CAMCORDERS: UX-180 External Output Problems

Ken1212

Well-known member
I recently added a used UX-180 to use with a UX-90 with a blackmagic HD switcher and could not get a feed at 1080/30p through either the SDI or HDMI. A Blackmagic mini convertor did not solve the problem either. After connecting the camera to an Atomos monitor I saw that it's outputting 59.94p instead of 29.97 even though I am on a 1080/297.97p. Why does the UX90 outputs 29.97 but the 180 outputs only 59.94?
 
Common camera behavior...check out [starting at] page 131/132 in the manual (or look for the HDMI/SDI output section if it doesn't match up, something that looks like below).

Basically the camera is locked to certain outputs sometimes, and you may or may not be able to do anything about it depending on the model and how professional it is.

Click image for larger version  Name:	UX180.png Views:	0 Size:	64.7 KB ID:	5710643
 
I didn't read very far - but, if applicable, you'd have to note which resolution the camera is set to when outputting any of the above.

Meaning it might output 30p via HDMI when set to 4K/30p but not 1080/30p (and only outputs 60p with the latter).

One might think WTH would they do it? Well, a lot of stuff hasn't made great sense in the last 25 years of experimenting with making video cameras.

Not saying that's the case above but this is very straightforward stuff.

If there is no clear camera menu that changes anything, well-known hardware that accepts almost everything is probably not the issue and either the camera does it or it doesn't. (Might also want to check the system frequency as well.)

At the end of the day, makes no sense though. Why 60p when set to 30p? Like how?
 
I owned the 180 in the past and if memory severs me right it has more recording options than the 90. 30p might have been one of them. When you go into the output menu you can select only a couple of manual options and you can set it to system and let the camera decide the output resolution you're filming in but you don't know the fps it's choosing. Sometimes it's useful to force a lower resolution and interlace because many monitors will not accept a 4k or sometimes a progressive signal.

IMHOP I don't think it's useful record the output since it's an 8bit color You're basically taking a compressed and sharpened image with small color depth recording it to high bitrate format that won't yield any advantage.

But in general cameras are limited in many ways including output so it's no surprise you can't pick any output you want.
 
My camera setting was set to 1080/29.97p and output was set to the 1080p. I tried all 1080/29.97 options and nothing worked.

I did check the manual and it only mentions 59.94 for both HDMI and SDI outputs, I honestly never expected the more expensive model with the SDI option to be more limited than the UX90.
I also have the X2 and it works fine in 1080/29.97 using both HDMI and SDI. I like the HC-X2 as it allows simultaneous feeds from both the HDMI and SDI.

I do not have a problem with the 180 when using it with an external Atomos monitor, only when connected to the ATEM studio HD as it requires all inputs to match. I did run a test with the ATEM set to 59.97 and it worked fine. I guess I need to use a decimator with the UX180 in 29.97.
 
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