Decimator 12G-CROSS 4K HDMI/SDI Converter with Scaling and Frame Rate Conversion

Picture this. You are on a live event, your camera is pushing 12G-SDI, and the director suddenly asks for a clean HDMI feed to the confidence monitor while the SDI signal keeps rolling to the vision mixer. Most boxes make you choose. The Decimator 12G-CROSS 4K Converter with Scaling and Frame Rate Conversion does not make you choose. It takes whatever comes in — HDMI or SDI — and simultaneously pushes both out, independently routed, at any resolution your downstream gear can accept.

That flexibility is not accidental. Decimator Design built the 12G-CROSS around a 4K Motion Adaptive Scaling Engine that converts between 351 input formats and 57 output formats. Do the math and you get 3,249 possible format combinations — SD PAL all the way up to 12G 4096x2160p60. The scaler handles frame rate conversion too, so dropping a 59.94 feed to 25 for a European broadcast chain takes seconds to configure from the onboard LCD. No laptop. No dip switches. No drama.

It is small enough to gaffer-tape to a cart and quiet enough to run on a dialogue stage — no fan, no noise, solid aluminium shell. Engineers who have used Decimator gear before will recognise that philosophy immediately. It just works, in whatever environment you put it in.

What Makes the Decimator 12G-CROSS Different

How It Works — Signal Routing Logic

The 12G-CROSS runs three parallel signal paths that can be configured independently from the LCD menu. The first path is a direct route — SDI input passes through to the SDI outputs, or HDMI input routes to the HDMI output — with reclocking on the two loop-through SDI outputs. The second path is the cross-convert: SDI input routes to HDMI output, or HDMI input routes to SDI output, format-matched in real time. The third path feeds both outputs from the built-in Down Up Cross (DUC) scaler, which is where the frame rate conversion, scaling, and genlock locking live.

The DUC scaler reference can be set to free-run, SDI input, HDMI input, or external genlock. Free-run is useful for TPG work or situations where the input may drop; the scaler keeps outputting at the last configured format rather than going black. Colour space handling is per-path and per-format — 709 and 2020 on both SDI and HDMI inputs and outputs, with AVI InfoFrame and Payload ID detection, and manual overrides available when the metadata in the signal is not trustworthy.

3G output defaults to Level A. Level B is a one-menu toggle. The HDMI output type covers DVI RGB 4:4:4 through HDMI YCbCr 4:2:2, with two-channel or eight-channel audio selection. That covers virtually every HDMI display or capture device you are likely to encounter.

Supported Formats

Why Engineers Choose the 12G-CROSS

Who Uses It

The 12G-CROSS turns up in a lot of different signal chains because the problem it solves — mismatched formats between pieces of gear — is universal. Broadcast truck operators use it to bridge camera feeds between SDI infrastructure and HDMI confidence monitors. Live event companies use the 1-to-4 distribution to feed four destinations from a single camera without a separate DA. Post-production facilities use the frame rate conversion to feed a 23.98 editorial suite from a 25fps acquisition feed. And on-location engineers keep one in the kit bag because it takes up almost no space and covers most conversion scenarios they will encounter in a day.

Full Specifications — Decimator 12G-CROSS

In the Box

• Decimator 12G-CROSS converter
• Power supply
• HDMI cable
• USB cable