Blackmagic ATEM Television Studio HD: Everything You Need to Know (2026 Update)
What I'd buy in 2026
This post is from 2021. The ATEM Television Studio HD is still a good, reliable switcher, and everything below still applies if you own one or find one used.
If you're buying today, I'd look at the ATEM Constellation ME1 or ME2 instead. Similar price range, better move now.
Two other things have changed since I wrote this.
On computers: the machines I recommend below are dated. Right now the two I'd actually consider are a used or refurbished M1 Mac Mini from 2020 at the cheap end, and the base model M4 Mac Mini a step up from that.
On streaming: I don't recommend running your stream out of software anymore if you can help it. We've run a hardware encoder for about five years and I've restarted it twice, maybe three times. Here's the full breakdown of why we switched.
Everything below is the original guide.
Everything You Need in Order to Use the Switcher
First off I want to go over EVERYTHING you actually need in order to use this switcher. And if you want more info on any of these items, I’ll link to everything for you to check out.
These first couple of items are obvious, but I’ll mention them anyway. You need the
- Switcher
- Cameras that have HDMI or SDI outputs on them.
- Here are a few we recommend:
- A Computer for Running ProPresenter or something similar.
- What we recommended at the time:
- See the 2026 update above for what I'd get now.
- A monitor for Multiview
- You’ll need an HDMI monitor for the Multiview
- You’ll also need some HDMI cables. 1 for the Multiview out, and up to four more if you use all four HDMI video inputs
- A Cat 5 or Ethernet cable for using the Remote Control Software.
- You’ll need a USB 2.0 cable in order to update the software on the switcher
- SDI cables. I’d pick up 3 or more depending on your needs. You’ll at least need one for an SDI out as well as one for an input. Maybe more if you’re running more cameras into the switcher. In total there are 12 SDI ports on the back.
- If you don't have a video out device like a DeckLink Duo or Ultra Studio Monitor, you'll need an HDMI/SDI Cross Converter if you want to run something like ProPresenter into the switcher and match frame rates and resolution sizes (more on this later)
- An SDI Capture Card (if you're streaming from a software encoder). Not many people mention this if you’re just watching YouTube videos about this switcher. You need a capture card for this switcher, but you DON’T need one for its cheaper alternative the ATEM Mini or ATEM Mini Pro. Just want to clarify that.
- It has to be SDI to USB. An HDMI to USB capture card won’t work, because there’s no HDMI out available.
- If you go with a hardware encoder you won't need a capture card at all. The Web Presenter HD is a good option, and it's what we still run.
- If you do use software encoders like OBS or Ecamm Live, you need a computer that can handle streaming. It could be the same one running ProPresenter, but if you've got another machine laying around I'd put that one to use too. Better to spread the work across machines than bog one down.
- Depending on how you want to handle audio, there are a few things you may need
- One option is a bus mix going Left and Right out of your soundboard with XLR cables into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface, which plugs into your computer. From there you can sync the audio with a mic delay.
- You could also run those XLR cables into the switcher itself, but you might still need a mic delay.
- One other thing you may need at some point is an SDI to HDMI converter. If you have more than four HDMI inputs you'll need to convert those to SDI to take advantage of all 8 video inputs on the back. That's assuming you've got more HDMI sources than SDI. If it's the other way around you'll need the opposite converter. I found this one that converts either direction.
Setup and Troubleshooting
(I could get into the technical side of networking here, but I'm describing this in plain terms.)
There are a few things you need to do to get this switcher working properly. Hopefully this saves you some headaches, and saves you from actually reading the manual.
Cause who wants to do that, right?
First thing is setting up the remote software. Blackmagic gives you an application that controls every aspect of the switcher from a computer.
You can connect two ways, either by the switcher’s name or manually by IP address. I’ve tried this on three different machines and connecting by name hasn’t worked on any of them. But connecting by IP address isn't as simple as you'd think either.
Most people online will tell you to type in the IP address that shows up in the switcher’s settings menu on the front console. That hasn’t worked for me. Then they say if that doesn’t work, go to Network in System Settings on a Mac, select Ethernet, change the configure setting to manual, and type in the switcher’s IP address.
That didn’t work either. Hit apply and you get an error saying "Another device on the network is using your computer’s IP address."
Here's what actually works. Not the exact same IP address. An IP that's close to the switcher's. Change the last two digits and it connects instantly. Same result on 3 different machines I’ve tested.
Easy fix. But if you don't know about it, it'll cost you an afternoon. Out of the 10 to 20 videos I watched about this switcher, I've seen it mentioned in one.
Frame Rates and Resolution
This switcher needs all camera inputs at the same frame rate and resolution to work correctly.
If a camera's frame rate doesn’t match the switcher, you won’t see that camera at all. Not a big deal on its own. Set all your cameras and the switcher to the same settings and you're fine.
Where it gets tricky is your ProPresenter computer. It's not easy to set a computer output to 24fps at 1920x1080.
You can work around it by matching your cameras and switcher to the refresh rate on your computer's display settings, but then the video looks unnatural at the higher frame rate.
With something like this Cross Converter, which scales an image and converts frame rate, you can take your computer's output and convert it exactly to what you want.
We picked ours up from Decimator Design and once it was configured it worked perfectly.
Ports on the Back of the Switcher
Each port does something different, and if you don’t dig into it you'll assume you can do all of it from one port or mix and match. You can't.
The Ethernet or Cat 5 port is for the ATEM software control panel. That's how you configure and control the switcher from a desktop application.
The USB 2.0 port is for updating the software on the switcher, which you should do the day you pull it out of the box. It doesn’t send a Program out signal to your computer. SDI out is the only option for that.
On SDI outputs, you can run several if you need them, but one will go Program out into a capture card and then into a computer for streaming, if that's how you're set up.
Is this ATEM still worth picking up?
The main thing is what fits your needs. That should be the number one factor on any gear purchase, but especially live streaming gear.
Good fit if you:
- Are seriously building out a live stream setup, not just getting something up quickly
- Want 4 or more video inputs
- Want the other features I’m not covering here, like using the talkback mic to communicate between the switcher and a camera operator. We don’t need that at this point, but we might down the line.
Probably not a fit if you:
- Just need a simple stream running
- Don’t need 4 or more camera inputs
- Have a tight budget
- Are new to live streaming and the tech that comes with it
Alternatives
In 2026, the ATEM Constellation ME1 or ME2 are what I'd look at first in this price range.
If you want cheaper and simpler, the ATEM Mini. What it has over the Television Studio HD:
- It's MUCH cheaper
- Four HDMI inputs
- Same remote control software
- NO capture card needed
The ATEM Mini Pro is a step up from that, a bit more money with a few more features including built-in streaming.
Related reading
- Best Hardware Encoder for Churches? The Blackmagic Web Presenter HD, Five Years Later
- Web Presenter HD Setup Guide
- Our Main Live Stream Camera: 4K Under $300
If ProPresenter is the part of your Sunday that keeps breaking, the ProPresenter Volunteer Workflow is the system we use every week to hand it off to volunteers.
Talk soon,
Zach
