Video Feed Flickers and Cuts Out

[Travis Cohen]

We are running a Cannon XA10 camera that feeds into a Roland V-1HD Switcher. That switcher outputs to a few TV's and Livestream that we do for our production. On Sunday the camera feed randomly cut out and the switcher button for that feed was flashing white. After testing for a few hours today I can randomly reproduce the issue and so I am wondering if anybody has any ideas on what the issue can be. I will list below some of the stuff I have tried when it comes to troubleshooting.


The cabling that goes between the two consists of a mini hdmi to hdmi cable (5ft) then to a hdmi connector finally to an hdmi cable that is 15ft long that runs to the video switcher. I have replaced each part of the connection 3 different times. (I.E used three different mini hdmi cables, 3 different hdmi connectors, and 3 different hdmi cables) I have used them in different combinations and still will randomly receive this issue.

After reading the manual for the Roland switcher it suggests that the input does not match what the switcher is outputting which can be the cause of the blinking white light. I have checked all the settings I could find to make sure they match and nothing seems out of place.

What confuses me is the issue/problem would seem like a cabling issue but if that was the case through my troubleshooting I would have found a fix. If it was a setting issue then why did it randomly start when we have been using the same setup for a few months now? So now I am here scratching my head with no idea what the problem could be. Does anybody have any suggestions or things I should try to help with the troubleshooting? Any help is appreciated and I thank you for your time!


Travis

 

[RonHebbard]

We are running a Cannon XA10 camera that feeds into a Roland V-1HD Switcher. That switcher outputs to a few TV's and Livestream that we do for our production. On Sunday the camera feed randomly cut out and the switcher button for that feed was flashing white. After testing for a few hours today I can randomly reproduce the issue and so I am wondering if anybody has any ideas on what the issue can be. I will list below some of the stuff I have tried when it comes to troubleshooting.


The cabling that goes between the two consists of a mini hdmi to hdmi cable (5ft) then to a hdmi connector finally to an hdmi cable that is 15ft long that runs to the video switcher. I have replaced each part of the connection 3 different times. (I.E used three different mini hdmi cables, 3 different hdmi connectors, and 3 different hdmi cables) I have used them in different combinations and still will randomly receive this issue.

After reading the manual for the Roland switcher it suggests that the input does not match what the switcher is outputting which can be the cause of the blinking white light. I have checked all the settings I could find to make sure they match and nothing seems out of place.

What confuses me is the issue/problem would seem like a cabling issue but if that was the case through my troubleshooting I would have found a fix. If it was a setting issue then why did it randomly start when we have been using the same setup for a few months now? So now I am here scratching my head with no idea what the problem could be. Does anybody have any suggestions or things I should try to help with the troubleshooting? Any help is appreciated and I thank you for your time!


Travis

@Travis Cohen Has anything in your building changed and / or have any contractors been working anywhere in your venue that equates with the time your symptoms appeared? Anything?? Electricians, plumbers, fitters, duct workers, carpenters, insulators any work that may have disturbed 60 Hertz or RF impedances anywhere in your building? Let your brain run amok to think if anything else has conceivably changed that matches the time-line.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[Travis Cohen]

@RonHebbard Nothing has changed in our setup or building. The only thing that comes to mind is the week before we got hit with a hurricane. With that being said we never lost power and our building did not have any flooding. You think that could of fried / damaged the micro hdmi port?

 

[RonHebbard]

@RonHebbard Nothing has changed in our setup or building. The only thing that comes to mind is the week before we got hit with a hurricane. With that being said we never lost power and our building did not have any flooding. Do you think that could have fried / damaged the micro hdmi port?

@Travis Cohen I'm decrepit, retired, near-blind and couldn't post a valid opinion but let's put out the Control Booth Bat-call for a few folks who's opinions I've learned to hold in high regard: @ruinexplorer @FMEng @porkchop @sk8rsdad Do any of you have any thoughts for comparatively new poster @Travis Cohen who's in North Carolina? Hopefully this will garner a few knowledgeable replies for you.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[mbrown3039]

@RonHebbard Nothing has changed in our setup or building. The only thing that comes to mind is the week before we got hit with a hurricane. With that being said we never lost power and our building did not have any flooding. You think that could of fried / damaged the micro hdmi port?

Question (just for clarity's sake): you say you never lost power -- do you know that for a fact (that is, you were in the building and awake the whole time and the lights never went out) or are you assuming because there was power before the hurricane and then you came back afterwards and there was also power? I ask because if power did go out in the area and your local utility restored power but, in doing so, changed service phases to your building (or worse, just one leg to the building) that can cause bizarre video issues. Try all of the gear connected with the original video cables but with all of the gear plugged into the same outlet (preferably with some sort of power conditioner on it).

Also, double check the output settings of the camera. If power did go out and it reverted to battery power, it may have a feature that automatically lowers output resolution when on battery (v. when on wall power).

Also, do you have a small, portable TV you can hook up to the output of the video switcher? And, can you get the camera closer to the video switcher and eliminate some of the cabling/connectors/couplers? I would start by connecting the camera directly to the switcher and the switcher's output directly to one TV/monitor. if that works, start adding pieces one-by-one until the problem replicates. Bring a book

Good luck! M

 

[FMEng]

MBrown has some good suggestions. Another thing to try is to substitute the camera for another HDMI source. You can also connect the camera directly to a monitor and see if it is stable. The only way to resolve this is by elimination.

 

[macsound]

Also, are all the hdmi cables the same brand/ type?
I've had tons of issues with active hdmi cables working and then failing but only having the same model to test. Once I went and bought a new/ different brand did I find out that whatever tiny microprocessor enables the longer than 3' HDMI length was the culprit.

 

[Travis Cohen]

Okay so after doing a bunch of testing this week I believe that it definitely has something to do with the specific camera. We ended up ordering hdmi over ethernet converters to lower the distance run specifically on HDMI. The problem went away for about an hour then came back. I have tried hooking the camera directly to a tv (just using a 3 foot micro hdmi to full hdmi cable) we still had the problem. So it has nothing to do with cabling. For this weekends production, we are using a DSLR backup camera with the old cable setup and it works perfectly no issues.

On the camera, I did check the settings and they seem to be correct. I am wondering if the port is going bad on the camera? The camera is about 5 years old so that could possibly be the issue. I did ask around about the power and we are positive the building never lost power through the storm but we did have power drops / surges. (lights would dim / turn off but then a min later all come back) So maybe that damaged the camera?

@mbrown3039

 

[Amiers]

Surges will do it.

RIP camera.

 

[FMEng]

Micro HDMI? The contacts are tiny, so I would first suspect a dirty or damaged connector. Can you make it flake out by wiggling the connector? Try dousing it with DeoxIT D5. Otherwise, I see the camera is still a current model. I would see if Canon can repair it at reasonable cost.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Did this ever work perfectly, then?

 

[ruinexplorer]

I am surprised that it lasted this long. I would suggest sending the camera in for repair. There may have been a surge which has damaged the output card.

Do you use any kind of strain relief for your output? The constant strain of the hanging cable could have weakened the connector on the camera. That would be one reason that the issue was not on just one set of cables.

By far, your setup is less than ideal. You had it working for 5 years, so there is that. Your set up has multiple points of failure, such as the multiple connections on something that wants to be perfect.

 

[NickVon]

Micro HDMI is the worst! With all of your quality troubleshooting it looks like you have definitely narrowed it down to the Output of the camera. Nearly all consumer cameras have a mini HDMI out put on them so worth just testing in something that someone might have lying around, that is a true video camera and not a DLSR.

I recently went through a decision between a Canon with Mini-HDMI (Borrowed from our media center) vs SDI output. After fighting with a really basic setup of camera into a blackmagic capture card, I swore of Mini--HDMI as a capture output. and we purchased the SDI variant instead. (The Canon XA35). We don't have a video switcher in our setup, but SDI can very inexpensively be turned into any kind of HDMI/DVI source for input into your switcher locally right near the desk for <100$ The camera runs i think 1700$ now but It was so worth it to avoid the head headache of big old HDMI cables, and drooping connectors.

That said, If you love your XA10, and don't have the budget to replace it, Think about sending it off to Canon/ or authorized repair shop. It's not so old that they shouldn't have some pieces to replace the HDMI output board on it.

Also this!

Do you use any kind of strain relief for your output? The constant strain of the hanging cable could have weakened the connector on the camera. That would be one reason that the issue was not on just one set of cables.