F5: F5/F55 warning against use of certain 5.6" monitors causing shorts

starcentral

starcentral

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Not to be an alarmist but incase any of you rent, borrow, or buy an F5/F55 be warned about using a popular external 5.6" monitor that has been known and documented to cause shorts on the SDI boards located in the F5/F55 camera due to putting DC voltage on the ground of the SDI BNC input of the camera. (part of reason Sony is offering free upgrade to newer SDI boards on the cameras)

Sony will not come straight out and specify which monitor is causing this issue, but it seems somewhat concluded by camera users that it is the Small HD 5.6" monitor. Sony has also said that the issue seems to mostly only affect F5/F55 in the USA and that it would probably not affect consumers in Canada, Europe, and other countries, due to higher electronic standards.

Regardless you might want to keep any 5.6" monitors away from these cameras, or an alternative is to hook everything up before powering it up. Oddly enough any 7" monitor is fine.
 
Last edited:
starcentral said:
Regardless you might want to keep any 5.6" monitors away from these cameras, or an alternative is to hook everything up before powering it up. Oddly enough any 7" monitor is fine.
Click to expand...

I see someone in the US has had a blown SDI output with a TVLogic 056, but I've been hot-plugging my TVLogic since I've had the F5 without any issues. It may be as you say that there are stricter electrical standards here. I'm going to keep using the TVLogic 5.6" unless I hear otherwise.
 
The TV logic 5.6" was also mentioned, but nothing substantial to say it damaged any boards on the F5/F55.

Either way, I will no longer hot plug my SDI monitor.
 
Small HD wrote to a consumer today that their devices are not putting out voltage to the ground of the SDI output.

The plot thickens.
 
Interesting, I have a suspicion that my TVlogic 5.6" killed the SDI output on my RED Scarlet. I wonder if that's it. It's dead and it died while my TVlogic was attached to it, though the monitor's SDI input also died, so it could also have been the RED killing the TVlogic. Or perhaps they both have voltages on their SDI port grounds and killed each other... In either case, its interesting to hear this may be connected. Oddly the TVlogic monitor SDI was very dead, but the RED SDI still works on a blackmagic hyperdeck but does not work on any of several SDI monitors I've tested.
 
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