Hi there! Recently we setup our new Pearl 2 with our church’s AV system. We have an HDMI run from the podium to the pearl. I have a Mac Mini and and Apple TV running into the Pearl via HDMI. It seems like there is some level of instability between these devices and the Pearl. I am experiencing inconsistencies with the connection where the devices will independently show No Signal even though when you check the devices themselves they recognize they are connected to the Pearl on the HDMI settings. What consideration am I missing? I would hope that any laptop or computer I plug into that HDMI would immediately pop up in the pearl so we can show the presentation. The Mac Mini and Apple TV should always be available as well. I noticed with the Apple TV if I power cycled it I could get it to reconnect but it was sporadic at best.
Hello Ryan - Ryan Here!
The intermittent video signal could be caused by a number of things, but I believe this may be a HDCP issue. HDCP prevents A/V signal from being sent across physical connections to non-HDCP compliant devices. Pearl-2 is a non-HDCP compliant device. I would imagine this would especially be true when connecting an Apple TV to prevent users from broadcasting and recording the output of say, Netflix. Alternatively, HDCP can also be inserted into a signal flow by a switch, extender or even a splitter. Unfortunately, we have also heard of this occurring when connecting modern Apple computers to non-HDCP compliant devices as well.
Here is more information on HDCP
The intermittent video, if not HDCP related could also be the result of HDMI cables being ran over spec. Standard HDMI cables have a max cable length of around 50ft and exceeding this can certainly cause video instability.
Please confirm the following:
-What is the Apple TV version?
-What is the model number of your Mac Mini?
-Are there any switches, splitters or extenders being used in-between your video sources and the Pearl-2?
-What version of firmware is the Pearl-2 currently running? You can find this under “Firmware Upgrade” in the Pearl Admin page. Current version is 4.12.1d
Please feel free to email us at info@epiphan.com if you wish continue this conversation more in-depth!
Ryan, great name haha. Thank you for the quick response. The Apple TV is the current gen Apple TV 4k. Model number on the Mac Mini is Macmini8,1. There are splitters and extenders being used. For the longer runs the HDMI is converted to ethernet and then back to HDMI. We only use splitters on the HDMI outputs 1 and 2 of the Pearl so we can go to program monitors, projectors etc.
Version of the firmware on the Pearl 2 is 4.12.1d
Apple TV, historically has always carried HDCP encryption making it impossible to capture into hardware encoders., if you remove the Apple TV from the signal chain does the behavior change?
It looks like the Apple TV and Mac Mini are now working consistently. It appears there is an order to booting those up relative to the pearl. Restarting the devices and then restarting the Pearl seems to have consistently worked and I am getting a connection. We will see over time if that remains the case and then I can troubleshoot the HDCP concern raised here. I appreciate the help.