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Topic: DOLBY DSS200 WITH TWO BARCO 23B MACHINES

Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 05-12-2014 02:08 PM

quote: Fred Schoenfeld
the weak link will be the hard drives (which I have two spares installed in the bays).

Fred, not to burst your bubble, but that's exactly what you DON'T want to do. Those extra 4 bays are spinning the drives, wearing them down just like the main 4 bays. You don't want the drives physically installed at all.

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 05-12-2014 03:01 PM

If it is only a backup why not pick up a used DSS200?

Allegedly, 4K micro-mirrors don't tilt as far as those on 2K DMDs which is why the contrast is less. If you have light to burn, you can do something about it with irised lenses.

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-12-2014 03:32 PM

I think it's a strange choice to have a backup projector, but not a backup server... "because of the cost." Buying 2 projectors is not what I'd consider a budget-conscious decision.

Whose idea was this??

With all due respect to Dolby's track record in audio, it does not automatically follow that their video products won't fail. (Does it even guarantee that their audio products won't fail?)

And on what basis was it determined that there would be regular, catastrophic failures caused by the projectors? Could the failures be due to improper configuration?

FWIW, my Dolby server (DSS200) takes much longer to reboot than my projector (Barco DP2K-32B) -- 6 minutes versus about 3 minutes. Even with one server and projector, a down-time of 10-12min would seem super-long.

Even so, I can't say it would justify the expense of a 2nd projector.

A full duplicate backup (server & projector) MIGHT make sense, but ONLY IF it meant it would be possible to be on-screen within a minute or so. Otherwise, just troubleshoot/reboot or whatever.

Speaking of troubleshooting -- has anyone ever taken the time to figure out why the projector in question "won't start at show time" ? Why not just fix that issue? (Again, could it be due to whacky configuration?)

For a "mission critical" screening, if an instant-switch would be possible by having the backup show actually running in tandem with the main program. But how often is that needed? Would it justify PURCHASING a duplicate system? I'd have to question that.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 05-12-2014 04:34 PM

They wouldn't give you keys for the duplicate server anyway. You're looking at a solid 20 minutes to get that authorized best case senario.

If he sets it up the way I suggested, he could switch over in less than a minute.

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Pete Naples
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1565
From: Dunfermline, Scotland
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 05-12-2014 04:58 PM

Manny, here we do just occasionally for festivals, premieres etc. Two complete systems, one running a minute behind the other. All that need be done to 'change over' is close one doswer, open the other and swap the audio. Also run with a spare processor.KDMs are not an issue in these circumstances.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 05-12-2014 08:30 PM

In our 2-projector system...both keys are issued with the movie. They are always studio screens and 1-offs so there is no 2nd chance. Both servers/projectors are running when the show is running.

That said...the last screening I was present for...we lost power!

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Fred Schoenfeld
Film Handler

Posts: 49
From: PORTSMOUTH, VA
Registered: Aug 2004

posted 05-13-2014 03:58 PM

Brad,
Thanks for the info. Since I was unable to tell if the slots at 5 and above well 'hot', I emailed Dolby tech support and this is what they said:

"Hi Fred,
Obviously these slots above #4 are not used, but I tried putting a drive in slot 5 and it does not spin and not getting power.

Hope this helps.

Norm"

I hope this is correct, if you find that it is not, please post!!

Also some of earlier posts questioned my reasoning for a 2 machine setup. All of the (projector related) failures were corrected by re-seating the PC cards within the projectors. Since they came installed, I had no reason to remove them; only when we had a failure, did I have to remove and re-seat them. Our DSS200 has had no issues since new.
Fred

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 05-13-2014 06:20 PM

Even BARCOS needs their cards reseated, esp when one gets an "ip-tcp" error and the tailight goes red.

But, sometimes a reboot of the projector cures this issue.

I get hiccups with my CP850s not recognizing ATMOS, and a reboot cures this one also.

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