Blackmagic DeckLink Setup for Strom

This directory contains documentation and scripts for setting up Blackmagic DeckLink cards with Strom in Docker, enabling professional SDI video input/output.

Overview

Strom supports Blackmagic DeckLink cards for:

SDI Input - Capture video from SDI sources (cameras, routers, etc.)
SDI Output - Output video to SDI destinations (monitors, routers, etc.)
Multiple Cards - Support for multiple DeckLink cards in a single system

Prerequisites

Host Requirements

Linux host (Ubuntu 20.04+ recommended)
Blackmagic DeckLink card installed (PCIe)
Blackmagic Desktop Video software installed on host
Docker installed

Supported Cards

Most DeckLink cards are supported, including:

DeckLink Duo 2
DeckLink Quad 2
DeckLink 8K Pro
DeckLink Mini Monitor/Recorder
And others from the DeckLink family

Host Setup

1. Install Desktop Video Software

Download the Blackmagic Desktop Video package from: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/family/capture-and-playback

Note: The download page may prompt for registration, but direct download links are available.

# Download the latest Desktop Video package for your distribution
# Example: desktopvideo_15.3.1a4_amd64.deb

# Install the package
sudo dpkg -i desktopvideo_*.deb

# Fix any dependency issues
sudo apt-get install -f

# The installation compiles DKMS kernel modules - this may take a few minutes
# A reboot is required after installation
sudo reboot

The installation process:

Installs the DeckLink SDK libraries (libDeckLinkAPI.so, libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so)
Compiles DKMS kernel modules for your running kernel
Creates device nodes at /dev/blackmagic/

2. Update Card Firmware (if needed)

After installing Desktop Video, check if firmware updates are available:

# List DeckLink devices and their firmware status
BlackmagicFirmwareUpdater status

# Update firmware if needed (requires reboot)
sudo BlackmagicFirmwareUpdater update
sudo reboot

3. Verify Installation

# List DeckLink device nodes
ls -la /dev/blackmagic/

# Check firmware status (also works as a quick "is the card alive?" probe)
BlackmagicFirmwareUpdater status

# Or, more verbosely:
DesktopVideoUpdateTool --list

You should see device nodes like /dev/blackmagic/io0, /dev/blackmagic/io1, etc.

4. Configure the Card (Connector Mapping & Profile)

The base desktopvideo package only ships CLI firmware tools. To inspect or change the configuration profile (e.g. how many sub-devices, which BNCs are inputs vs. outputs, half-duplex vs. full-duplex on multi-channel cards like the DeckLink Quad 2 / 8K Pro) you need the GUI utility, which lives in a separate package:

sudo apt-get install desktopvideo-gui

This installs BlackmagicDesktopVideoSetup, a Qt application that exposes the same per-sub-device tabs you would see in the macOS/Windows version (Video Output, Conversions, Connectors, About).

Running the GUI on a headless host (X11 forwarding)

When the DeckLink host has no local display, run the GUI from your laptop over SSH X11 forwarding:

# From your local machine
ssh -X <host> BlackmagicDesktopVideoSetup

If SSH complains about a missing ~/.Xauthority on the remote (No xauth data; using fake authentication data for X11 forwarding), seed the file once on the remote host and try again:

ssh <host> 'touch ~/.Xauthority && xauth generate $DISPLAY . trusted 2>/dev/null'
ssh -X <host> BlackmagicDesktopVideoSetup

-X requires the remote sshd to allow X11Forwarding yes. If your local display is unhappy with the warning, use -Y (trusted forwarding) instead.

What to look at in the GUI

For multi-channel cards (Quad 2, 8K Pro, etc.) the most relevant places are:

Top-level device list: shows one row per sub-device. On a Quad 2 in the Four sub-devices, half duplex profile you will see eight entries — the first four have output formats configured (e.g. 1080p50) and use pairs of BNCs (SDI 1 & 2, SDI 3 & 4, SDI 5 & 6, SDI 7 & 8); the last four have Connectors: none and are inactive in this profile.
Connectors tab → Connector mapping dropdown: picks which physical BNCs back this sub-device. This is what determines whether decklinkvideosrc device-number=N will see anything at all.
Configuration profile (top-right or under a Setup-style menu, depending on the card): changes the entire profile — e.g. switching from Four sub-devices, half duplex (4 active sub-devices, each using 2 BNCs for in+out) to One sub-device, half duplex (1 sub-device with 4 dedicated inputs on BNC 1–4 and 4 dedicated outputs on BNC 5–8).

The mapping in the GUI translates to GStreamer's zero-indexed device-number: DeckLink Quad (1) is device-number=0, DeckLink Quad (2) is device-number=1, and so on. device-number values that point at sub-devices with Connectors: none will fail at pipeline start (decklinkvideosink) or report SDK errors (decklinkvideosrc).

Running Strom with DeckLink in Docker

Required Docker Options

DeckLink cards require specific Docker options to work inside containers:

Option	Purpose
`--privileged`	Required for direct hardware access
`-v /dev/blackmagic:/dev/blackmagic`	Mount DeckLink device nodes
`-v /usr/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:ro`	Mount SDK API library
`-v /usr/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:ro`	Mount SDK Preview API library
`-v /usr/lib/blackmagic:/lib/blackmagic:ro`	Mount SDK support files

Basic Usage

docker run -d \
  --privileged \
  -v /dev/blackmagic:/dev/blackmagic \
  -v /usr/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:ro \
  -v /usr/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:ro \
  -v /usr/lib/blackmagic:/lib/blackmagic:ro \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  --name strom \
  eyevinntechnology/strom:latest

Production Setup (with GPU and Network)

docker run -d \
  --privileged \
  --gpus all \
  -e NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES=all \
  -v /dev/blackmagic:/dev/blackmagic \
  -v /usr/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:ro \
  -v /usr/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:ro \
  -v /usr/lib/blackmagic:/lib/blackmagic:ro \
  -v ./media:/media \
  -v ./data:/data \
  --network host \
  --name strom \
  eyevinntechnology/strom:latest

Docker Compose Example

version: '3.8'
services:
  strom:
    image: eyevinntechnology/strom:latest
    privileged: true
    volumes:
      - /dev/blackmagic:/dev/blackmagic
      - /usr/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:ro
      - /usr/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:ro
      - /usr/lib/blackmagic:/lib/blackmagic:ro
      - ./data:/data
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    restart: unless-stopped

Using DeckLink in Strom

Strom exposes two DeckLink blocks — one input, one output — each combined for video and audio. Pick audio_video, video, or audio via the Stream Mode property; the block exposes only the pads relevant to the selected mode.

Neither block performs format conversion. Peer blocks must accept (input) or deliver (output) the card's native pixel format — 8bit-yuv (UYVY), 10bit-yuv (v210), 8bit-argb, 8bit-bgra, or 10bit-rgb — and 48 kHz S16LE/S32LE audio. Use a downstream Video Format / Audio Format block to convert if needed.

DeckLink Input Block

Add a "DeckLink Input" block and configure:

Stream Mode: Audio + Video, Video only, or Audio only
Device Number: Which DeckLink device to use (0, 1, 2, ...)
Video Mode: Video format (e.g., 1080p50, 1080i50, 2160p50, auto)
Video Connection: Input connector (auto, sdi, hdmi, optical-sdi, ...)
Video Format: Pixel format the card delivers (auto, 8bit-yuv, 10bit-yuv, ...)
Drop No-Signal Frames: Drop frames flagged as no-signal instead of forwarding black
Audio Connection: Audio source (auto, embedded, aes, analog, analog-xlr, analog-rca)
Audio Channels: 2, 8, 16, or max

In Audio only mode decklinkvideosrc is still created internally and drained to a fakesink — required for decklinkaudiosrc to operate.

DeckLink Output Block

Add a "DeckLink Output" block and configure:

Stream Mode: Audio + Video, Video only, or Audio only
Device Number: Which DeckLink device to use
Video Mode: Output video format (e.g., 1080p25, 1080p50, 2160p50)
Video Format: Pixel format the card expects (8bit-yuv, 10bit-yuv, ...)

In Audio only mode decklinkvideosink is still created internally and fed black frames at 1080p25/UYVY — required for decklinkaudiosink to operate. The Video Mode and Video Format properties are ignored in this case.

Testing Inside Container

# Enter the container
docker exec -it strom bash

# List available DeckLink devices
gst-device-monitor-1.0 Video/Source

# Test capture from first DeckLink input
gst-launch-1.0 decklinkvideosrc device-number=0 mode=1080p50 ! \
  videoconvert ! autovideosink

# Test output to first DeckLink output
gst-launch-1.0 videotestsrc ! \
  video/x-raw,width=1920,height=1080,framerate=50/1 ! \
  decklinkvideosink device-number=0 mode=1080p50

Detecting Which Inputs Have Signal

Use the bundled probe-signal.sh script to scan every DeckLink device/connection combination and print which inputs have a live signal (plus the auto-detected video mode). Run it from inside the strom container — it relies on the GStreamer DeckLink plugin and works without any extra dependencies.

# One-shot via stdin (no copy needed)
docker exec -i strom bash < scripts/setup/decklink/probe-signal.sh

# Or copy in and run repeatedly
docker cp scripts/setup/decklink/probe-signal.sh strom:/tmp/probe-signal.sh
docker exec strom bash /tmp/probe-signal.sh

Sample output:

=== DeckLink devices visible to GStreamer ==="
…
=== Probing inputs for signal (timeout 3s per probe) ===

 device | connection    | result
 -------+---------------+-------------------
   0    | sdi           | SIGNAL 1080i50
   1    | sdi           | no signal
   2    | sdi           | SIGNAL 2160p50

Tunable via env vars (see top of the script):

Variable	Default	Purpose
`DECKLINK_DEVICES`	`0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7`	Device numbers to probe
`DECKLINK_CONNECTIONS`	`sdi hdmi optical-sdi component composite svideo`	Connections to try per device
`DECKLINK_PROBE_TIMEOUT`	`3`	Seconds to wait for a buffer before declaring no signal
`VERBOSE`	`0`	Set `1` to dump raw `gst-launch` output for each probe

The script auto-skips device-numbers that don't exist on the host and connections that aren't valid for the card model, so the output stays clean even on cards that only expose sdi.

Troubleshooting

DeckLink devices not visible in container

Symptom: No devices found when running gst-device-monitor-1.0

Solutions:

Verify devices exist on host: ls -la /dev/blackmagic/
Ensure --privileged flag is used
Check device mount: -v /dev/blackmagic:/dev/blackmagic

"Failed to load DeckLink drivers"

Symptom: Error about missing DeckLink libraries

Solution: Mount all SDK libraries and support files:

-v /usr/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkAPI.so:ro
-v /usr/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:/lib/libDeckLinkPreviewAPI.so:ro
-v /usr/lib/blackmagic:/lib/blackmagic:ro

Card requires firmware update

Symptom: Card detected but not working properly

Solution: Update firmware on the host:

sudo BlackmagicFirmwareUpdater update
sudo reboot

Wrong video mode

Symptom: Black output or distorted video

Solution: Ensure the mode matches your signal:

Check input signal format
Use matching mode in Strom block configuration
Common modes: 1080p50, 1080p5994, 1080i50, 1080i5994, 2160p50

Multiple cards - selecting the right one

Symptom: Wrong card being used

Solution: Use the device-number property:

device-number=0 for first card
device-number=1 for second card
etc.

List all cards with: DesktopVideoUpdateTool --list (firmware/serial only), BlackmagicFirmwareUpdater status, or BlackmagicDesktopVideoSetup (GUI, shows the connector mapping per sub-device — see "Configure the Card" above).

Platform Compatibility

Platform	DeckLink Support	Notes
Linux Native	Yes	Full support
Docker (Linux)	Yes	Requires privileged mode + mounts
Windows	No	Docker on Windows doesn't support PCIe passthrough
macOS	No	Docker on macOS doesn't support PCIe passthrough
WSL2	No	No PCIe passthrough

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Blackmagic DeckLink Setup for Strom

Overview

Prerequisites

Host Requirements

Supported Cards

Host Setup

1. Install Desktop Video Software

2. Update Card Firmware (if needed)

3. Verify Installation

4. Configure the Card (Connector Mapping & Profile)

Running the GUI on a headless host (X11 forwarding)

What to look at in the GUI

Running Strom with DeckLink in Docker

Required Docker Options

Basic Usage

Production Setup (with GPU and Network)

Docker Compose Example

Using DeckLink in Strom

DeckLink Input Block

DeckLink Output Block

Testing Inside Container

Detecting Which Inputs Have Signal

Troubleshooting

DeckLink devices not visible in container

"Failed to load DeckLink drivers"

Card requires firmware update

Wrong video mode

Multiple cards - selecting the right one

Platform Compatibility

Additional Resources

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Blackmagic DeckLink Setup for Strom

Overview

Prerequisites

Host Requirements

Supported Cards

Host Setup

1. Install Desktop Video Software

2. Update Card Firmware (if needed)

3. Verify Installation

4. Configure the Card (Connector Mapping & Profile)

Running the GUI on a headless host (X11 forwarding)

What to look at in the GUI

Running Strom with DeckLink in Docker

Required Docker Options

Basic Usage

Production Setup (with GPU and Network)

Docker Compose Example

Using DeckLink in Strom

DeckLink Input Block

DeckLink Output Block

Testing Inside Container

Detecting Which Inputs Have Signal

Troubleshooting

DeckLink devices not visible in container

"Failed to load DeckLink drivers"

Card requires firmware update

Wrong video mode

Multiple cards - selecting the right one

Platform Compatibility

Additional Resources