# Coax to iMac



## lighttechie5948 (Jun 1, 2014)

Hi everyone,

I have a video signal coming from a live videographer that he's giving me as coax. I need to get it into Q-Lab as a video input so I can use a "Camera" cue.

What converters, etc., can I use to get from Coax to USB or Thunderbolt? And how can I configure that as a video input that Q-Lab will recognize?

Thanks,
Joe


----------



## themuzicman (Jun 1, 2014)

What flavor of "coax"? Coax is simply a type of cable, and at that there are dozens of variations on that. What you really need to care about is the format of the signal held on the cable. Is it composite, SDI, HD-SDI, etc.?


----------



## ruinexplorer (Jun 2, 2014)

In truth, if it is a single coaxial cable, he is likely sending you a composite analog (interlaced) feed. You will need a video capture device like this. Obviously look at your system to make sure it will work as needed.


----------



## Joshualangman (Jun 2, 2014)

I would use a Blackmagic Intensity interface. But check with QLab support before you buy to make sure it's compatible (most Blackmagic Intensity lines products are).


----------



## metti (Jun 4, 2014)

A single coax could be composite analogue or SDI. The answer is different for each although Blackmagic makes something that will work for either.


----------



## StradivariusBone (Jun 4, 2014)

Are you planning on throwing this up on a screen on stage by relaying through Q-Lab to a display? If so, I'm willing to bet latency issues are going to make that a problem. You'd need switcher hardware like the Blackmagic products suggested to get it to work like that. I've not used Q-lab for live video, but similar show control products have noticeably bad problems with latency and frame rate. 

Are you attempting something similar to this?


----------

