[Jim Brown]

What is your playback device? We use a Mac and PlaybackPro to playback videos. A lot of churches use ProPresenter which also works great.

We have tried DVD players, but the HDCP issues result in no connection or choppy connection.

Let us know more.

Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

We use PlaybackPro from dtvideolabs and have found it to be very smooth and reliable. It does run on a Mac and plays anything Quicktime can read. You can also adjust geometry before you play the clip so if you have a non standard aspect ration you can clean that up. It does run on a Mac only, but we like the robustness of the Mac. You cannot overlay titles, etc like you can with Pro Presenter.

We use it in our broadcast trailer for rolling commercials. (very, very important) We do run from solid state drives or even thumb drives so we do not have spin-up latency if the drive has powered down.

Regards

Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

I got one to play with a couple of weeks ago. I wanted the remote viewing in order to frame shots for video and for a menu to set it up. Here is what I found:

1. Range. I can go about 4 meters to my iPad. The manual indicates heavy battery consumption while running in the WiFi mode and it is definitely a low power device. I don’t think you would ever see more than about 15 ft out of the device.
2. Delay is in the 3-4 seconds range.

The Picture quality is phenominal for a device of this size and price. I think the remote WiFi was intended for the purpose I was looking for. That is, a remote configuration panel and preview for framing. That is really great when setting the zoom steps.

I am quite pleased, but I think you will be disappointed if you want remote transmission capability. If you want that look at the Teradek. https://www.teradek.com

Regards
Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

Sounds like a very nice system you are implementing, however you are right to be concerned with delay or as we call it “lip flap”.

The difference between genlocking cameras and not is the difference between 1 line (1/525 Frame) and 1 full frame. In either event run all the cameras at the same resolution. I am not experienced with that switcher, but the one frame is the best you will experience. Add a lower third or graphic or an effect betwee two sources and it will increase. We have had good experience with a grass valley synch generator. It provides both bi-level and tri-level synch concurrently. Tri-level is preferred by some HD cameras and some don’t care. We use a mixture of Sony robotic and HPX370 cameras. We run Tri-Level on the Pannys, but the Sony HD robotics will only accept Bi-Level synch.

Also, cameras have some built in latentcy and with some it varies according to setup. We have found that our Sony robotics introduce a frame of delay if we invert them. Turns out the inversion calculation is done in embedded software.

As far as projectors, they are notoriously slow if they must recalculate or convert the source. Always feed at native resolution if possible. Projector manufacturers do not publish or disclose the delay numbers. We have found that some manufacturers are faster. There are very few manufacturers of the core projectors. Most are OEM’d and then add their own front ends. The front end interfaces are where the delay comes in. For example, we have found the EIKE projectors that are OEM’d Samsungs are a couple of frames faster. I don’t know where to get data without doing your own testing or asking on this forum. There will be variations between models so you canon make a blanket statement between vendors. In any event count on at least 2 frames for the projector.

We made a very simple poor man’s delay test setup that you may want to take a look at. The trigger device is a loud switch and a light bulb. Mike the switch so you get the sound of it being thrown and set the light somewhere you can shoot it. Do not use flourescent as they have delay of their own. Shoot and record a setup of the camera wired directly to the record device. Shoot once directly to the bulb, once to the monitor and again to the projected display. Toggle the switch while recording. Take the three shots and import them to your editing software. We use FCP. On the timeline you can see the frame where the light comes on and also the pulse on the audio where you threw the switch. This will give you the delay to within one frame. Compare the bulb vs the projected image and that will give you an indication of the delay introduced by the projector. Do the test again and introduce the switcher to the circuit. Continue by adding devices. Don’t forget to try it with each camera you have. With all components introduced you will have a good indication of your total delay.

Total delay is the sum of delays introduced by each component. With a known 1 frame for the switcher and 2 frames minimum for the projector you will start with 3. A good rule of thumb is that anything less than 5 frames of delay will require an expert to detect it, at 5-6 frames a few people might notice, and at 7 frames everyone will see it.

Pardon the long post, but hope this helps. Let us know what you found out.

My $.02 worth

Jim Brown
M&M ProducgtionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

A factor you may wish to consider is lag time (video delay) in your system. Anything beyond 6 frames becomes visible to your audience, Consider a projector is going to introduce anywhere from 2-5 frames and it does not give you much leeway in your switcher. You can optimize that by feeding the native resolution to the projector so that it is not rescaling.

For that reason we are very particular with cameras being the same and being genlocked. If you do that the ATEM works quite well.

If you must use different camera types and resolutions and rescale in the switcher then count on 2-5 frames of delay for the switcher.

Just $.02 worth
Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

We have and use both cameras. Picture quality from both are stunning. The 370 has a slight edge in low light situations. The biggest advantage of the 370 is that it supports a remote paintbox (Panasonic’s CCU) while the Sony does not have the remote capability. We use the 370 for our sports broadcasting truck for that feature alone.

My $.02 worth

Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

We have both the VZROCKEX and the VZPROEX. The difference is the Pro model allows you to control the zoom speed. Both are very smooth, although I like the Pro because of the zoom speed control feature.

Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

We have had very good experience with Varizoom controller.

Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

The only approach we have found that works is the Vaddio AV Bridge.

https://www.vaddio.com/product/av-bridge

We use it for SDI sources, switches, cameras, computers etc.

Hope this helps

Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA

[Jim Brown]

We use the setup described by Matt with PlaybackPro and it works great. There is an issue with using the ATEN2 and the current software release. The ATEM requires all inputs be the same configurations, so if you are connecting the HDMI output of the Mac you will need to run 1080i or 720p and set the resolution of the Mac accordingly. The latest rev of software (3.3) tightened up the scan rate so that the 60Hz from the Mac doesn’t match up with the 59.94 setting in the ATEM. BMD says they are fixing that. In the meantime we use a BMD miniconverter to convert HDMI to SDI. This reclocks the signal and everything works fine.

We use PlaybackPro to roll commercials from our HD trailer. We use Panasonic HPX 370 cameras and ATEM 2 switcher with Newtek instant replay and Chyron graphics.

Jim Brown
M&M ProductionsUSA