When you plug your camera into a monitor or capture card via HDMI, do you see all the display information like shutter speed, audio levels, ISO, and more? In many cases, you only want to see the video feed and none of the display information, so here is how to set up a clean HDMI output on your camera.

What Is Clean HDMI?

Clean HDMI is camera output over HDMI that does not display overlays such as settings or audio levels. In short, it allows you to export over HDMI what would otherwise be recorded as a normal video.

Here is a camera without a clean HDMI output and all display settings present:

Output without setting clean HDMI
 

Here is a camera with clean HDMI:

Clean HDMI exampleWhy Even Bother With a Clean Output?

In any scenario using your camera as a webcam or connecting to a larger monitor, you generally want the video feed and nothing else. This is especially useful for creators who live stream using their cameras alongside a capture card, filmmakers using a larger monitor to better preview shots with their team, or even families sharing home videos on their TV.

There are certainly scenarios when you may not want a clean HDMI output, too, such as if a photography or film crew needs to see all the camera settings being used from a distance. However, it’s important to know how to adjust these settings.

How to Set Up Clean HDMI

Find your camera’s HDMI settings and disable any setting that resembles HDMI Info. Display, as setting names may differ from camera to camera or company to company.

On the Sony a6600, hit the Menu button, go to the Setup section, and open HDMI Settings.

Sony a6600 settings for clean HDMI output 1
 

Then, set HDMI Info. Display to Off to set clean HDMI. To re-enable outputting your settings via HDMI, simply set the same setting to On.

Sony a6600 settings for clean HDMI output 2
 

For most cameras, you can follow the same guidelines for finding the setting, though the exact names or setting directions may differ.

Make Full Use of Your Camera

While a clean HDMI output is relatively niche need, it certainly allows you to unlock more ways to use your camera. It’s important to know how to make full use of your gear!