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Author Topic: D-Cinema...post your pros and cons of the different equipment Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 09-26-2013 10:31 PM                        Thanks for that info Steve. We've been having some lamp strike issues on a Ushio 6500w bulb which is at about 450 hours. The lamp is fine once lit, but the projector times out after two strike attempts. I added a second lamp strike to the Macros, but we're still getting failures about 50% of the time. I'll wait to apply the update until after this weekend.  |  IP: Logged Mathias Decru Film Handler Posts: 2 From: West-Vlaanderen, Waregem, Belgium Registered: Sep 2013 posted 09-27-2013 09:51 AM                       quote: Steve Guttag Following up on this topic. Barco just issued 1.11.133. This is supposed to improve lamp strike reliability. I have loaded it and it not only updates the main software, it is the first update in a LONG, LONG time that updates the Lamp Power Supply software. My guess is that they are also ramping it during the whole lamp striking process. There are developments on different levels happening. Some part of it is due to how the Barco software boots up the lamp and some part is due to design changes on the lamp manufacturer side (which they sometimes forget to mention). The software update isn't the holy grail, but it's a first step. Edit: and add to that that some lamp manufacturers have a more consistent product. The engineering is very delicate..  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 09-28-2013 05:40 AM                     quote: Steve Guttag They just issued 1.10.118 software but I didn't see that issue in the release notes so I'm guessing it will wait for 1.11 quote: Changes / Bugfixes in 1.11.133 The lamp strikes are improved You're a massive source of information Steve!  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 09-28-2013 05:37 PM                     Potential bug in 1.11.133 on Barco software. While using Communicator, you may not see the icons of all of the projectors in your complex.  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 09-29-2013 04:34 AM                     Thanks, this is great to know.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-29-2013 02:35 PM                     I just hit 193 installs as of last week. The list of issues I've had are actually all minor and are as follows... My installs have been ALL NEC,GDC and USL. I've done just two installs of used Series One stuff, both Barco and Dolby. It usually just doesn't pay to buy used. Most banks around this area also won't finance used gear. GDC 2000AR: IMB most recently. Luckily I was on site when this happened. Symptom was no network com even though the green light indicated chatter. The result was no SM Connection ad of course no Cinelink. NC-3240: Two bad 4K light engines both with stuck blue pixels. These were not stuck at first and actually grew in numbers as time went on over several months. This was on Projector Serial numbers 11 and 14 when 4K stuff had just started shipping. I replaced both engines under warranty. The installation time could have been cut in half if NEC had supplied the engine along with it's carrage and cables instead of just a bare light egine. But hey, they're paying for it! NC-2000 Had one building full of NC-2000's get hit by lightening three years ago and several days later one of the Sanrex switchers died near where the lightning hit the building. Strong sent out Paul Mayer to repair that unit under warranty and it was only down one day. NEC General: The white AC On power switches continue to break. This is a German made product too! Strong gets $80.00 for them but they are available over seas for about $12.00. AC On Fan Warning. For fan 6. NEC Tech Support (Not Strong) states a minimum 20K hour fan life while the fan manufacturer states 50K hours minimum. I have not had this go off on all projectors I tend to that have exceeded 20K hours, it's only happened on three. NEC says to just reset the warning and keep an eye on fan speed at normal service intervals. Projectors will throw a different warning anyway if the fan goes under speed. So whats the need for the warning in the first place? NEC can't answer that. I think NEC can do away with this warning! You get red lights but it doesn't stop the show. RAID Hard drive failures... mostly Seagate on everyone's servers, just a couple of Hitachi's. No OS drive failures. I don't really count hard drives as failures. I count them as an expendable item anyway. Many of the GDC's I've installed have a back up OS drive in them. There is room for at least three drives in the OS carrage. GDC will also sell new servers equipped this way if you ask them. Mute point on the SX-3000 as it uses an SSD of sorts. No Lamp explosions, no fan failures, no projector module failures. Lots of early Osram lamp failures. Just one or two early Ushio failures. Only a few firmware upgrade failures that failed in progress which required the ICP rescue app. These failures were early on. No failures of NC-900 or SX-3000's at all. The NC-900 continues to amaze me. A couple of TMS issues, mostly with Cinedigm but patches take care of those issues usually in quick order. A few issues with GDC TMS. Cinedigm is way too comprehensive and GDC is way too lacking. Both serve their purpose though. Servicing is much much easier and most is handled remotely and... I am no longer impregnated with projector oil! Mark  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 09-29-2013 03:35 PM                        I wanted to come on here today and mention something: It's been a little over a year now since Integrity installed our G.D.C./Christie Digital equipment. After I fixed all the installation problems -we have been running virtually problem free ever since. (*knocks on wood) I want to say that the G.D.C. servers and the Christie 2210 projectors have actually impressed me - so far. The biggest issue has absolutely been the I.M.B.s. Other than that I feel very lucky to work with this equipment. I've seen multiplex theatres with Solaria Ones not networked together and the managers having to ingest through USB every week. Other problems that just boggle my mind. Anyways...  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-04-2013 12:30 PM                     It would appear that I had an issue with just one site with Communicator and Barco 1.11.133 not "finding" the projectors on its own. All other sites that we have installed 1.11.133 have had zero issues thus far with either operation or interaction with "Communicator."  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-12-2013 12:21 AM                        For what it's worth...a friend of mine has a 24-screen circuit; they have two four-plexes, and the rest are twins and singles. All locations have Barco projectors with Doremi servers. They finished their conversion about a year ago. Talking to him at the convention this week, he said so far they have had 3 hard drive failures, and 1 bulb explosion. I forgot to ask him what kind of bulbs he was using....and he wasn't sure what the hard drives were. Other than the above, most of their problems were operator error and/or training issues.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-12-2013 07:41 AM                     Thus far, all of my HDD failures were Seagates. I won't use them anymore. All lamp explosions have been Osram. I have had a couple of Ushio failures...one was a DOA, the other was heat damage due to lack of exhaust.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-12-2013 01:11 PM                        Seagates love to fail. Every single Seagate of mine has failed long before it should have. I've never had a lamp explode ever.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-14-2013 12:25 PM                     I agree on the Seagate thing except for their SAS drives. They seem to run for just about ever. I've also had a couple of Hitachi SATA's fail.... including one at Mike's theater that was only about a year old. I use the same 2 tb Hitachi's in my TMS's and I've now also see one failure there. So don't think that even a high end hard drive won't ever fail! I always considered Hard Drives an expendable item like a lamp. Have only ever seen one explosion in a CP-2000 running a Ushio 6kw lamp. Idiot manager allowed it to go 43 hours over time. Ushio and Christie still covered the repairs anyway... No lamp explosions in an NEC's yet. I only run Ushios any more.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-14-2013 12:49 PM                        We did have one Ushio bulb (4kw) fail but it just stopped igniting at about 250 hours or so. That's the only bulb failure we've ever had in my years in the business. We used Christie bulbs in the film era and almost all Ushios since we've been digital.  |  IP: Logged

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