decklink and uvw 1400a

[Bob Zelin]

The Addenda Electronics RS 4/U is the correct adaptor to convert RS422 to the UVW1400’s RS232, however, you will NEVER get full editing (batch capture) control of the UVW1400. This is the reason that Sony made the UVW1600 and UVW1800. The UVW1400 was designed for A/V screening, conference rooms, and industrial projection that needed simple cueing and going into play – NOT batch capture editing. So the adaptor will give you simple VTR control, but you will continuously abort edits if you try to do a normal editing job.

This is not a limitation of FCP, the Blackmagic hardware, or the Addenda adaptor – this is a limitation of the VTR. Why did Sony do this – because they WANT YOUR MONEY, and if you dont’ give them the money that they want (for the 1600 or 1800), you don’t “get to play”. Sony does this with countless other products that they manufacturer, and have done so since the early days of the BVU800 3/4″ VTR (when people wanted to do simple time code editing with the cheaper VO 5800 and VO5850, and it wouldn’t work – and companies came out with “adaptor kits” to try to make it work). When will this change – NEVER – Sony wants your money. It is Blackmagic, and Addenda that are the generous companies that are trying to help you.

And yes, if you owned an AJA or AVID product, you would have the exact same problems.

Bob Zelin