Novastar BR480

NovaStar BR480 — power supply and receiving card on one PCB

The BR480 belongs to NovaStar's BR series, a family of integrated control boards combining the AC/DC power supply and the receiving card on a single board. At the back of a cabinet it replaces the usual "power supply unit + receiving card" pair with one item: less internal cabling, fewer connectors, fewer failure points, and depth saved.

It is the most compact and lightest board in the BR series: 245 × 189 mm for 268.7 g, nearly half the footprint of the long formats. It also uses a different architecture, with a single 80-pin connector instead of eight separate ones.

Key specifications

Load capacity: 512×384@60Hz en 8 bits — 512×256@60Hz en 10 et 12 bits. Avec contrôleur COEX : 512×384@60Hz en 8 et 10 bits, 512×256@60Hz en 12 bits.
Module connectors: 1 connecteur J1 de 80 broches, 8 groupes RGB parallèle
AC input: 90–264 Vac, 47–63 Hz
DC output: 3,8 / 4,0 / 4,2 V (4,2 V par défaut) — 20 A nominal
Dimensions: 245,0 × 189,0 × 21,5 mm
Weight: 268,7 g
Operating temperature: -20 °C à +70 °C (déclassement au-delà de 50 °C)
Image processing: Thermal Compensation 2.0, Color Management, 18bit+, HDR10 and HLG, pixel-level calibration, Low Latency, Mapping 1.1

NovaStar BR480 — technical analysis

Buying a BR board is not the same reasoning as buying a receiving card. What decides is the available DC current, because it caps the luminance the cabinet can hold at full white. Its 20 A under 4.2 V gives around 84 W. A step above the 15.5 A of the standard models without reaching the 32 A of the Pro versions — a good compromise for a compact cabinet that does not have the surface to dissipate more.

Two things really set it apart. First the single 80-pin connector: one connection point instead of eight, meaning faster assembly and one less source of error, but it requires panels designed for that interface. Second Thermal Compensation 2.0, absent from every other standard model in the series: it corrects the cross-shaped blue or red banding that appears on a poorly dissipated cabinet.

Three design points: the module connector format must match your panels exactly (1 connecteur J1 de 80 broches, 8 groupes RGB parallèle); thermal derating means sizing cabinet ventilation accordingly; and since the board is both power supply and receiver, one failure takes out both — on a critical installation, plan spare stock accordingly.

• Compact and shallow cabinets — the smallest footprint in the BR series.
• Single 80-pin connector panels — faster assembly, one connection.
• Cabinets with difficult dissipation — Thermal Compensation 2.0 corrects cross banding.
• HDR projects on a controlled budget — HDR10 and HLG without moving to a Pro version.
• Rental and transport — 268.7 g, the lightest in the series.

• Available current — 20 A under 4.2 V: a step above the standard models without the Pro premium.
• Connectors — 1 connecteur J1 de 80 broches, 8 groupes RGB parallèle: check the exact match with your modules before ordering.
• Thermal — derating from 50 °C despite the compact format: dissipation area is limited, ventilation matters twice as much.
• Single 80-pin connector — a different architecture from the rest of the series: your panels must be designed for that interface.
• Single point of failure — power and reception on the same board: one failure takes out both, plan spare stock.