ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

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dattrax

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ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostSun Dec 20, 2020 2:29 pm

Hi,

I've been using the ATEM mini with some HDMI to ethernet extenders. HDMI 2-4 are OK, whereas HDMI 1 doesn't work (something about YUV format vs RGB). I thought that using the official blackmagic SDI converters might fix this issue, however using the MC SDI-HDMI 3G and MC HDMI-SDI 3G, I just get a black screen.

The output from the camera direct is OK. The image is 1080p@25fps.

Would you expect this to work?

Is there some config/option which I need to make?

Cheers
Jim
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Jim Simon

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Re: ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostSun Dec 20, 2020 4:14 pm

I've used the Bi-Directional convertors to take the HDMI output from a P4K, convert to SDI for a long run, then back to HDMI at the Mini Pro.
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RichardJolly

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Re: ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostMon Dec 21, 2020 10:38 pm

I'm using cheap Amazon HDMI-3GSDI converters on 3 x cheap Tenveo PTZ cameras' HDMI outputs (cannot see anything on the SDI output, but that's a whole different issue), running 15-50m of Canford high quality SDI cable through a building and converting back to HDMI using BMD SDI-HDMI micro-converters to connect via a cheap 8x8 matrix to an ATEM Mini Pro with no problem. I have tried a variety of framerates at 1080i and p and all seem to work OK.

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Steve Kanefsky

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Re: ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostTue Dec 22, 2020 4:21 am

dattrax wrote:Hi,

I've been using the ATEM mini with some HDMI to ethernet extenders. HDMI 2-4 are OK, whereas HDMI 1 doesn't work (something about YUV format vs RGB). I thought that using the official blackmagic SDI converters might fix this issue, however using the MC SDI-HDMI 3G and MC HDMI-SDI 3G, I just get a black screen.

The output from the camera direct is OK. The image is 1080p@25fps.

Would you expect this to work?

Is there some config/option which I need to make?

Cheers
Jim

How long is the HDMI cable from the converter to the ATEM? Is it an active or passive cable? It's a known issue that the HDMI 1 port is more sensitive to HDMI cables than the others. It uses a totally different kind of HDMI chip than the other ports. Since you're converting to SDI it's best if almost the entire cable run is over SDI and you keep the HDMI cable connecting to the ATEM as short as possible. If you're using an active cable you can also try using a passive cable or vice-versa.
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TemporalKinetics

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Re: ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostTue Dec 22, 2020 6:54 am

I complained about this very problem and Blackmagic's response was basically, "try the UpDownCross converter". It does work - it just cost twice as much.
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Steve Kanefsky

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Re: ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostTue Dec 22, 2020 7:03 am

It's just a theory, but maybe the converters with a dedicated power supply just have more "juice" to power a strong HDMI signal and since the HDMI 1 port is more sensitive it's more likely to work. The micro converters work off USB power and might not be able to power as strong of a signal. They might still work but you might need to try shorter and/or thicker cables with less signal loss.
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Steve Kanefsky

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Re: ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostTue Dec 22, 2020 8:13 am

Also if you're not using the Blackmagic-supplied USB power supply with the micro converter you might try that, or at least using a different power supply and/or USB cable. Power delivery over USB is incredibly confusing and it can be really hard to figure out whether a particular device can draw all the power it needs from a particular power supply using a particular cable. It's conceivable that if the micro converter can't draw as much power as it wants from USB then it can't deliver the cleanest strongest HDMI signal possible. Again it's just a theory.
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dattrax

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Re: ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostWed Dec 30, 2020 9:13 pm

UPDATE!

Just wanted to post the results from debugging.

Blackmagic converters to ATEM Mini direct seem to work fine. I am using a SEETEC ATEM156 multiview monitor and this was the part of the chain which doesn't seem to work. I've emailed SEETEC to try and find out what's up with this kit. Seems to work OK with the cat5 extenders I have, but not with the Blackmagic SDI converters.

Cheers
Jim
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Greiffenberg

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Re: ATEM mini with blackmagic HDMI->SDI converters

PostFri May 07, 2021 6:59 pm

In my testing the BMD SDI to HDMI does not work above 1080p30 with the Atem mini’s. Unless you use an active hdmi cable.

The converters works fine for a monitor input, but only input 1 on the Atem can handle 1080p50 and 60

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