Blackmagic micro converter HDMI - SDI

Hello.

I want to connect my Sony Alpha 6400 to my Panasonic AW-HS50 for general overview footage, so, i bought a Blackmagic micro converter. but i can not for the life of me get it to work.
I`ve tested all the connections and it seems to work fine.

First i tried to connect the 6400 to a general HDMI screen and that worked.
Then i tested all the SDI inn connections on the AW-HS50 and they work.
then i connected a computer to the micro converter and i got that working but with 720p 50.

The sony alpha has a 1080p 60 HDMI out and both the AW-HS50 and the Blackmagic micro converter supports 1080p 60 so, im at a loss.

My biggest issue is that i am quite new to this, and i have no idea what to try next.

oh, and i have updated the firmware on the Blackmagic mikro converter.

Hope someone here can help me.

Best.
Stian

Hi.

Are you sure that the switcher can do 1080p60, looking at the specifications it's can only go up to 1080i60.
You will probably need an up/down converter to get the signal to your switcher.

You should set the camera to output 1080i (rather than 1080p) to be compatible with the switcher. On the Sony a6400, there is an HDMI resolution output setting that can be used for this:
MENU → (Setup) → [HDMI Settings] → [HDMI Resolution] → 1080i

Thank you Dave and Hakan for your answers.
I have now tested the 1080I setting but still no image.

What is this up/down converter you are mentioning?

-Stian

Did you get any information on the screen when you connected directly to the monitor? That can give you confirmation that you have set the camera correctly. Normally the information are shown when you connect the cable.
If you need to use a up/down converter there are several to choose from. One is Black Magic designs Mini Converter UpDownCross HD, another Decimator MD-HX.

What video format do you have the AW-HS50 video switcher set to?

According to the documentation, the switcher supports several different video formats:

• 1080i59.94
• 1080i50
• 720p59.94
• 720p50
• 1080PsF24
• 1080PsF23.98
• 480i59.94
• 576i50

The switcher should be set to the same video format as you are outputting from the camera.

From the switcher manual, it sounds like there are also different mode settings for each of the SDI inputs:
ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/provideo/awhs50 ... ced_oi.pdf

So you should probably check to see how those input settings are configured (they should probably be set to Normal). SDI inputs 3 and 4 can be set to enable upscaling, but on SDI inputs 1 and 2, I believe the input resolution and frame rate must match the video format the switcher is set to.

again thank you so much for your reply.

I was not aware that i could change the innput video format on the switcher, i will try that on monday.
Also than you for the link to the manual, this will help a ton.

There is unfortunatly no information on the screen when i connect the cable. The camera goes to black screen and the screen connected to the switcher is also all black (works fine when im connecting an SDI camera)

-Stian

I figured it out!

The problem was me all the time, i thought the camera was outputting 1080i 60p, turns out its 1080i 50p.

Thank you all so much for the help

-Stian