PTZ cameras going black

Has anyone else had issues with PTZ cameras going black? We have two cameras that will randomly do this. It's pretty horrifying when the camera goes black right before, or during, a broadcast.
Restarting the camera seems to resolve the issue, but it's pretty disruptive to the Spirit. I'm worried it's going to happen during our next stake conference.

Any possibility it's overheating? Perhaps placed too close to a vent?

devinbost wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 4:12 am Has anyone else had issues with PTZ cameras going black? We have two cameras that will randomly do this. It's pretty horrifying when the camera goes black right before, or during, a broadcast.
Restarting the camera seems to resolve the issue, but it's pretty disruptive to the Spirit. I'm worried it's going to happen during our next stake conference.

Can you give us more info? Is it shutting down on the broadcast? Do you have a screen on your rack and that's going black? How are you restarting the camera? Are other things going out too besides the camera?

I know in our end our media rack has a knack for just shutting everything off randomly, we assume it's a power draw thing? I've also seen that when I jiggle any kind of HDMI cord, sometimes it loosens up just enough that I lose picture.

Does the camera power off? When it goes black where is the camera pointing? Our church PTZ camera faces the wall when turned off.

It would sure help us better if we knew HOW the video stream was being sent from the camera. It is using HDMI, SDI, NDI, something else? Also, what additional hardware are you using to capture that signal. HDMI to USB capture device, PCIe capture card, NDI over ethernet? Finally, what software are you using to encode the webcast? OBS, vMix, Wirecast, other?

Give us enough to go on and we might be able to tell you the best place to start troubleshooting.

Sorry for my delay. I didn't realize I got responses here.

Any possibility it's overheating? Perhaps placed too close to a vent?

It's been running for years, so this would be surprising.

Is it shutting down on the broadcast? Do you have a screen on your rack and that's going black? How are you restarting the camera? Are other things going out too besides the camera?

Yes, it shut down in the middle of a broadcast. The screen on our Roland mixer went black, as well as the image in Zoom. We restarted the camera by pulling its power cord and plugging it back in, but when we do that, it messes up our presets for the controls, so then we need to go through and fix each of them.

When it goes black where is the camera pointing?

When it goes black, the camera remains in the same position it was in.

It is using HDMI, SDI, NDI, something else? Also, what additional hardware are you using to capture that signal. HDMI to USB capture device, PCIe capture card, NDI over ethernet? Finally, what software are you using to encode the webcast? OBS, vMix, Wirecast, other?

The Lumens PTZ camera is using 3G-SDI, which goes to a micro converter for SDI to HDMI, which goes to an REI HDMI splitter (UHDS-102), which splits the HDMI to two Roland VR-3EX mixers, each of which is connected to its own PC, one used to broadcast a Spanish Zoom link, and the other used to broadcast an English Zoom link.

Did that answer all the questions?

Has anyone else had issues with PTZ cameras going black? We have two cameras that will randomly do this.

It's unlikely the camera is the source of your problems, since you have TWO cameras that act the same.

Does the second camera have a similar signal path as the first camera?

The Lumens PTZ camera is using 3G-SDI, which goes [through 100-300ft of RG6 coax] to a micro converter for SDI to HDMI, which goes to an REI HDMI splitter (UHDS-102), which splits the HDMI to two Roland VR-3EX mixers

Are you using BlackMagic or Decimator brand of SDI>HDMI converters. BlackMagic converters are known to be picky - see PtzOptics forum posts
https://help.ptzoptics.com/support/disc ... 3000029559


Intermittent problems are the worst, and can take a LOT OF TIME to solve.
Consider the following troubleshooting procedure to isolate the problem.

1) Check and tighten all SDI coax connectors or adapters. Wiggle each and every coax connector, HDMI connector, and power connector in the signal path while a second person monitors the video switcher screen for picture problems. If you get a black screen, try power cycling the SDI>HDMI converter, then the HDMI splitter - instead of the camera. Attach a TV to the camera HDMI output to see if it still works when the video switcher screen goes black. Do 8 hour stream to youtube to check for black screen.

2) Change the camera framerate from 1080p60 (3.0Gbps over the coax) to 1080p30(1.5Gbps over the coax). If there are any connector, coax quality, coax length, or SDI>HDMI converter issues - the lower bitrate should result in a more reliable connection. Do 8 hour stream to youtube to check for black screen.

3) Bring the camera into the AV room and hook it up using a 15-50ft coax to the SDI>HDMI converter. Connect the camera HDMI output, as well as the SDI>HDMI converter output to the video switcher and watch for the black screen. Do 8 hour stream to youtube (split screen to show both SDI and HDMI signal paths) to check for black screen. If the camera system is reliable in the AV room then there may be excessive voltage drop across the 100-200ft power cable (from AV room to camera) to the camera. Try temporarily relocating the power supply to the chapel, next to the camera.

4) If you haven't found the problem by now, check for a camera firmware update. If the camera HDMI output is consistently good you could get rid of the SDI coax-based signal path and replace it with aHDMI>HDBaseT over CAT5/6 and HDBaseT>HDMI signal path using these OREI converters. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079M2BFKD We use these for our 3 camera inputs as well as a projector output without issue.


Good luck finding the problem.

CalS201 wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2023 1:39 pm Consider the following troubleshooting procedure to isolate the problem.

Think of troubleshooting as a series of science experiments. Use the results of each experiment to determine what you need to test next. You're testing things one at a time to see where the problem is (and where it isn't).

Sorry for my delay. I didn't realize I got responses here.

I think most people who create a post expect to be automatically included in any replies, but my understanding is that if you want to get emails from responses, you need to subscribe to your own post. I've run into this before, and I think there's likely a whole lot of people who assume nobody replied to their Forum questions, since they never get any emails that anyone has responded. It's only once you log back on and look at your post, that you realize there's been people giving you helpful suggestions. Perhaps there's a global setting I'm not aware of to automatically subscribe to your own posts, but I think this is how it works...

I would also eliminate the splitter and see if the problem continues. I have seen mixed results from different models of splitters. I hesitate to mention products since there are lots out there but we have had good results with the U9 UHD1X4S which can be purchased from the company that has the same name as a large river. This can be a trial and error process since some are so poorly made that they are flakey while others are so good that they strictly follow HDCP rules and for some sources will just give you a green screen or a black screen.

If it is a church supplied SDI to HDMI converter in the rack that is red then most likely is is the Decimator which we have never had a problem with. BlackMagic stuff we use at work sometimes I have had to restart to get it working again. The other experiments by CalS are a good approach as well. He just didn't touch on the splitter.