Blackmagic OpenGear Converters are fully compatible with the OpenGear standard. OpenGear is an open standard for rack mount converters and processing for television broadcasters. OpenGear uses a 2 rack unit rack frame that holds up to 10 plug in cards, or a double density frame can be used to hold up to 20 cards. Many manufacturers develop OpenGear cards and frames that can be mixed and matched. OpenGear cards are hot swappable and can be controlled by java based DashBoard network control and monitoring software on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

Blackmagic OpenGear Converters instantly switch between all SD and HD video formats the instant the video input changes. A huge range of standards are supported including NTSC, PAL, 1080i/59.94, 1080i/50, 1080PsF/23.98, 1080PsF/24, 720p/59.94, 720p/50 and new formats can be added via USB.

Blackmagic OpenGear Converters feature 24 bit analog and 24 bit digital audio. You can select either analog or AES/EBU digital audio via mini switches, or remotely via the DashBoard network control software. Blackmagic OpenGear Converters will then switch to use either analog or AES/EBU digital audio. Blackmagic OpenGear Converters support the standard 2 ch and 4 ch audio rear modules, so they can be used with other brand OpenGear products.