r/VIDEOENGINEERING

I'm looking for a vid cap device to run Omniscope. Ideally it would be small, cheap, and 12G SDI. It would pass up to 4k 29.997, 59.94, 60 fps. I tried a dongle from Amazon but it did not seem to like 29.97. HDMI is workable with an upstream SDI/HDMI converter, but I am concerned about delay when banging through cameras on a QC router

Beginner at streaming here. Our video stream quality is not great and we’re in the middle of overall setup upgrade. But I feel the most important thing is to get a stable internet so we can upload at safely higher bitrates.

Been ready that a solution is to get some bonding network solutions but I need something that is tried and tested and would solve this issue, on OBS specifically. Happy to hear any suggestions. Thanks in advance

I work at a venue with two LED IMAG walls. Sometimes the walls appear perfectly in sync with camera cuts, and sometimes one wall appears to switch 1/2 to one frame before the other.

Each wall has its own separate Novapro UHD Jr processor. The processors are fed from the same source, either directly from a Blackmagic ATEM Constellation, or sometimes from a visiting fly pack.

Signal is SDI out of switcher directly to SDI inputs on each processor. No conversion in line. There is no scaling happening at either processor.

The two LED processors are not tied together in any way as far as genlock or network connections.

Why would the screens sometimes appear perfectly in sync, and sometimes the left screen appears to be a half to one frame “faster” than the other?

Hey,

I lost the SHORT front 2RU brackets for my M4250 and can't find them anywhere. If anyone has a unneeded set, I'd be happy to buy them.

Thanks!

Long story short, I'm simply trying to split a 1080p HDMI feed between 2 video wall processors. One will see the signal, but the other won't... some plug/unplug finagling will get the 2nd to see signal, but I loose the first. I'm blaming HDCP handshake things.

More detail: Resolume->Roland V1HD+->BM Bidirectional convert to SDI->BM bidirectional convert to HDMI-> orei 1-2 splitter->Linsn processor 1 & 2
This worked once for a couple min, but has since failed to pass signal to both.

I guess I'm looking at a reliable replacement for the china splitter (which often circumvents these HDCraP issues). One thing I was thinking of trying was SDI out of 2nd bidirectional into another bidirectional (which I'll try next couple days), but would love to hear suggestions from the pros for HDCP handshake issues!

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to build something that might sound simple at first, but the deeper I go into it, the more I feel like I’m hitting some fundamental limitations I don’t fully understand yet.

I’m a student with a strong visual impairment, and I’m trying to build a system that helps me follow lectures in large classrooms. The idea is basically to have a camera Looking at the board, sometimes quite far away, around 20 to 40 meters, and then use an iPad as my only device to view and control everything.

I’m writing a custom Swift app for this using AVFoundation, so everything can run locally without any WiFi (offline) and via. Cable only.

On the surface, what I want sounds pretty straightforward. I want a camera that I can connect directly to the iPad via USB-C (or USB-A), get a live video feed through UVC, and then from my own app I want to be able to zoom in digitally or ideally optically so I can clearly read handwritten text on a board, especially math formulas or diagrams. If possible, I’d also like pan and tilt control, but zoom is the critical part.

The problem is that I’m starting to realize that USB on iPadOS might only really cover the video part, and I’m not sure if there is any realistic way to also control motorized zoom or PTZ functions directly through the same USB connection from a Swift app.

I’ve looked at cameras like the OBSBOT Tail Air and similar PTZ-style USB cameras in the 300 to 500 euro range, but I’m not locked into any specific brand. I’m much more interested in what is actually technically possible than in specific hardware.

From what I can tell, a lot of these cameras either use USB for video only, or they rely on WiFi or proprietary apps for controlling zoom and movement. Some mention VISCA or IP control, but that usually seems to assume a network connection or serial interfaces like RS232, which might not work on iPadOS.

So my main question is basically whether I’m misunderstanding something fundamental here. Is there actually any camera that allows optical zoom control directly over USB from an iPad application, without needing a router, network setup or external computer in between? Or is the reality that UVC is strictly video only on iPadOS and PTZ control is always separated into another protocol like IP or serial? And if so, is there any way I could use IP or Serial Protocols via Cable on iPadOS using Swift?

I also looked specifically at the OBSBOT Tail Air, but I couldn’t really figure out if its USB-C mode is just a video stream or if it exposes any kind of control interface that iPadOS or a custom app could actually use for PTZ commands. But Maybe the OBSBOT Tail Air is not the right option to choose.

Another thing I’m trying to understand is latency. If I’m using a UVC stream on iPad, is sub-200ms latency realistic at 1080p or 4K, or does iPadOS introduce buffering that makes it noticeable in a live lecture scenario?

The reason I’m asking so specifically is that I can’t really afford to just buy multiple cameras and test them. Even 300 to 500 euros is already a serious investment for me, so I really need to understand what is actually feasible before committing to anything.

At the same time, I’m completely open to better approaches. If the correct answer is that USB-only control just isn’t how these systems work and I should instead use something like VISCA over IP or a different architecture entirely, that would actually be really helpful to know as well.

So I guess my real question is: is a true USB-only PTZ setup from an iPad actually something that exists in practice, or is the real world architecture always split between USB video and a separate control channel?

And if anyone has worked with similar setups or knows the real constraints here, I’d really appreciate your insights. Even a “don’t do this, it won’t work and here’s why” is completely fine — I mainly just want to avoid wasting money on the wrong direction.

And I do know that there are already something like that on the market but usually these Solutions are quite heave, expensive and often very unhandy to use.

Any answer could help me and thanks for everyone helping me out :).

TLDR: What's out there for "reasonable" down converters in quantity of 4-8?

I'm designing a studio based on 12G SDI, however there's several items that only accept 3G SDI so I need down converters. Haven't 100% nailed down how many (in part due to price) but I'm guessing no less than 4 and no more than 8. Would prefer something not too expensive and ideally either a multichannel unit or in a frame system like OpenGear.

I'm aware of the following:

• Decimator 12G Cross
  • + $600/ch
  • - No rack solution
  • - requires individual cabling. (genlock, power)
• Apantac OG-MICRO-4K
  • + Opengear
  • - $1300/ch
• AJA UDC-4K
  • + can put a bunch in a rack shelf
  • - requires individual cabling. (network, genlock, power)
  • - $1600/ch
• Blackmagic Mini 12G-SDI to Quad SDI
  • + Cheap
  • + multiple in a rack shelf
  • Can't 100% tell if it would work for this application
  • - requires individual cabling. (network, genlock, power)
• Science Image Flow Edge G
  • + 6 in 1U
  • - $1300/ch
  • - requires individual cabling. (network, genlock, power)

I've looked a little at Ross/Cobalt and they seem much more expensive, haven't looked at Evertz/Grass.

Is there anything else that I'm missing in this general price range?

Hi fellow videoengineers. I am a junior video and sound tech at a small studio stage (blackbox ~100 seats). It's one of three stages at a city-owned theatre in Germany.

I am looking for a way for sending video over 15m on a budget. Right now, we are using HDMI and pray that it works and today we had signal failures up until 5min before doors. Absolutely not the quality I want to deliver. Sadly, we are heavily underfunded so it needs to be budget-friendly. I am also the only trained event technician (Fachkraft für Veranstaltungstechnik) working on this stage. The other 3 are like self-trained, working here for decades but never went to school for it

Spechs right now

- Source: MacStudio with Qlab and 4 video outputs incl. preview/working monitor

- sink 1: main projector 1920x1200 front (close enough to foh for HDMI) 9k ansi

- sink 2: secondary projector 1920x1200 rear (cable length 25m. Right now HDMI with repeaters on the way, works surprisingly fine) 6k ansi

- sink 3: 30" monitor (consumer grade TV), 3840x2160 (HDMI 15m with a small active repeater) <- does not work smooth enough to handle regular shows. Problems: cable (hdmi+power) crosses the stage, TV sits in a box that gets moved by the actors during show.

We do have a wireless solution but it's already in use for a camcorder. We do not own any hdbase-t hardware. NDI got ruled out because network connectivity wasn't good enough.

I would appreciate any tips for a better solution.

I'm looking to change my setup from fibre HDMI to SDI because of reliability issues. I only need to send 1080p25 so looks like I'd only need HD-SDI? Priority is cable length - I have 150m fibre HDMI and would like the SDI to replace those ideally but I'm getting mixed info and looks like the brands I found rated for 150m+ like Belden or Canare are hard to find in the UK?

So where do you buy your long SDI cables and what do you recommend?

Hello everyone, I'm working on a project now, what is needed now is a pan-tilt platform, max load is about 3kg. And the most difficult part is to find a device which is possible to control via Python. As I understood companies mostly use proprietary protocol and it's impossible to control them directly. For me also important is movement accuracy, 0.05deg. Maybe someone knows any kits or ready to use devices?

I do a lot of shoots with a company that uses Hollyland ( I believe SE, no basestation just one set is the 'master') headsets. I'm not the main audio guy, but still need to monitor the audio as I'm the last in the chain before it's being sent to the broadcast.

Right now my solution is just wearing earbud(s) under the headset but it's messy and I find it to be disorientating.

I was hoping to find a way to be able to use my own headset (I have a Audio Technica M50 XLR headset) , plugged into the system. I assume a belt pack would do it, but the Hollyland ones are more expensive than a headset so I feel like theres something I'm missing.

Looking at their product page it seems they have a 3.5 output, so I could do something where I wear them around my neck, but again that seems cumbersome.

I have a small, battery powered xlr interface that I can use to mix my headphones with the comms if needed.

Thanks!

Just saying hello, and wondered how you’re finding it. Been working with it for around 6 months now.

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Hi everyone,
I recently bought a Fujinon ZA17x7.6 BERD-S6 broadcast lens and an EPD-21A-A02 Focus Demand. When testing the setup without a B4 camera (with V-Mount battery), the focus servo finds the endpoints incorrectly and makes grinding noises as if it’s trying to go past the mechanical limits.

After contacting Fujinon directly, they confirmed:

* The EPD-21A-A02 is fully compatible with the ZA17x7.6

* Operation without a B4 camera is possible with correct 12V power supply on Pin 6

* They suspect the S6 servo unit may have been removed and not correctly reattached by a previous owner — some screws appear to have been tampered with

Now my questions are:
Has anyone reattached a Fujinon S6 servo unit themselves? The unit has 3 gear wheels that interface with the lens. How do you correctly align and reattach it, and is there any way to recalibrate the servo endpoints without a B4 camera or Fujinon service software?

Any help would be greatly appreciated — trying to avoid sending it to Fujinon service if possible.

Thanks!

Hi, I’m looking for a wireless intercom system for a small setup with around 7 users.

There are many brands (Eartec, Hollyland, Saramonic, SYNCO, Accsoon, etc.), and I’m a bit lost on what to choose.

Use case: small film / commercial shoots, mostly indoor and some outdoor work.

Main needs:

7 users

Low latency

Budget-friendly

One key question I have:

Is there any system in this range that allows splitting into two groups or channels, while still keeping communication stable and low latency?

Any recommendations or real-world experience would be really appreciated. Thanks!