What does Video 2 SDI jack do on XH-A1?
 

Page 99 in the manual shows this as jack as BNC Video. Has anyone used the Video 2 SDI jack on the back, right side of the Canon XH-A1?

Is there anyway to Hi-Jack that output for HD video only feed? I need a way to output native files using SDI. Will that output be SD Widescreen?

Thanks,
Blake

Hi Blake...................
 

Well, on a Canon XH A1, it does nothing, as the A1 doesn't have it (SDI, that is).

On the XH G1 it O/P's whatever you tell it to, within limits, which are defined in the "Connecting to a Monitor/ TV" section somewhere, as you're manual is probably NTSC and mine is PAL and they are thus not in the same place.

However, a quick scrute of my manual appears to say that if you've shot HD @ 1920 X 1080, in order for that port to O/P SD it must be shot with Letterbox set to "ON".

Just to confuse things, later info appears to contradict that and "seems" to say you can lock the SDI to SD in whatever mode.

Nope, I ain't got it (have an A1) so can't test it.

Sorry if that ain't much help.


CS

On my XH-A1, that side-mounted BNC port is limited to composite video output just like the RCA connector on the back Video 1. The one time I used that port was in doing a live video feed at a church where the monitor in the overflow room had BNC connections rather than RCA. The result was basically like a non-digital "HD" signal that the local cable-tv company feeds. Definitely not the HD picture you seem to want.

Chris is right. A basic distinction between the XH models is that G1 can output SDI but the A1 does not. (It was basically designed with the idea that you'd feed your HDV tape to the computer and, if and when you needed an SDI feed, you get if from the computer.)

That's not an SDI jack. As the manual states, it is in fact a BNC jack (same connector as SDI but totally different type of output). The Video 2 BNC jack provides a convenient way to connect the camera to a professional standard definition video monitor, most of which are equipped with BNC inputs).

I just remembered that the manual covers both the XH-A1 and XH-G1, and the sections that apply only to the XH-G1 are marked with a little bolded "XH-G1" bug next to the header. The manual page that refers to the port as SDI is actually on page 97 and it is marked with the little "XH-G1" bug. The info on page 99 only refers to the component and composite outs to non-HDTV screens.