# Backstage Camera Feed



## carsonld (Sep 7, 2017)

to preface this, I am by no means merely educated on video. So this is all new to me. I am the new TD at a high school. They have a camera for an onstage feed. Tthis camera has the yellow, red, and white cables (RCA?) that connect to a box that converts it to Ethernet. There is then a box that the Ethernet connects to that splits that signal into a bunch of other outputs. I have yet to find where any of those outputs go to... except two. One goes to the green room. And another on goes to the dressing room. All of this is still Ethernet or cat5 or cat 6. Now what I would like is a feed in all three dressing rooms, and the three feeds to go backstage. So am I going to need another Ethernet splitter? At this point am I going to start loosing picture quality? I would then attach a Ethernet to vga adapter because we have a ton of computer monitors in a bunch of different sizes.

So please let me know how ghetto this sounds, but more importantly if it will work. I’m worried about splitting the connections so much that they just quit working at some point. Or that the vga to Ethernet won’t work.


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## AVShowNC (Sep 7, 2017)

It appears that your camera output is consumer component. What is the make and model of the converter box? If it is converting your signal to digital, you will need to convert it back to analog, before your monitors can see it. What is the make and model of the camera? Does it have any other outputs? Actually it would be best to know about all of the hardware you have, before making any firm statements about what you can and can not do.


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## Chris15 (Sep 7, 2017)

AVShowNC said:


> It appears that your camera output is consumer component.



Disagree, sounds more like composite than component, component I'd expect red, green and blue RCAs rather than the typically single yellow of composite with red and white as audio.
Agreed that make and model of the converter will be crucial to moving forward - we need to try and work out if this is an ethernet based system (and so will have a switch somewhere) or perhaps more likely, is a system that's using Catx through baluns rather than running coax, in which case there is probably some form of other midpoint equipment involved...


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## ruinexplorer (Sep 9, 2017)

Agree with Chris. If you can figure out the model of the converter, that will help the most.


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## lwinters630 (Sep 11, 2017)

carsonld said:


> to preface this, I am by no means merely educated on video. So this is all new to me. I am the new TD at a high school. They have a camera for an onstage feed. Tthis camera has the yellow, red, and white cables (RCA?) that connect to a box that converts it to Ethernet. There is then a box that the Ethernet connects to that splits that signal into a bunch of other outputs. I have yet to find where any of those outputs go to... except two. One goes to the green room. And another on goes to the dressing room. All of this is still Ethernet or cat5 or cat 6. Now what I would like is a feed in all three dressing rooms, and the three feeds to go backstage. So am I going to need another Ethernet splitter? At this point am I going to start loosing picture quality? I would then attach a Ethernet to vga adapter because we have a ton of computer monitors in a bunch of different sizes.
> 
> So please let me know how ghetto this sounds, but more importantly if it will work. I’m worried about splitting the connections so much that they just quit working at some point. Or that the vga to Ethernet won’t work.


If you have stage boxes in other rooms like choir, band, orchestra, lobby, back stage. you may find them. Is the one in the green room RCA or coax or ethernet? and as mention make and model and pictures of other items in the chain.


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## carsonld (Sep 15, 2017)

Sorry for the late reply! I have take pictures of the Ethernet box and the box that converts RCA to Ethernet.


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## lighthouse (Sep 15, 2017)

The pictures confirm what @Chris15 said - this is using network cabling to carry composite audio/video. It's not Ethernet, so you can't add a splitter.

I'd focus on tracing the lines for the other connections, since they will have the proper electronics on the end that you could relocate to new positions. For the VGA monitors you would need to convert the composite output from your camera 4/5 pictures - there are several choices on Amazon.


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## FMEng (Sep 15, 2017)

Just to clarify, the system does not use ethernet. It just happens to use Cat 5 cable with RJ-45 connectors. The box is a distribution amplifier. The baluns go at the camera and one at each monitor. They convert between composite video on 75 ohm coax to composite video over 110 ohm twisted pair, and then back. The signal is analog.

If there are cables plugged into the DA outputs that are unused, I would unplug them, and use those ports where you need them. Or, you could buy another AVDA-8, and daisy chain it from the first one to add outputs. Adding to the system will not degrade picture quality.

The best option would be to use TVs with composite inputs. There are composite to VGA converters that could be connected after the baluns to use the computer monitors that you have. I have no idea how the VGA converters look. In general, every analog format conversion will cause some degradation. On the other hand, composite is already low resolution, so it might not be noticeable.


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## lwinters630 (Sep 15, 2017)

look at this site and check out the diagrams. In our space I have the RJ-45 jack in the tech booth audio rack that goes to dressing rooms and various panels back stage. Therefor if I had your set up I could take the camera and jump with cat5 to the patch panel to those room and put monitors in them. Or put a camera back stage or in the pit and send it up to the booth.


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## carsonld (Sep 18, 2017)

So what I would want is a RCA to VGA converter for the computer screens. Then I would get another on of the AVDA 8 boxes to split the video to SL and SR?


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## lwinters630 (Sep 18, 2017)

The avda8 is a distribution amp to 8 runs. It will boost the signals. One converter to get you into cat5 depending on your source. And one to get you out. You split it again if you want. Check out sites like intelix for products and diagrams.


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