Blackmagic Forum

Hi,

We've purchased three Blackmagic Video Assist 3G and as soon as unboxed we tried to power them on with a freshly charged battery and... nothing, they don't power on.
If we plug them to the 12v power supply they power on.
If we then place the battery in, and we unplug them from the power supply, they remain on.
If at that point we switch them off and on (shortly after) with the battery, they power on.
If we leave them off for few minutes without removing the battery, they won't power on again with the battery.

We tested several other batteries. We have another Video Assist 3G which actually powers on from the same batteries we tested with.
Firmwares are identical between the 3 new units and the 1 older unit: 3.5

Any clue? defective items?

thanks in advance

Since you know the batteries are not defective. it does seem like a faulty monitor although odd it works for a while. I would recommend contacting your regional BMD Support office.

How did this turn out?

I have the same issue with a brand new Video Assist 5" 12G. The unit powers on with AC power and will run on batteries but will not power on from batteries. Batteries show fully charged (and are). Unit powers up if I remove ac power when on and turn off and on with batteries, but not if I wait too long. Unit has latest firmware (3.18).

Anyway I hate to have to return the unit. Anyone from BM have an idea?

I've had the same issue and am now sending back my second VA 12G.
Does anyone from Blackmagic Designs have any insight into this?

Hi everyone! I’m having the same issue with the Blackmagic Video Assist 7” 12G.
I bought it a few days ago, and when I tried to power it on with batteries, it didn’t work. Luckily, I had a cable with me and connected it through a V-mount battery. Only after that it started turning on with NPF batteries.
Today on a shoot, the same problem happened again — I had to repeat the process. It’s very inconvenient and strange.
The firmware is up to date.
Is there any solution to this problem?

SECOND UPDATE:

So it's about a week later and here's the latest result from this informal test. It's encouraging and disappointing at the same time.

After the previous on/off tests I left the monitor off for a couple days, then turned it on. Yippee, it worked. I left it for several more days, then turned it on. Again, it worked. Encouraging!

This morning I again turned on the monitor with the same battery as had been in it from the outset. It worked until the battery ran out of juice. So far, so good.

I charged the battery, put it in its slot, and ... nothing. I tried the other slot ... no go. I used AC power and of course that worked. I removed the AC power, and the monitor continued running, as expected. I turned the monitor off and back on, and it came on.

So, it seems the monitor cannot be reliably used without AC power nearby.

That is simply not acceptable. It renders the 12G 5" monitor useless in all but very limited settings. Again, my 12G 7" works just fine. Where is Black Magic with a specific firmware update, or hardware recall?

Very disappointing.


UPDATE:

Well, something has changed.

After posting the experience below a day ago, I rechecked the firmware version (it was up-to-date), and tried to start 12g 5" with battery power alone. No go. I then used the charger, and of course it turned on. Next I turned the monitor off, unplugged it, and restarted with power only from a single battery. It came on. But that was others' experience, too: AFTER initially using the charger, it works.

Great, but someone posted that their monitor would continue operating on battery power, but only for a rather short period. Hmm, how long might that actually be?

So, after shutting it down, I waited for a minute and restarted. It worked. I turned it off, waited two minutes, then turned it on. It worked. Waited three, five, fifteen, thirty, forty-five, and hour, two hours, three hours, eight hours. Still functioning properly solely with battery power!

That's encouraging, but I will continue testing through the day, and tomorrow. Happily, at the moment it would seem that the issue has resolved itself.


Original Post

Same issue here with a new 5" 12g. I have a some months older 7" 12g that doesn't suffer this issue. After calling the BMD service number I was told they were aware of the problem, and that it affected a certain batch of monitors. I asked whether returning the freshly purchased 5" monitor and getting another would solve anything and was told that it wouldn't. Current production is affected. This was in March, '25. I was hoping that by checking in with the Forum today that maybe something has changed for the better, but alas ...

I have same issue with recently purchased Video Assist 12g 7". Talk about disappointment. Such a pain to have to return and still not be able to use in the field.

My very old BMVA12G7 has no issues as it starts with one or two NP-F970 batteries mounted.

Just tested the Video Assist version 3.20 firmware and seems to be working now (so far), will continue to test. It's not 100% sure yet.

Ok after unplugging batteries for a bit and putting them back on and testing, it wouldn't turn on. So the 3.20 firmware DOES NOT FIX the ISSUE.

Ok talked to my reseller. And I guess I have to send it in for PCB replacement. That really sucks, you just buy a thing and then have to spend money to ship it in for repair, all the while you can't even use it. Talk about big dissatisfaction. Not to mention my brand new Ultimatte 4k came with a loose screw inside right out of the box. I am really 2nd guessing if I should divest from BlackMagic ecosystem. I get that stuff like this can happen in manufacturing, but issues like these are clearly the sign of poor Quality Control and Testing.

chrisabruce wrote:... I am really 2nd guessing if I should divest from BlackMagic ecosystem. I get that stuff like this can happen in manufacturing, but issues like these are clearly the sign of poor Quality Control and Testing.

Every step (from design through manufacturing, assembly, quality control, shipping, receiving, storage, delivery, handling, radiation, solar wind, magnetic storms, cosmic rays, and local climate) potentially can be a source of a fault.

Better QC would be welcome and expected in recent product development. QC however would only help in the beginning stages but not necessarily detect all faults if for example a weak electrical connection is related to the ambient temperature. It can be very frustrating for those using their gear that sometimes fails out of the box and sometimes suddenly fails after years of working well.

Engineers are continually shrinking the size of components and circuits. I doubt there’s any 2 nanometre circuits in your phone that will ever last as long as the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space craft sailing beyond the solar system on communication circuits designed in the 60s. We love our technology evolution, but occasionally pay the price.

May these be the only gear problems to torment you hereafter.