About the AJA HD5DA 1x4 HD/SD-SDI Distribution Amplifier/Repeater
The AJA HD5DA is a professional-grade, single-input to four-output distribution amplifier designed to maintain signal integrity in high-definition and standard-definition SDI video workflows. It performs the essential function of taking one incoming SDI signal and outputting four identical, independently buffered, and reclocked copies. The "repeater" aspect of its functionality is crucial: it actively regenerates the digital signal, stripping away accumulated jitter and correcting any degradation that occurs over long input cable runs. This ensures that every connected downstream device—such as monitors, routers, recorders, or encoders—receives a pristine, stable, and broadcast-perfect signal, preventing glitches, dropouts, and synchronization errors that can arise from simply splitting a signal passively.
Housed in AJA's compact, durable half-rack metal enclosure, the HD5DA is built for reliability in both rack-mounted installations and mobile production kits. Its operation is entirely transparent, featuring automatic input format detection (SD/HD) and requiring no user configuration or external software. The unit includes robust input equalization to compensate for signal loss from long or suboptimal cables, ensuring reliable performance in real-world conditions. As a fundamental building block in any professional video infrastructure, the AJA HD5DA provides a simple, foolproof solution for expanding signal paths with absolute confidence, making it an indispensable tool for broadcast facilities, post-production suites, and live production environments where signal quality and reliability are non-negotiable.