The REF-1801 is a reference module that distributes a universal reference signal (URS) to all the cards within a Densité frame. It can also optionally generate two selectable reference signals for external use. The unique URS concept provides significant advantages as it generates a digital reference signal, and also simplifies interformat processing by using a unique reference signal for all video and audio frame rates. The REF-1801 has the ability to extract timecode from the input as per SMPTE-318M, which allows for perfect audio/video phasing. Other features include the ability to slave Densité frames, as well as advancing or delaying independently the two reference output signals.