4K studio and BMD UpDownCross Converter

Our team is upgrading from a HD studio to a 4K studio with all new equipment, and part of our workflow has included having a presenter's laptop output split, with one end going to a 1080 prompter and the other output going to a BMD SDI converter to our ATEM switcher. Now that the cameras & switcher are 2160p, we started using the BMD HDMI-to-SDI 6G converter. Our problem is that the HDMI splitter is checking the end source, so it either splits the HDMI as 4K (and the prompter doesn't get see the signal), or as HD (and the switcher doesn't see the signal).

My question is about how the UpDownCross Converter works IRL. Ideally for us, it would be great if the HDMI In was looped out to the HDMI Out while also converting the signal to 4K SDI, but by the looks of it, the converter will match the HDMI & SDI outs. Does anyone have any experience using one in this fashion? Is there another converter that might help?

Thanks in advance!

The problem is that you are trying to mix sources..
What you really need is a HDMI to SDI that scales HD to 6G-sdi. Or even better would have been that you invested in the TVS 4K pro. As it does auto scaling on all inputs. So you would have no problem in mixed signals.

The only way for now at this point that i know off to fix this issue is a $1200 Teranex AV.

Another way would be to scrap the HDMI splitter. Put the HDMI > SDI 6G direct to the laptop. Set to 4K. And add a SDI to HDMI 6G to the preview monitor. Set it to HD downscale mode and you get HD HDMI for your preview screen. Still a more "expensive" way then a HDMI splitter but that is the cheapest way i can think of to fix this.

Yeah, what Daniel said. The only upcoming product if you don't want latency (sorry I know this is a BMD forum, but the Teranexes aren't suitable for IMAG) is the Decimator 12G CROSS

If you are dealing with HDMI signals, you might look at something like the HDfury Integral 2 or HDfury Vertex. Although it's more of a consumer-oriented product, it might work well for this purpose.

It is a combination HDMI splitter and scaler. So it can accept a 4K HDMI input and output a copy of the 4K signal on one of its HDMI outputs, while scaling the second HDMI output to 1080p. Latency through the unit is very low, less than 1 frame, even with scaling enabled.

The HDfury units don't support frame rate conversion like the Teranex line though, so you couldn't cross convert 50fps to 60fps. The input and output frame rate will be the same only with scaling applied (for example 1080p60 and 2160p60).

Great one Dave. Didn't know those guys went on.. These were the guys that had those illigal HDCP strippers back in the days right?

Yeah, I think HDfury had to stop making the HDCP stripping devices after Time Warner and some of the other large media companies complained.

Now they just make more general purpose HDMI converters, which can be pretty useful to do things like scaling, colorspace conversions (YUV/RGB, 4:4:4/4:2:2/4:2:0, 8/10/12-bit color), EDID troubleshooting, or to add or remove HDR metadata.