Converter Confused

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Converter Confused

joshwah8

Hi! I'm finalizing the purchasing of a new setup for livestreaming at my church, and I am second guessing myself by way of converters (HDMI to SDI or SDI to HDMI).

For reference, we will be using 2 BMPCC4k's (1 in the rear of the room and 1 for a closer/wider shot), with the furthest camera running just under 150' from the switcher (BMD TV Studio HD). I'll be converting HDMI to SDI to account for those long cable runs. Here's my question: Am I considering the BMPCC4ks as the source (HDMI cable from camera to converter, then running SDI allllllll the way to the control room, which houses the switcher) when choosing the appropriate converter? My best guess is we need BMD SDI>HDMI converters, but I could have that completely backwards in my head and those be the wrong ones to order.

The same question would apply to my in-room (and lobby) displays: 2 projectors (HDMI), 2 TVs (HDMI). Those are going to a BMD Decklink Duo via SD, so I'm converting those as well. My understanding (that I question) is that I need to order 6 BMD SD>HDMI converters, which takes SDI all the way back to their final destinations (switcher and Decklink Duo).

Do I have that right? Am I going crazy? 🙂

Josh

joelwsmith

joshwah8

Hey Josh. Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the community!

It is best to think in terms of "signal flow". When it comes to a camera, the video signal is going to flow out FROM the camera TO the switcher. So in this case you will need a short HDMI cable, a HDMI to SDI converter, and then you will run a long coax cable for the SDI run to the switcher.

But... in your situation I would actually recommend the Blackmagic Design Micro Converter BiDirectional SDI/HDMI 3G Converter. This can convert HDMI and SDI in both directions so you don’t have to think about which way you need, and it will also give you the ability to control many of the BMPCC settings through the ATEM Television Studio HD switcher software. Win/win! 🙂

As for your in-room and lobby displays, you are correct. You will run long coax cables to each display for your SDI signals and then use SDI to HDMI converters at each display to go back to HDMI. For those, you can also use the same Blackmagic BiDirectional converters or use one of my other recommendations here.

And here are my recommendations for SDI cables and HDMI cables.

joshwah8

Roger that! I knew it was a 50/50 shot, and I was considering how things were routing from the switcher first. BiDirectional converters now replacing what I had, so thanks!

joshwah8

One update and another question:

Seems as nearly every BiDirectional converter on planet earth was back-ordered, but I finally found the lot of them that I needed. Woohoo!

I did have one additional question related to our BMPCC4k's...I'd like to have them running off of continuous power from an outlet when in use for live streaming. I have a dtap cable that goes to a v-mount we use for run & gun stuff, but I'm not sure if that cable is part of the solution to getting us to an outlet for continuous power. Perhaps that's not the way to go, either. I'm not sure. Any insight on that?

joelwsmith

joshwah8

Seems as nearly every BiDirectional converter on planet earth was back-ordered, but I finally found the lot of them that I needed. Woohoo!

Wow! Tons of products like that are really hard to find right now and usually back ordered for weeks or months. That’s great!

I did have one additional question related to our BMPCC4k's...I'd like to have them running off of continuous power from an outlet when in use for live streaming. I have a dtap cable that goes to a v-mount we use for run & gun stuff, but I'm not sure if that cable is part of the solution to getting us to an outlet for continuous power. Perhaps that's not the way to go, either. I'm not sure. Any insight on that?

The BMPCCs come with an AC adapter that plugs into the little Weipu port on the side of the camera. You shouldn’t need to purchase anything extra to power them that way.