Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: pre show projector automation

This is topic pre show projector automation in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=011212

Posted by Bradley Johnson (Member # 5154) on 04-13-2012, 12:29 PM:

It is with great sadness that we (The Newport Roxy) have said good bye to our dual carbon arc lamp, 35mm simplex projectors. Not only have we converted to digital (we open tonight), but we have also converted the theater from a 450 seat single screen to a three screen house. It has been quite a undertaking driven by a unkind budget. My question for the forum is based on controlling a pre show projector. We have a Integ Jnior automation system that controls the in house lights, curtain, etc. The projector that I would like to just turn on and off is a Benq sp830. The Benq has a serial port for control. Is there a box that can be controlled via the Jnior that will send commands via RS-232 to the Benq?

Thank you

Posted by Peter Castle (Member # 1997) on 04-14-2012, 03:37 AM:

Why do you need a pre-show projector?
Use your main projector. There's no real saving in using another one.
The main projector lamp going to be on all the time anyway.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 04-14-2012, 09:04 AM:

The Jnior can do it all. Contact Rick Shulkowski at Integ for the exact setup procedure, it's not hard but I can't explain it correctly.
You load a "Cinema Jnior" package into the Jnior 310. Then in the Jnior you set up the projector as a device, link some commands to it, and the Jnior will control the projector via the serial port. You send macro commands to the Jnior from your server as usual, and the Jnior takes care of the serial control of the projector.

Posted by Bradley Johnson (Member # 5154) on 04-14-2012, 03:46 PM:

quote: Peter Castle
Why do you need a pre-show projector?
Use your main projector. There's no real saving in using another one.

yep, I said the same thing but the owner seems to think that it will be cheaper to run the preshow adds on the small projector. Also the preshow video is on VGA sent to all rooms via a computer. I would have to adapt from VGA to something the Barco has inputs for. The other issue is that the owner wants to run a consumer Blu ray player into the pre show projector for special events. If I am not mistaken, consumer dvd and blu ray will not play through the big projector because of security? I do not know this for fact, havent tried it yet.

Thanks

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 04-14-2012, 05:41 PM:

If one really does the math...it is cheaper to use the xenon lamp in the DCinema projector than the lamp(s) in a cheap consumer projector (cost/hour...especially if equal lumens are used).

As for BluRay...if you set the BluRay to 1080p output, you can connect straight up to the DVI inputs via a suitable adapter or adapter cable (HDMI to DVI)...this is true of any DLP projector. Most of the IMBs coming out have an HDMI input to facilitate this as well.

As for the VGA signal...yes, that would need to be adapted via a suitable scaler/converter...of which there are many. One could also distribute the DVI signal as well now via Cat 5/6 solutions.

Posted by Peter Castle (Member # 1997) on 04-14-2012, 09:35 PM:

We feed all sorts of video signals through our NEC, by passing them first into a domestic receiver (an Onkyo). This rescales DVD, computer, BluRay, and STB - while switching these inputs.
Works like a charm, although I think I need a Gefen box to avoid the HDCP handshake delays. The difficult situation with this setup is it is not automated - lots of button pressing.