BMD UltraStudio Mini Monitor only gives SD output

2013 MP, R700's, 8 core, with a BMD UltraStudio Mini Monitor going SDI to an FSI LM-2452W broadcast monitor. The only choice I have in FCPX 10.1.1 prefs are SD frame size. In BMD's own Media Express I can import HD footage, and it will output HD frame sizes.

BMD tech support says they can't troubleshoot this without me owning one of their own capture devices. Really? This much money on a product and no tech support unless I buy another product?

Any one having any success with the UltraStudio Mini Monitor and FCP X at all?

I used one several months ago to bring a video camera into Wirecast. I had no problems using that way.

Bring a camera "in"? This is the Mini Monitor, Tbolt input, SDI/HDMI output only. Sure you weren't using the Mini Recorder?

Yeah you are right, it was the min recorder. Never mind

A capture device? Really? Which century are they in?

Hi Tom. People still need capture devices. Not all content is generated in camera. Widen your horizons and you will see that capture devices are still very relevant as they always should be.

Ben, have you looked at the preference pane for Blackmagic Design? Assuming you have Media Express you should likely also have that preference pane. Make sure it's set to the HD resolution you want. Then restart FCPX.

You can only select the resolution from the BM Desktop Video driver in the Preference pane, not from within FCPX, which is set to whatever the Preference Pane is set. Make sure you have the new 10.0 drivers which support Mavericks.

I'm not saying that people don't need capture devices. I did not say that users may not require capture devices. Please do not put words that I did not write into anything you said. If you want to say what I said put it in quotes.

However, for any company to have a capture device as a requirement for support is way beyond ridiculous and into the the realms of never never land. It's beyond any amount of stupidity that I can imagine. Let's be clear on this, Black Magic should be ashamed of themselves if they say they will not support products unless the user owns a capture device.

Yeah, I have an email explaining that to properly troubleshoot this issue, I'd have to own a BMD capture device. Otherwise there wasn't much they could do for me. Seriously.

I've had major issue with installing the drivers, too. Half the time the Mini Monitor is not even recognized until I re-boot the system, sometime not until I reinstall the drives for the um-teenth time, which always causes me to have to re-boot into Safe mode before it'll allow my nMP to boot properly. This has been going on for some time, and BMD's answer is that to properly troubleshoot something, they have to do it with a capture device. Because they're not aware of any issues with this specific device at all. None, at all, really?

So, some apps automatically change the format, others I have to do it manually. And BMD couldn't explain this to me in the first place? My other apps automatically cause it to adjust to the right format, except FCPX? (sigh)

Should have gone with AJA hardware...

Thread done.

The email sounds like someone was confused about the question. I would call Black Magic. They have always answered every question I've ever put to tech support and I'd be surprised if your device isn't supported. +1 408 954 0500 is their number in Fremont CA.

I found that Adobe Encore reset my Blackmagic device to standard definition and I wondered why everything in FCPX looked so blocky on my monitor.

I've been consulting for over a decade, and always had bad experiences with BMD support. AJA support was always much better. I was hoping things had changed.

I've had nothing but good experiences with my Intensity Extreme.

Ben, as several people have noted- you shouldn't have any more than 1 option in the FCPX preferences. Changing output frame rates and resolution is done from within the Desktop Video preferences, not FCPX; at least with my hardware. Is it different with yours?

Yes, for FCPX I have to manually change formats in Sys Prefs, but a couple other apps change formats on the fly without my accessing Sys Prefs.