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Topic: NEW, LOWER DTS DRIVE KIT PRICE

Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-22-2000 08:39 AM

Since the 8p is custom it channels are whatever you want it to be

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Karen Hultgren
Master Film Handler

Posts: 492
From: Agoura Hills, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-22-2000 01:11 PM

The latest version of EXE file spins the drives down when not used for 30 minutes. This works on the newer TEAC drives only (due to TEAC software requirements).

The drives we use and have used are the best available in the marketplace. We put them through vigorous testing and now RETEST before using.

Karen at DTS

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Karen Hultgren
Master Film Handler

Posts: 492
From: Agoura Hills, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-22-2000 01:13 PM

Hard drive on DTS player?

Well, we are looking into that and you will probably see a hard drive on a DTS player in the near future.

Karen at DTS

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Rory Burke
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 181
From: Burbank, CA, USA
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 08-23-2000 12:59 PM

What kind of computer is actually running the DTS. What are the system speciications of a typical DTS unit out in the field now?

Rory

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Dave Cutler
Master Film Handler

Posts: 277
From: Centennial, CO
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 08-23-2000 02:07 PM

The DTS-6D's I have used were 486 based computers. Really plenty of computing power for what they need to do.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-23-2000 04:36 PM

Actually they are 25 mhz 486's with only 4 meg of ram. Adding a video card to one is a nice touch as well. Especially for a special venue version. Lots of useful on screeen data is displayed.
Mark

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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene

Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 08-23-2000 10:40 PM

I have a lot of experience with designing and building units with hotswap scsi hard drives, meaning that they can be pulled while the unit is on, and no damage to the hard drive unit itself.

Knowing the technical workings of the DTS system I do not see why it would not be possible to engineer one in at all. It would take about two weeks to work out the rough details, and I would need a spare unit to work on, and about a thousand dollars to build it, but it is technically feasible.

Anyone want to pay me for two weeks the build it?

Dave

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-24-2000 07:57 AM

Dave, Give me a call. I have one in the shop we can use. Am in Indiana installing now but will be back next week.
Mark

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-24-2000 01:22 PM

I really fail to see any advantage to useing a removable hard drive.
Ideally all that is needed is a internal hard drive and the software to format it and replace its data with that on the newest set of cd's placed in it

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-24-2000 03:19 PM

Actually the removable drive idea is nice. One can keep drives with all logo sound tracks, trailers, etc. ready and able to be moved around between auditoriums. A slick idea indeed. Also bad drives could be pulled and easily replaced!!
Mark

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Bruce Hansen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 847
From: Stone Mountain, GA, USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 08-28-2000 04:45 PM

On alot of servers there is a "second" set of hard drives that are copies of the "first" set. If one of the main drives dies, the back-up takes over without the user knowing. With drives costing as little as they do today, this would not add much to the cost of the unit.

Bruce Hansen

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Steven Gorsky
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Frederick, MD, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 09-06-2000 02:54 AM

Being mostly a computer hardware person, and recently a projectionist. There are probably a lot of things that could be done to DTS players. I would take a look at one, but we have no extras, and I am sure Steve Guttag would not appreciate it (he is our tech). Anyone in Maryland or if DTS would be willing provide one, I am sure I could make a few improvements, maybe including the hard drive.

Steven Gorsky

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Projectionist

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-06-2000 07:13 PM

I have a problem with this concept of DTS reverse engineering in the field
The system works except for a problem with drive failures.
hopefully that problem is past. The machine is not easily adaptable to a lot of ideas that this forum is talking about.
It does have proprietary bios that looks for specific items
It also uses a ROM dos to load the OS
I really think the best solutions is to list your complaints with the system and let the engineers at DTS sort out solutions.
otherwise there will end up out in the field a bunch of hacked units that will be non servicable by anyone but the person who hacked them. This industry has been ill served in the past by many of these hacks

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Steven Gorsky
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Frederick, MD, USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 09-06-2000 11:10 PM

Actually, the only thing different between a DTS player and a computer are the timecode board, the playback board, rom card, and of course the case. For example recent IBM cash registers are really pc's in cash register cases. I used to work for Target, and the registers at guest service ran MS Windows. If I put the timecode card, playback board, rom card in my pc with scsi cd-roms it would work just as if it were a DTS player.

Steven Gorsky

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Projectionist

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 09-06-2000 11:50 PM

I wonder if anyone has tried converting a cash register into a DTS player? That would _really_ confuse the theatre techs...

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