Blackmagic Forum

A little background first... we're using a brand-new Sony FDR-AX53 camera, connected to a brand-new Teradek Bolt 500. The Bolt receiver is connected to a Livestream HD550 box (which has 5 Mini Decklink Recorder cards in it). Everything is set to either "same resolution as input" or 720p60. Everything involved has been updated to the newest firmware/software/driver version (as of this morning).

The problem is, the Livestream box doesn't show the video from the Bolt. I've tried in both Black Magic Media Express, and Wirecast, but I rely on Wirecast since I'm more familiar with it. Here's what I've done to rule things out:

Camera - I've plugged the HDMI output directly into a Samsung 4K monitor, and video appears fine. I've also plugged the HDMI output from the camera into all of the Mini Decklink Recorder cards in the Livestream box, and video appears. So the camera is definitely not the problem.

Bolt 500 - I've plugged the HDMI output directly into the same Samsung 4K monitor, and video appears fine. I also plugged the HDMI output into an older Sharp 1080p TV, and video appears fine. I verified that both the Samsung monitor and the Sharp TV are receiving 720p60 signal (via the "information" info on each display). So the Bolt itself is definitely not the problem.

Decklink - I've plugged the HDMI output of the camera into each of the 5 Mini Decklink Recorder cards, and video appears correctly. However, when I plug the Bolt 500's HDMI output into any of the 5 cards, no video appears. No menu appears. No information appears. There is nothing that appears at all.

Cables - I've replaced all the cables involved 3 times, with different lengths and brands, just to rule out any cable shenanigans.

The only conclusion I can possibly draw is that the Teradek Bolt 500 is not compatible with the Mini Decklink Recorder. I've opened a support incident with both companies, but I'm on a bit of a time crunch (I have a major event coming up that we need to record using this setup), so I'm hoping someone has seen this, or can offer suggestions on what else to try... Any ideas?

Bump? Can I bump here?

I don't use Livestream, but I do use Teredek Bolts. I haven't ever had this issue in places I have used them. I am going to hazard a guess that maybe you are 60p on some stuff and 59.94p on other stuff, and are having an issue there. Maybe. Try a Decimator MD-HX inline, scaling the output to 59.94.

Since livestream studio is running on your system, a few questions:
At settings - inputs (upper right corner): do you see all bm recorders? The hdmi input?
At the input setting (left, middle) you can choose an input, there you find convert (or similar, I dont have a system here: if you choose 720p60 or 720p59,94 instead of auto, do you see any signal?

I haven't used the Livestream Studio software, just Black Magic Media Express and Wirecast (and testing a little with the BM Video Setup, to see if it's "seeing" video).

I've manually set the resolution and refresh on every device to every combination, from 480p60 all the way up to 1080p60, but nothing works. It DOES work if I set it to 720p60 with a BM Intensity (USB3 version)... but not with the Decklink.

Just for completion's sake... I loaded up Livestream Studio. No video there either.

I went into the Input settings in Livestream, and opened the Input Calibrater. I plugged the camera directly into each input, as prompted, and it "calibrated" the inputs, each within about 2 seconds of plugging the cable in. I tried repeating the process with the cable from the Bolt 500, but it never saw anything on Input 1. It just sat there for about 2 minutes saying "Detecting input..." I finally hit Skip, and it went to Input 2. I plugged the Bolt 500 into input 2, and waited. That was about 5 minutes ago, and it still says "Detecting input...".

There is clearly some incompatibility here. I just wish I could get someone from Black Magic to respond.

I forgot to mention this too... I plugged an Intensity Shuttle (USB3 version) into the same system, and plugged the Bolt 500 output into it. It worked immediately. No problem whatsoever. I changed nothing at all, and it worked. It still doesn't work on the Decklink Mini.

I called BMD and opened a case (another one, actually). They're looking into it. I'll post back when I hear anything.

Does it work with 720p50 over teradek bolt?
What are the settings of the bolt, any conversion? You can find it if you plug a monitor to the receiver.
Did you try it with sdi and hdmi?

I talked to Josh at Black Magic, and he looked into it for me.

Turns out, that although the Bolt 500 transmits video in YUV 4:2:2, the HDMI output is in RGB 4:4:4, which isn't supported by the Decklink Mini. The fact that it works on the Intensity (which also doesn't support RGB 4:4:4) is accidental, and may be related to the EDID handshake that takes place when one HDMI device connects to another. So currently, there appears to be no fix or workaround, but I suspect this'll be a problem with a lot more devices in the future.

TL;DR - The devices are incompatible due to the color space they each use.

You need a Decimator MD-HX. I am almost positive it handles RGB color space, and will output YUV color space in either SDI or HDMI as needed.