ALFATRON ALF-MUK88A-N 18Gbps 8×8 HDMI Matrix Instruction Manual

ALFATRON ALF-MUK88A-N 18Gbps 8×8 HDMI Matrix

Preface
Read this user manual carefully before using this product. Pictures shown in this manual is for reference only, different model and specifications are subject to the real product.
This manual is only for operation instruction, not for any maintenance usage. The functions described in this version are updated till March 2017. Any changes in functions and parameters since then will be informed separately. Please refer to the dealers for the latest details.

Trademarks
Product model and logo are trademarks. Any other trademarks mentioned in this manual are acknowledged as the properties of the trademark owner. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced without the prior written consent.

FCC Statement

This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. It has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a commercial installation.
Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference, in which case the user at their own expense will be required to take whatever measures may be necessary to correct the interference Any changes or modifications not expressly approved by the manufacture would void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
Do not dispose of this product with the normal household waste at the end of its life cycle. Return it to a collection point for the recycling of electrical and electronic devices. This is indicated by the symbol on the product, user manual or packaging. The materials are reusable according to their markings. By reusing, recycling or other forms of utilisation of old devices you make an important contribution to the protection of our environment. Please contact your local authorities for details about collection points.

Important Safety Instructions

• Do not expose this device to rain, moisture, dripping or splashing. No objects filled with liquids, such as vases, shall be placed on the device.
• Do not install or place this unit in a bookcase, built-in cabinet, or in another confined space. Ensure the unit is well ventilated.
• To prevent risk of electric shock or fire hazard due to overheating, do not obstruct the unit’s ventilation openings with newspapers, tablecloths, curtains, or similar items.
• Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other device (including amplifiers) that produce heat.
• Do not place sources of naked flames, such as lighted candles, on the unit.
• Clean this device only with dry cloth.
• Unplug this device during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time.
• Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched, particularly at plugs.
• Only use attachments / accessories specified by the manufacturer.
• Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel

Surge protection device recommended

This product contains sensitive electrical components that may be damaged by electrical spikes, surges, electric shock, lighting strikes, etc. Use of surge protection systems is highly recommended in order to protect and extend the life of your equipment.

Introduction

The ALF-MUK88A-N 18Gbps is an 8×8 HDMI Matrix which supports the transmission of video (up to 4K2K@60Hz YUV 4:4:4), and multi-channel high resolution digital audio from 8 HDMI sources to 8 HDMI displays. Audio de-embedded to analog and coaxial audio is supported from 8 HDMI output ports. While HDMI output ARC function is enabled, the ARC audio from HDMI display devices will be extracted to coaxial audio output. Each HDMI output of this 8×8 HDMI Matrix supports 4K2K to 1080P downscaling independently. Control is via front panel buttons, IR remote, RS-232, LAN and Web GUI.

Features

• HDMI 2.0b, HDCP 2.2, and HDCP 1.4 compliant
• Video resolution up to 4K2K@60Hz (YUV 4:4:4) on all HDMI ports
• Support 18Gbps video bandwidth
• Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and HLG are supported.
• Support 4K->1080P Down Scaler for each output port
• HDMI audio pass-through up to 7.1CH HD audio (LPCM, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio)
• Audio de-embedded is supported via analog and coax ports
• ARC, CEC and smart EDID management are supported
• 1U rack mounted design with front panel OLED display
• Control via front panel buttons, IR remote, RS-232, LAN and Web GUI

Package Contents

• 1 x 18Gbps 8 x 8 HDMI Matrix
• 1 x 12V/5A Power Adapter
• 1 x IR Remote
• 1 x IR Receiver cable (1.5 meters)
• 1 x RS-232 serial cable (1.5 meters, male to female head)
• 2 x Mounting Ear

Specifications

The use of “Premium High Speed HDMI” cable is highly recommended.

Operation Controls and Functions

Front Panel

Rear Panel

IR Remote

1. Power on or Standby: Power on the Matrix or set it to standby mode.
2. Input 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8: Select input source button. : Select the last or next input source button.
3. Output 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8: Select output source button.
   All: Select all output sources simultaneously. For example, when you press the “All” button and then press input “1” button, at this time the input “1” source will output to all display devices.

Operation instruction: You need to press the output button firstly and then press input button to select the corresponding input source. For example:
Press Output-X
(X means output button from 1 to 8, including “All” button) Then press Input-Y
(Y means input button from 1 to 8)

The Matrix can be selected input and output source by using the IR remote. There are two ways to receive the IR remote signal.
The first way: The IR window accepts the IR remote signal. When using the IR remote, the furthest distance is 7 meters, and the angle is ± 45°. The diagram is shown as below:

The second way:
If the IR receiver window of the Matrix is blocked or the Matrix is installed in a closed area out of infrared line of sight, the IR receiver cable can be inserted to the “IR EXT” port to receive the IR remote signal. The furthest distance of using the IR remote is 7 meters and the IR remote is directly faced to the IR receiver head. The diagram is shown as below:

IR Cable Pin Assignment

EDID Management

• The Matrix has 21 factory defined EDID settings, 2 user-defined EDID modes and 8 copy EDID modes. You can select defined EDID mode or copy EDID mode to input port through front panel buttons, RS-232 control or Web GUI.

• On-panel button operation: On the initial OLED display screen, press “MENU” button to enter the EDID setting interface, press the “UP/DOWN” button to select the required EDID, and press the “ENTER” button. A prompt “copy to input:” will appear. Then press “UP/DOWN” button to select the input port you need to set, and press the “ENTER” button again to confirm this operation.

• RS-232 control operation: Connect the Matrix to a PC with a serial cable, then open a Serial Command tool on a PC to send ASCII command “s edid in x from z!” to set EDID. For details,
  please refer to “EDID Setting” in the ASCII command list of “10. RS-232 Control Command”.

• Web GUI Operation: Please check the EDID management in the “Input page” of “9. Web GUI User Guide”.

The defined EDID setting list of the product is shown as below:

Web GUI User Guide

The Matrix can be controlled via Web GUI. The operation method is shown as below:

• Step 1 : Get the current IP Address.
  The default IP address is 192.168.1.100. You can get the current Matrix IP address in two ways: The first way: You can get the IP address via panel buttons. On the initial OLED display, press “MENU” button to enter the IP interface, then press “UP/DOWN” button to check the current IP address.
  The second way: You can get the IP address via RS-232 control. Send the command “r ipconfig!” through an ASCII Command tool, then you’ll get the feedback information as shown below:
  IP:192.168.62.109 in the above figure is the IP Address of the Matrix (the IP address is variable, depending on what the specific machine returns).
  For the details of ASCII control, please refer to “10. RS-232 Control Command”.

• Step 2 : Connect the TCP/IP port of the Matrix to a PC with an UTP cable and set the IP address of the PC to be in the same network segment with the Matrix.

• Step 3 : Input the IP address of the Matrix into your browser on the PC to enter Web GUI page.
  After entering the Web GUI page, there will be a Login page as shown below :

Select the Username from the list and enter the password. The default passwords are:

• Username User Admin
• Password user admin

After entering the password, click the “LOGIN” button and the following Status page will appear:

Status Page
The Status page provides basic information about the Model, the installed firmware version, and the network settings of the device.

Video Page

You can do the following operations on the Video page:

1. Output: The current device’s OUTPUT port. You can select the signal source for it.
2. Input: You can click the drop-down menu to select signal source for the corresponding OUTPUT port.
3. Presets Name: You can name the current scene with maximum length of 12 characters.
4. Presets Set: You can restore the settings of the last saved audio-video matrix switching relationship.
5. Presets Save: You can save the audio-video matrix switching relationship.
6. Presets Clear: You can clear the saved audio-video matrix switching relationship.

Input Page

You can do the following operations on the Input page:

1. Inputs: Input channel of the device.
2. Active: This indicates whether the channel is connected to a signal source.
3. Name: The input channel’s name. You can modify it by entering the corresponding name
4. (Max length: 12 characters) in the input box.
5. EDID: You can set the current channel’s EDID. The specific operation is as follows:

Set EDID for the User
Click the “Browse” button, then select the bin file. If you select the wrong EDID file, there will be a prompt, as shown in the following figure:
Make sure to select the correct file, then you can check the name of the selected file. Select “User 1” or “User 2”, then click “Upload”. Once successful, it will prompt the below:

Download the EDID File of the Corresponding Input Channel
Click the drop-down box of “Select EDID File” to select the corresponding input channel. Then click “Download” to download the corresponding EDID file.

Output Page

You can do the following operations on the Output page:

1. Outputs: Output channel of the device.
2. Name: The current output channel’s name. You can modify it by entering the corresponding name (max length: 12 characters) in the input box.
3. Cable: It indicates the connection status of output ports. When the output port is connected to the display, it displays green, if not, it displays grey.
4. Scalar Mode: Set the current output resolution mode.
5. ARC: Turn on/off the ARC function.
6. Stream: Turn on/off the output stream.

CEC Page

You can perform CEC management on this page:

1. Input Control: You can control the operation of each input source by clicking the icons on the page.
2. Output Control: You can control the operation of each display, such as power on/off, volume +/-, and active source switching.

Network Page

Set the Default Network
Click “Set Network Defaults”, there will be a prompt, as shown below:

Click “OK” to search the IP Address again, as shown below:

After searching is completed, it will switch to the login page, the default network setting is completed.

Modify Username
Click the “User” button, enter the correct Old Password, New Password, and Confirm Password, then click “Save”. After successful modification, the below prompt will be displayed:

Note : Input rules for changing passwords:

1. The password cannot be empty.
2. New Password cannot be the same as Old Password.
3. New Password and Confirm Password must be the same.

Modify Network Setting

Modify the Mode / IP Address / Gateway / Subnet Mask / Telnet Port as required, click “Save” to save the settings, then it will come into effect.
After modification, if the Mode is “Static”, it will switch to the corresponding IP Address; if the Mode is “DHCP”, it will automatically search and switch to the IP Address assigned by the router.

System Page

1. Panel Lock: Click “Panel Lock” to lock/unlock panel buttons. “On” indicates that panel buttons are unavailable; “Off” indicates panel buttons are available.
2. Beep: Click “Beep” to turn on/off the beep.
3. LCD: You can turn on/off the LCD and set the switch-on time (15s/30s/60s).
4. Serial Baud Rate: Click the value to set the Serial Baud Rate.
5. Firmware Update: Click “Browse” to select the update file, then click “Update” to complete firmware update.
6. Factory Reset: You can reset the unit to factory defaults by clicking “Reset”.
7. Reboot: You can reboot the unit by clicking “Reboot”.

Note : After reset/reboot, it will switch to the login page.

RS-232 Control Command

The Matrix also supports RS-232 control. You need a serial cable with an RS-232 male head and DB9 transfer USB male head. The RS-232 head of the serial cable is connected to the RS-232 control port with DB 9 at the rear of the Matrix, the USB head of the serial cable connects to a PC. The connection method is as follows
Then, open a Serial Command tool on the PC to send ASCII command to control the Matrix. The ASCII command list is shown as below

Application Example

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