsuitableforprofessionalandamateuruserstoquicklyand

easilyanalyseaudio/visualsynchronisationproblems.



ThismanualisforFirmwarereleasev2.0.0





!IMPORTANT!

Toobtainthebestresultstheuseofsuppliedtestfilesisrecommended.Thesefilesconsistof

verybriefflashesoflightandsoundbeeps.Astheseflashesarebriefandintensetheymaybe

perceivedasstroboscopiclights.Accordingly,personswithphotosensitiveepilepsyorsimilar

conditionthatcanbetriggeredbyflashingimagesshouldtakesuitableprecautionswhenusing

thesetestfilesanddosoattheirownrisk.



Page2

Overview



WithinthedigitalAudioVisual(AV)worldtheaudioandvideosignalsareoftenprocessedbydifferent

piecesofequipment,which whencombined withthe processing delayintroducedby digitaldisplay

devicescanleadtoproblemswithaudiovideosynchronisation–orlipsyncproblems.Withintherealm

ofdigitalvideoediting,errorscanalsooccuriftracksarenotalignedcorrectlyorframesaredropped

during processing.  These problems can occur in areas such as a home cinema, professional AV

installations such as a Lecture Theatre, post‐production editing, Digital Cinema, TV broadcasts, and

manymore.



Sync‐One2isasmallhandhelddevicedesignedtoaidwithcorrectsetupofAVsystemsandtoverify

theoutputissynchronised.Bymeasuringthetimedifferencebetweenapulseoflightandsound,it

becomeseasytogettheoptimalconfigurationforalmostanyapplication,ortojustcheckthatthings

areastheyshouldbe.



The measurement results are available in various formats, depending on the user requirement and

combinedwithstatisticalanalysisofreadingshelpgivearealindicationastowhatisgoingoninany

audio‐visualsystem.AnAPIinterfaceisalsoavailabletoenableSync‐One2toberemotelycontrolled.

AseparatemanualcoverstheAPIcommands.



Sensors



Thesystemsensorsarelocatedatthetopoftheunit,sowhenholding Sync‐One2 the sensors are

naturallypointedtowardthescreen.



Themicrophoneisontheleft,withthelightsensorontheright.



Page3



Externalinterfaces



Therearetwoexternalinterfaces,a3.5mmstereoaudiojackandamini‐USBport.



TheaudiojackpermitsSync‐One2tobeconnectedtoaheadphoneorline‐outaudioport,switchover

tousetheexternalaudiosourceisautomaticduringcalibration,butmaybeoverriddeninthemenus.



TheUSBMini‐Bportoffersdataloggingofreadingsinrealtime,anAPIinterfaceforremotecontrol,

firmwareupgrades,andwillalsosupplypower.



Power



Sync‐One2uses2AAbatteries(includingrechargeable),alowbatteryindication isshownwhen

newbatteriesarerequired.Shouldthebatteriesgettoolow,awarningisdisplayedandSync‐One2will

switchitselfofftoavoidincorrectoperation.Powermayalsobesuppliedviathemini‐USBport.



Orientationofthebatteriesinthebatterycompartment



Buttons



Pressandholdtoturnon,pressagaintoturnoff.



IsusedtomovebetweenMeasurementmodeandMenumode(with

additionalfunctionalityavailableinsomespecificmenusasgivenbelow)



UsedtonavigateupanddowntheMainMenu,andtoaltervalueswithin

menus

UsedtoenteraspecificmenuitemandreturntotheMainmenu

Off

↑ ↓

!IMPORTANT!

Donotcoverthesensors,ifcoveredreadingsmaynotbetakenorwillbeinaccurate

Donotinsertanythingintothesensorapertures,doingsomaydamageSync‐One2andprevent

correctoperation.Takecarenottopermitliquidtoentertheapertures.



Page4

OperatingModes



Sync‐One2runsinthreedistinctmodes;



 Measurementmode,wheretheactualreadingsaretakenanddisplayedinrealtime

 Menumode,todisplaystatisticsandsetvarioussystemoptions

 APImode,whereSync‐One2comesunderremotecontrol



MovingbetweenMeasurementmodeandMenumodeisviathe button.



APImodeisactivatedonceacommandisreceivedandthedisplaywillshowAPI Control



ToexitAPImode,issuetheexitcommandorpressthe button



API

Measurement Menu

Readings

Calibrating

Menu ItemShow Stats

Select Item

Off

↓

↑

API Commands

Alter Value

↓↑

Calibrating

Command



Page5

Whatdoallthenumbersmean?



Allmeasurementsaretakenandpresentedwithreferencetothelightpulse,soiftheaudioisaheadof

thelightthereadingsarepositive.Shouldtheaudiobebehindthevideothenthereadingsarenegative.



Readingsaregiveninmilliseconds( ms ),andframes( F )ifaframeratehasbeenentered.



Forexample,inahomecinemaenvironment,ifthesynchronisationerrorweredetectedas+100ms

thenintroducingthatdelaywithintheAVReceiver/Pre‐Amplifierwouldbringthingsbackintosync.



Theresultsvaryalot,what’sgoingon?



Thisis,surprisingly,normal.Withallthedigitalprocessingthatgoesoninmodernequipmentitisrare

togetasetofreadingsthatallexactlymatchoneanother.ThatiswhySync‐One2calculatesvarious

statisticstohelpwiththeanalysis,detailsonthesearegivenlaterwithintheguide.



WhatisallthisCalibrationbusiness?



WheneverSync‐One2goesintoMeasurementmodeitwillcalibrateitself.Itismeasuringthecurrent

ambientlevelsoflightandbackgroundnoise,andthenautomaticallyadjustingtobeabletofilterthese

outformoreaccuratereadingsandfewerfalsereadings.



Ideally,alwayshaveSync‐One2inthemeasuringposition(i.e.pointedatthelight/soundsources)when

turningon,orgoingbacktotheMeasurementmode,toobtainoptimalresults.



Duringcalibrationflagsindicatingifanexternalaudiosourceisinuse,orareminderthataMaskLength

(theminimumtimebetweenmeasurements,seeMask Lengthcommand)abovethestandard

hasbeenset.



Externalaudiosourceisbeingusedformeasurements



AMaskTimeotherthanthedefaulthasbeenset



Page6

MeasurementModeBasics



Thedisplayonlyupdatesonceasuccessfulreadinghasbeentaken,whichisindicatedwitha 

ThesymbolremainsduringtheMaskTime,soonlywhenthesymboldisappearswillSync‐One2beready

totakethenextreading.



Thedisplaygivesthelatestdetectedreadinginmilliseconds,inthisexampletheaudiowasdetectedas

being33msaheadofthevideoasthereadingispositive.Ifitwereanegativenumberthiswouldmean

theaudiolagsbehindthevideo.



Ifaframeratehasbeenset,thereadingisalsogiveninframes.Usingthesameexample,withaframe

rateof25framestheaudioisaheadby00.84frames.



The running average of the current measurement session can also be displayed in milliseconds or

frames.Thisaverageiscalculatedonthecurrentmeasuringsessionandisnotstored.



Iftheaveragehasbeensettoshowinframesratherthanmilliseconds,andthereisaframerateset,

thentheaverageisshowninframes.The F nexttotheAshowsthis.





+033

25F ms

00.84 +033

25F ms A

00.84 +033 +032

25F ms AF

00.84 +033 +0.80



Page7

Threeflagscouldalsobeshown,whichindicatewhenexternalaudioisselected,orvariousfeatures

thatimpactreadingshavebeenset.



Externalaudiosourceisbeingusedformeasurements



Aspeakerdistancehasbeensetandthedisplayed

readingincorporatestheadjustment



Amanualoffsethasbeensetandthedisplayedreading

incorporatestheadjustment



MoredetailsonthesesettingsaregivenintheAdvancedOperationsection.



MemorybufferandStatistics



Whilst measurements are being taken, the most recent 60 readings are stored in memory and are

availabletoviewviathe View Stats menuoption.



Whenthememorybecomesfull,theoldestreadingsarediscardedsoitalwayscontainsthemostrecent

60readings.ThismemoryisretainedbetweensetsofmeasurementsandonlyerasedwhenSync‐One2

isturnedofforclearedmanuallyviathe Clear All Stats menuoption.



Whenthestatisticsaredisplayedthespanandaverageofallthereadingsinthebufferiscalculatedto

betterindicatetheperformanceofthesystemundertest.



Thespanisthedifferencebetweenthetwomostextremereadingsinthebuffer.Forexample,ifthe

extremereadingsinthebufferwere‐50msand+100msthespanwouldbe150ms.Alowspanmeans

thesystemisstableinitsoperation,aspanof10msorlowerisideal.



Theaverage,calculatedfromallthereadingsinthebuffer,givesanindicationastothetruedelayof

thesystem.Naturallyanaverageof0ms/0.00frameswouldbeperfectbutintherealworldanything

under10mswillbehardforanyonetodetect.



FulldetailsofthestatisticsprovidedaregivenintheAdvancedOperationsection.



DataLogging



RealtimedataloggingofreadingstakeninMeasurementmodeisavailableviatheUSBMini‐Bport.

Detailsofthedatalogged,format,andconnectiondetailsareavailableintheAPImanual.







Page8

Basicoperation



Whenpoweredon,Sync‐One2willstart upanddisplay itsserialnumberandany configuredsplash

screenthengointoMeasurementmode,followingabriefself‐calibration.Forbestresults,holdthe

unitinthemeasuringpositioninrelationtothedisplayequipmentduringthecalibrationsequence,as

thiswillgivethebestresults.



Themeasurementpositionisthewhentheunitisheldfairlyclosetothedisplay,withthelightsensor

pointingatthedisplay,orifaprojectorisinusewithinthelightbeamoftheprojector.Typically,asin

thepicturebelow:



Abasicuse,forexample,istocheckorhelptoset‐upahomecinema environment.  The typical

workflowtoachievethisisasbelow:



Page9



ThisusestwomodesofSync‐One2,MeasurementmodeandMenumode.Measurementmodetakes

thereadingsandstores themostrecentinamemory buffer.Alwaystakeanumberofreadingsto

determinetheerror,tosmoothoutthevariancesinsignalprocessing.



Onceseveralreadingshavebeentaken,enterMenumodeandchoosethe Show Stats option.

Thisdisplaystheaverageandspanofthereadingsandgivesthebestindicationofthesituationinany

givensystem.



Forexample,ifafteraseriesofmeasurements,theShowStatsmenugivesthefollowingscreen.The

lowspanindicatesthesystemisstablebutsuffersfromavideodelayofabout32ms.Ifthiswerea

homecinema,addinganaudiodelayof32msandre‐testingshouldresultinasynchronisedsolution.



Shouldthespanreadingbehigh,sayover25msthismaysuggesttherecouldbeinaccurate/anomalous

resultswithinthememorybuffer.Detailsofhowtogothroughthememorybufferandremoveany

suspectreadingsisgiveninthe Show Stats menuitemsectionoftheguide.



Ifanyadjustmentshavebeenmadetothesystemundertest,thenalwaysrunthetestagaintoconfirm

theadjustmentshavebroughtthingsbackintosynchronisation.(Note,remembertoclearthememory

bufferviathe Clear All Stats menuitemortheresultscouldbeconfusing).



Dependingonthevariouspossibleinputpaths,e.g.Blu‐Rayplayers,networkstreamers,games

consolesetc.itmightberequiredtoconfigureadelayforeachoftheinputdevicesiftheaudio

processorsupportsmultiplevalues.Ifitisnotpossibletoconfiguretheindividualinputchannels,pick

themostcommonlyusedinput,whichisabletoplaysuitabletestfile.





A +032 M01

S 0002 ms +033



Page10

AdvancedOperation



Withinpostproductionorvideoediting,workflowisbasedaroundvideoframes,ratherthantimein

milliseconds.WithinSync‐One2youcansetaframeratebetween1and99frames/sec.Whilstsome

frameratesarefractional,forexample29.97,Sync‐One2useswholeframes,whichisaccurateenough.

Simplypicktheclosestwholeframeratetotheactualoneofthesystemsyouareworkingwith.



Withaframerateselected,theMeasurementmodedisplaysthereadingsinmillisecondsandinframes,

atthechosenframerate.However,moreimportantly,whenperforminganalysiswithinthe Show

Stats menuitemthereadingsforaverageandspanarealsogiveninframes,asiseachofthe

individualmemorybuffers.



UsingthesamereadingstakenintheBasicOperationexampleabove,withaframeratesetthestats

displaywillalternatebetweenthereadinginmillisecondsandframes.So,inthiscasetheframerate

setis25frames/sec,thespanis00.1frameswiththeaveragereadingof+0.80frames.



Thevaluebelowthememorypositionindicatesifthereadingsdisplayedareinmillisecondsorframes,

andtheframetherateentered.Thedisplaywillstarttoalternateacoupleofsecondsafteragiven

memorypositionisshown.Whenmovingbetweenthememorypositions,thereadingsareshownin

millisecondsbutwillstarttoalternateonceagivenmemorypositionhasbeenshownforacoupleof

seconds.



Forpost‐productionworkhavingthereadinginframesmakesitmucheasiertocorrecttheissuethan

justmilliseconds.Whentheframereadingisbelow10framestheresolutionisto1/100thofaframe,

above10framesresolutionisto1/10thofaframe.



Manuallyoffsettingreadings



Therearesituationswherebeingabletoenteraknownoffsetcanalsohelpunderstandreadingswhere

equipmentdelaysareknowninadvance.Forexample,shouldadisplayhaveaknownprocessingdelay

of45milliseconds,whenthereadingsaretakenthewiththesignalsleavingthecomputerexactlyin

sync, the best obtainable result would be the audio leading the video by 45 milliseconds (+45ms)

becauseofthedelayinthedisplay.Tocorrectforthis,youcouldenterauseroffsetof‐45,thenthe

processingdelayofthescreenhasbeenaccountedfor.



Theuseroffsetisinputinmilliseconds(viatheUser ms OffsetMenuItem)howeverifaframe

rateisalsosetthedelaycalculatedinframeswillbedisplayedtoo.

A +032 M01

S 0002 ms +033

A+0.80 M01

S 00.1 25F +0.84

Other manuals for Sync-One2

Table of contents

Popular Measuring Instrument manuals by other brands

Suaoki

Suaoki D40 user manual

Elster

Elster BK-G1.6 operating instructions

Endress+Hauser

Endress+Hauser Deltabar FMD71 technical information

Duratool

Duratool D03128 manual

Vega

Vega VEGAPULS 65 Quick setup guide

Tonghui

Tonghui TH2618B Operation manual

Tenmars

Tenmars TM-801 user manual

MSR

MSR 145 user manual

TPS

TPS WP-82 manual

ELMETRON

ELMETRON CP-511 user manual

PCB Piezotronics

PCB Piezotronics 003C30 Installation and operating manual

Tenma

Tenma 72-10465 manual

Endress+Hauser

Endress+Hauser Proline Promag 50 Brief operating instructions

Siemens

Siemens SITRANS F Coriolis FCT030 Function manual

KLINGER

KLINGER CMF V Series instruction manual

EXFO

EXFO FTB-2 Notice

Keysight

Keysight M8290A Getting started guide

ADTEK

ADTEK MW-5 operating manual