Hyperdeck Studio frame rate question

[Bob Zelin]

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/hyperdeckstudio/techspecs

on this page, you will see the HD standards that can be recorded by the Hyperdeck. The 720p Sony cameras will be no issue (what a surprise to see Sony working at 720p – that’s what Panasonic does – Sony is almost always 1080i !) – but your PC will not work.
And when you say a display rate of 1280×720, I am going to GUESS that this is an older PC with a VGA output (I could be wrong) – and this is an analog output. IF you have a computer, like a Mac Book Pro, these can all be set to 1080i, along with your cameras.

The Extron sounds like a routing switcher that feeds an HDMI monitor, and now you want to record this signal. It might be easier and cheaper to think about getting an ATEM Television Studio, which will take in HDMI and HD-SDI inputs (at 1080i or 720p, but not both at the same time) and will scan convert a MacBook Pro (using a DVI to HDMI cable) so you can switch, and then record between all of your sources.

If I am correct about your PC (and I may be wrong) – to spend the money on a VGA to DVI scaler from Gefen, and then feed that into
a $995 Matrox DVI to HD-SDI converter – well, you keep throwing money at this to make a 1280×720 old PC to work. IT’s easier to get a Mac Book Pro. The ATEM Television studio is only $995, and will replace the extron, and has an HDMI output to feed the TV that your Extron is feeding, AND the correct HD-SDI out to feed your Hyperdeck.

In video, there is unfortunately no such thing as “slightly different frame rates”.

Bob Zelin

[Mike Tomei]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the quick response. Very helpful info. I would love to go with something like the ATEM TV Studio, but the recording portion of this classroom installation is only one piece of the puzzle. The inputs are (2) P/T/Z cameras, the desktop PC and (2) laptop inputs. The destinations are (2) 60″ flat panel displays, (2) preview monitors on a Crestron touch screen, and the Blackmagic Hyperdeck Studio. So you can why the Extron 8×8 HDMI matrix switcher is necessary. I’m in the middle of a big headache trying to merge a bunch of different signal types, resolutions and frame rates into live and recording environments. Oh, and it all has to be user friendly and operated by a touch screen interface by someone with no video production experience.

The desktop PC actually has a HDMI output on it, so it’s able to connect directly to the HDMI matrix switcher without any converting of signal. I’ve been reading a bit online about how changing the computer’s refresh rate to what Windows lists as “59Hz” will actually output 59.94Hz. So if I set the computer’s resolution to 1280×720@59Hz, I’m curious if the Hyperdeck Studio will see this as 720p59.94, just like the 720p59.94 output of the two Sony P/T/Z cameras?

Thanks again.

Mike

[Mike Tomei]

Just wanted to follow up with some real life results from the installed system I described. Setting the PC’s HDMI output refresh rate to 1280×720 @ 59Hz shows up as 720p59.94 on the Hyperdeck Studio, so it looks like I can match the camera’s outputs of 720p59.94).

The issue I’m having is that when I switch between the two cameras and the computer on the HDMI matrix switcher, the Blackmagic Hyperdeck drops a frame (or multiple) during the switch. It sees a quick flash of “no input signal” during the switch. It keeps recording, but it results in a recorded flash of green screen, a glitchly looking switch and a quick audio dropout.

My thought is that I need to put a HDMI scaler between the HDMI matrix switcher and the Hyperdeck, so the deck sees a constant signal from the scaler.

Has anyone else used a similar switching scheme to fed their Hyperdeck Studio and if so, did you encounter any of these issues?

Thanks for the help. I can really use the assistance.

Mike