I notice latency when using live video through firewire. How can I get rid of this?
All video is delayed if it is processed by anything (computer, switcher, scaler, etc.). This is known as latency. There are two kinds of latency – acceptable and distracting. Even a $100k switcher will have latency, but probably only a frame or two. Due to compression/decompression requirements, using a live video feed from a FireWire camera through a computer is probably the worst case scenario. This standard was designed for simplicity, not speed. Before video even leaves the camera itself it has been delayed as a result of compressing the video signal into DV. Using an SDI input method will reduce this latency, but you must have a MacPro tower and SDI card to accomplish this. Despite the inherent delays, we offer this feature because it’s been highly requested, our competition has it (though subject to all the same issues), and in some cases it doesn’t matter, such as for overflow rooms. Plus it’s free. We tend to recommend against doing live feeds through a computer. The problem wi
