Sony PXW-X70 and ATEM TVS

Hello

I've recently bought the Sony PXW-X70 in hope of getting a relatively better all round performance compared to my old VG-10
But, try as I may, I just can't seem to hook i up with my ATEM Television Studio switcher.
So, questions.
1. Has anyone ever got these two to work together? ie. is it a compatibility issue? (In which I'm screwed)
2. If so, how? I've tried setting the camera output to 1080i 50 and 60, tried several modes on the TVS and none seemed to match.

Thank you.

You haven't told us how you are connecting the camera to the Tvs. If you have tried hdsdi (the output from the camera according to the specs are 3GSdi) it could be the wrong format for the switcher. Try to connect from the Hdmi output to a monitor to verify that you have set the camera to the right format. You can then try to connect to the switcher with a (not longer than) 5 meter hdmi cable.

If its the wrong format you can use a decimator md-hx to convert the signal.

Doesn't the switcher have HD-SDI inputs? If so, try taking this output from the PXW-X70?

where are you in the world? If you are in the USA then you need to set the camera to 1080i 59.94 record mode and 1080i output mode for the SDI.

If you are in europe then set the record mode to 1080i 50 and the output mode to 1080i for the SDI.

Set the ATEM mode to match the camera mode.

make sure you have a good BNC cable and it is connected correctly. Make sure the input on the TVS is set to SDI not HDMI.

cheers
tom

Thank you.

I will be connecting the camera to the TVS with 3g sdi cable.

The cable works fine, I tried connecting my other cameras to it (using a HDMI to SDI converter)
and everything show up perfectly, even on the longest cable on hand. (50m)

And I live in Thailand (where TV standards don't really matter, but officially, we use PAL)
So I've set the camera to output 1080i (1080i/480i from the video out menu) and Rec mode set at 50i
And nothing came through.
Tried both SDI and HDMI

Tried connecting to other monitors using the HDMI and it outputs just fine.

Updated the firmware on everything.

Make sure the SDI output is enabled in the video output menu.

Finally got it working!

Seems the quality of the cable, coupled with how the signal is coming off the camera was the cause.

These are the cables I have tried, nothing expensive.
1. a 5m 3G-SDI cable , made to order, costs around $30
2. 30m 3G-SDI cable from the same vendor, around $150

None of these worked (Though I must note that it works on my monitor through a SDI-HDMI converter)

Then I tried HDMI
first I tried it on my short (cheap) HDMI cable, (1.4a) nothing
then I plugged it into my longer HDMI cable (10m) and for a second, picture appeared on the TVS
The problem is I have to switch it to some other resolution then switch back to 1080i for it to appear again, and the slightest touch on the cable would kill the signal.

I was getting somewhere.

So I went and took out my more expensive HDMI cable (which is still cheap, Belkin) and the signal was perfect!

So, at this point, good cable saves the day.

ONE MORE INTERESTING NOTE

I plugged the camera, using my 5m Belkin HDMI cable to the HDMI to SDI mini converter and the patch that through my 30m SDI cable that did NOT work before and it works perfectly.

So, I guess the signal coming off the camera is probably on the weak side and would need a good cable to get through? weird. All my other camera (VG10 / VG20 / a77 and RX100m3) all works perfectly with these cables. Perhaps it was a defect, maybe I should check it in.

That sounds completely wrong to me. Are you sure you have had the camera set correctly when trying to use the SDI?

You need it to be outputting interlaced video at the same rate the ATEM is set to. And have the SDI output enabled in the menu of the camera, and be feeding a valid SDI input on the atem (two of the inputs on the television studio atem are shared with HDMI and must be correctly set for them to accept SDI signals)

Yes, I have everything set up correctly.

Thing is, picture would appear, then disappear. To make picture appear again I have to set Video Out to something else then set it back to 1080 50i (which is what I've set on the TVS)
It is as if the camera is not detecting the cable, which is weird, and better cable helps.

There is no such thing as detecting the cable for SDI, once you have turned it on it is on and will output at the format selected, there is no handshaking or EDID type stuff on SDI.

If you got a brief flash of picture and then nothing it is most likely that you are sending progressive video into an interlaced system. Do you have an SDI monitor which displays the signal format it is receiving onscreen? This is the best (affordable) way to know exactly what is coming out of your camera.

30m is not a long enough distance to have real cable issues, so long as you are using actual video cable that has been reasonably well terminated it should work.

Thanks, and
No, I don't have an SDI monitor, but I plan to test that out at the shop I got the camera from.

Weirdest thing is (well, are) these work
1. Camera -> HDMI -> HDMI to SDI converter -> SDI - > ATEM TVS
2. Camera -> SDI -> SDI to HDMI converter -> HDMI -> ATEM TVS


and this also works
3. Camera -> HDMI -> ATEM TVS

but this just won't work.
4. Camera -> SDI -> ATEM TVS

So, yeah, it's practically functional now, just not the way I wanted it to.
Good to know there's no handshaking in SDI, I can cross that off the list

One more question.
Is there a difference between HD-SDI and 3G-SDI cable? from what I understand the cable is the same. (But the camera outputs 3G/HD/SD SDI so that shouldn't be a problem either.)

The cable is basically the same, but its not relevant anyway as the ATEM only uses HDSDI - if you are trying to send 3g than that is why it isn't working.

An update on the issue.

I am not sure what happens, but after borrowing a friend's Atomos Shogun to check my SDI output just to see if it's going out correctly. (And it does, 1080 50i - HDSDI, it automatically switches between HD SD and 3G SDI according to the output option)
I plugged it in to the ATEM again and it just worked.

No problem whatsoever.

As I said, weird.