BMD level A fights Barco level A

using an ATEM 4me as a source for Barco S3 screen processor
ATEM is set to level A as most of the kit plugged into it will only work level A
Barco S3 accepting that same level A kit into a quad SDI card
Barco S3 will not accept the ATEM level A output
switch ATEM to level B and S3 accepts that
but cant run like that cos of other level A only kit in system
fortunately we have an easy workaround by running the ATEM level A out into a SDI to HDMI convertor into a S3 HDMI input

the principle worked fine last year with a slightly older ATEM

there appears to be an incompatibility come about with one or both updated firmwares..

fundamentally, barco events master systems now appear NOT to accept ATEM level A. certainly on the quad BNC cards. hoping to try a TriCombo card later to see if this makes any difference

thoughts anyone?

love

r

a little further info

now have an Barco image pro 2 taking the Level A output from the ATEM....
the older IP2 electronics are fine with the ATEM level A
and the barco S3 SDI input is fine with the IP2 output - with either level A or level B selected..

so reckon there's slight issues at both ends

BMD got a few bits wrong in the ATEM out Level A stream, and Barco S3 is being oversensitive and refusing to accept this potential slight deviation from standard

might try rolling back both firmwares to last summer if we get time

cant post this to barco as no forums and i dont have an account with mr suckerburg

Well there was a quote from 1 of the moderators. (i think it was Gary) that with the new Firmware for Atems they accept A & B level simultaneously. Only problem is, i can not find this info at this point. And not sure if it applies to all modern Atems or only the Auto scaling atems like the 4K Pro and Constellation.

Further more the Atem does have a Payload ID error in the 3G output. Which can sometimes lead to receiving hardware not understand what type of signal is outputed by the Atem. This also applies to 6G & 12G signals from the Atem.

[Gary Adams]

Hello Everyone. All current selling ATEMs support automatic detection of Level A and B on input. And all may be set to either Level A or B on the output. These are the Television Studio HD/Pro/4K, Production Studio 4K, 1ME 4K, 2/4 ME Production and Broadcast as well as Constellation. This may not all be in the specifications but has been verified.

The Television Studio Pro 4K and Constellation also support SDI at 60Hz, even from the SDI chips that are not SMPTE complaint as Daniel mentions.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Gary

thanks gerry and daniel

gerry, could you comment on daniels "Further more the Atem does have a Payload ID error in the 3G output. "

that seems to explain why the S3 will not accept ATEM level A

can confirm this ATEM 4 me auto selects A or B on the SDI inputs at 50P, using the image pro 2 as source

[Gary Adams]

Hello Richard. The ATEM 4ME does auto switch Level A and B on input. Engineering will have to look into any SDI issues and I am not in the loop on any status there. If you have other Level A devices that do work and the ATEM does not, then it probably is something that needs to be addressed. It never hurts to contact Support with this so there is an active ticket.

Regards, Gary

thanks once again gerry
i think engineering needs to do some more exhaustive tests on SDI standards
and how we miss the HDMI MV outputs...
tried switching the ATEM to level B and of course the cheap chinese SDI to HDMI convertors that then goto our HDMI multiviewer monitors dont work.... so look at that SDI output on an Image Pro 2 and the input display on IP2 cycles between 50P and 50I !!!
now having a look at program out to see if its the same...
we have work arounds - have just bought a load of decimator kit to switch between level A and level B where we need to - so this is not a show stopper, just very "interesting" as the old chinese curse goes...

I’ve had that issue with the image pro not discerning the input correctly from BM products sending a 3G B signal. But like the A signal just fine.

we love decimator MD-HX
their SDI A & B interpretation appears compatible with barco and atem