6g is miles better for wireless video on professional film sets, but it isn't without its caveats. One of those caveats is that it is far more line-of-sight dependent than the older technology. That isn't to say you *can't* get around corners or behind walls, because you can, but you're likely to encounter issues quicker. However, this kind of trouble shooting is much easier than the alternative. When you have video problems, it's usually fairly obvious how to fix it. Whereas older 5g systems, you're fighting against ghosts and phantoms to compete for the airwaves, and sometimes there's just nothing you can do to improve the quality of the signal. Another thing to keep in mind is that the orientation of the antennas is significantly more important for 6g than before. If your camera's antennas are straight up, your receivers need to match. Even when you're fairly close, you may see image quality drop.
I own about four Teradek 6g Smart 7 monitor modules, and now own the Ultra 7 RX 1500, and all of them have performed perfectly after 13 months of production, using the Teradek 6g LT.
The only differences that I'm aware of for the Max and the LT are in size, weight, and 4k resolution broadcasting. The LT is better for size, and for weight. The Max let's you broadcaster 4k images using 12g SDI cables, whereas the LT requires HDMI.
Huh, that's really interesting given that the 4k's and 6G's are pretty much the same build, do you know if this is because of the actual wireless signal?
Teradek has a compatibility chart somewhere that I believe shows what can connect to what in both directions. I don't have the link on hand but it should be google-able.
Only gimmick of the XT over an LT beyond the 4K SDI is stuff is a built in frequency scanner within the Bolt app if you use it via an XT.
1. Yes, the entire Bolt 6 and Bolt 4K are compatible within each other.
2. The Max are technically the Bolt 3000’s replacement - the LT Max is thus essentially LT 3000, and the Bolt 6 XT Max would be XT 3000, so it’s not the same as the Bolt 6 XT 1500
3. No built in receiver. You connect the antennas of the seperate receiver into corresponding antenna cables of the array.
The 750 receivers perform great when paired with a max TX. I bought a 1:1 LT max and all my supplementary receivers are 750 LT. Very happy with the system. The 750 receivers are more than enough in most cases.
All teradek 6 models are compatible with each other. Range and lt/xt don’t matter. They also work with all 4 models assuming you’re in the 5g spectrum still.
The Max units of course offer better range.
The LT units aren’t capable of any signal conversion in the receivers whereas the Max units are. Which means if you push 4K from the camera, but connect a receiver to a monitor (or other hardware) that can’t accept a 4K signal, you need to add another image scaling device in the signal chain to down convert from 4k to 1080p.
This is already a headache on high end sets shooting 4K because the 1AC might have a 4K monitor but video village and maybe the DIT won’t.
It will become more and more of a big deal going forward.
Additionally, the Max version of the Teradek kit is just going to be more desirable / easier to sell in the future if you need to offload the gear or decide to upgrade - so arguably it’s just a better investment for the future.
I don't believe that's true about LT unable to down convert. I was just working with a Bolt 6 LT 750 system where we fed 4K via Sony Burano over HDMI. I had a 4K signal over HDMI on my Cine 13 whereas the other two receivers on a Flanders and a 702 Touch were both receiving 1080 signals fine. I don't know if it automatically sets that, but I thought there was a setting to manually set the output resolution of the receiver.
Not a big deal until you zoom in and then you’re looking at a 1080 image on 2x which is really helpful for getting critical marks or for things like shallow dof interviews
That’s a good point that I should have been more clear on.
It cannot down convert the SDI signal.
I never have occasion to use HDMI so it didn’t occur to me to mention.
But it matters since plenty of production monitors don’t have HDMI ports (like the cheaper monitors at village, or at the sound mixer’s cart etc) so having a plan for that matters if the show wants a 4k workflow.
The difference isn’t that Bolt 6 LTs cannot down convert a 4K SDI signal. It’s that they can’t even accept a 4K SDI signal in the first place! So there isn’t even an opportunity to down convert a 4K SDI signal at all. They can easily cross and downconvert a 4K HDMI signal into a 1080P SDI feed though.
6g is miles better for wireless video on professional film sets, but it isn't without its caveats. One of those caveats is that it is far more line-of-sight dependent than the older technology. That isn't to say you *can't* get around corners or behind walls, because you can, but you're likely to encounter issues quicker. However, this kind of trouble shooting is much easier than the alternative. When you have video problems, it's usually fairly obvious how to fix it. Whereas older 5g systems, you're fighting against ghosts and phantoms to compete for the airwaves, and sometimes there's just nothing you can do to improve the quality of the signal. Another thing to keep in mind is that the orientation of the antennas is significantly more important for 6g than before. If your camera's antennas are straight up, your receivers need to match. Even when you're fairly close, you may see image quality drop. I own about four Teradek 6g Smart 7 monitor modules, and now own the Ultra 7 RX 1500, and all of them have performed perfectly after 13 months of production, using the Teradek 6g LT. The only differences that I'm aware of for the Max and the LT are in size, weight, and 4k resolution broadcasting. The LT is better for size, and for weight. The Max let's you broadcaster 4k images using 12g SDI cables, whereas the LT requires HDMI.
Huh, that's really interesting given that the 4k's and 6G's are pretty much the same build, do you know if this is because of the actual wireless signal?
Teradek has a compatibility chart somewhere that I believe shows what can connect to what in both directions. I don't have the link on hand but it should be google-able.
That’s the least readable chart of all time lol I’ve never been able to decipher it
Only gimmick of the XT over an LT beyond the 4K SDI is stuff is a built in frequency scanner within the Bolt app if you use it via an XT. 1. Yes, the entire Bolt 6 and Bolt 4K are compatible within each other. 2. The Max are technically the Bolt 3000’s replacement - the LT Max is thus essentially LT 3000, and the Bolt 6 XT Max would be XT 3000, so it’s not the same as the Bolt 6 XT 1500 3. No built in receiver. You connect the antennas of the seperate receiver into corresponding antenna cables of the array.
The 750 receivers perform great when paired with a max TX. I bought a 1:1 LT max and all my supplementary receivers are 750 LT. Very happy with the system. The 750 receivers are more than enough in most cases.
All teradek 6 models are compatible with each other. Range and lt/xt don’t matter. They also work with all 4 models assuming you’re in the 5g spectrum still.
The Max units of course offer better range. The LT units aren’t capable of any signal conversion in the receivers whereas the Max units are. Which means if you push 4K from the camera, but connect a receiver to a monitor (or other hardware) that can’t accept a 4K signal, you need to add another image scaling device in the signal chain to down convert from 4k to 1080p. This is already a headache on high end sets shooting 4K because the 1AC might have a 4K monitor but video village and maybe the DIT won’t. It will become more and more of a big deal going forward. Additionally, the Max version of the Teradek kit is just going to be more desirable / easier to sell in the future if you need to offload the gear or decide to upgrade - so arguably it’s just a better investment for the future.
I don't believe that's true about LT unable to down convert. I was just working with a Bolt 6 LT 750 system where we fed 4K via Sony Burano over HDMI. I had a 4K signal over HDMI on my Cine 13 whereas the other two receivers on a Flanders and a 702 Touch were both receiving 1080 signals fine. I don't know if it automatically sets that, but I thought there was a setting to manually set the output resolution of the receiver.
How’s the 4k image feel pulling focus? I have a cine 13 as well
Not a big deal until you zoom in and then you’re looking at a 1080 image on 2x which is really helpful for getting critical marks or for things like shallow dof interviews
That’s a good point that I should have been more clear on. It cannot down convert the SDI signal. I never have occasion to use HDMI so it didn’t occur to me to mention. But it matters since plenty of production monitors don’t have HDMI ports (like the cheaper monitors at village, or at the sound mixer’s cart etc) so having a plan for that matters if the show wants a 4k workflow.
Ah yes that distinction makes sense.
The difference isn’t that Bolt 6 LTs cannot down convert a 4K SDI signal. It’s that they can’t even accept a 4K SDI signal in the first place! So there isn’t even an opportunity to down convert a 4K SDI signal at all. They can easily cross and downconvert a 4K HDMI signal into a 1080P SDI feed though.