XA25 > HDMI vs SDI output

[Jorge Menchu]

Anyone with tests on HDMI verse SDI output? Are there any advantages with the SDI other than the connection format? Any value for green screen?

Thanks

[Rob Hargreaves]

Originally Posted by Jorge Menchu

Anyone with tests on HDMI verse SDI output? Are there any advantages with the SDI other than the connection format? Any value for green screen?

Thanks

I've not done "tests" and not sure what tests you could do, but SDI has more limited output formats than the HDMI. You can output 1080p in HDMI, but SDI limits you to 576i/720p/1080i.

Also straight from the manual:

"When > [Output Terminal] is set to [ HD/SD-SDI & HDMI], the signal output
from the HDMI OUT terminal will be determined by the > [HD/SD-SDI Output] setting."
This means if you want to output on both HDMI and SDI (nice - even my EX1R can't do that) then you cannot output 1080p.

[Don Palomaki]

I suspect that a primary advntage to SDI is that it uses a robust connector and allowed the use of existing 75 ohm analog video cabling in studios, vans, etc. when upgrading gear.

HDMI is a consumer format and not sufficiently rugged to survive a commencial/industrial/broadcast environment, and requires a more complex cable.

[Al Gardner]

HDMi is a consumer format and far more distance limited then SDi

[Jorge Menchu]

Thanks for the replies.

I was under the impression the only way to get 4:2:2 out of the camera was via the SDI. Maybe I am wrong? Either way, I was wondering if there was an advantage using the 4:2:2 over 4:2:0 from the onboard recorded video for green screen?

[Al Gardner]

That could be the case with some cameras.

[Jack Zhang]

Huh, so the XA25 only has a standard SDI and not a 3G-SDI output. This can be remedied with a HDMI to 3G-SDI converter, but then again, then a XA20 looks more appealing.