The DLC170DA converts optically received SDI to composite analog video (NTSC or PAL) and analog or AES audio. Used with the DLC170AD, the design insures full TV-1 RS250-C “short haul” analog performance over a true SMPTE 259M SD-SDI optical transport link. Additionally, it can be used as an optical receiver for all digital signals from 19.39 ATSC to 1.485Gb/s HD-SDI making the DLC170DA ideal for the eventual conversion from analog to digital video transport. The received optical signal can be directed to the backplane for additional channel groups to be processed by other cards in the DigiLink chassis. Audio embedded per SMPTE 272M levels A, B, and C can be extracted as either four balanced analog audio channels or two stereo AES digital audio streams.