Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: How is this equipment?

This is topic How is this equipment? in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Brian D. Whitish (Member # 825) on 08-14-2012, 07:50 AM:

Landmark theatres is rollingout digital cinema over the next few months. My theatre is getting the following:
Projector- Barco DP2K-15C
Servers-GDC
Sound Processor-Ultra Stereo JSD-100
My screens are 13.5 feet in height 32 feet in width for scope.
Anybody have any experience with any of this equipment? Going to miss my Norelco AA2s.

Posted by Bajsic Bojan (Member # 4928) on 08-14-2012, 08:20 AM:

some people here own the C series, so you can get some idea from posts, the problems mostly being about not properly air conditioning the booth and thus overheating the equipment, so make sure your booth has proper exhaust.

the USL i cannot comment as it's not available here, but there are two representative of USL on this forum and are generally very helpful. there doesnt seem to be an abundance of issues with the equipment either.

you forgot to mention if there is 3D system to be installed, as the 15C is ok for 32ft screen for 2D, but will not get the required luminance on a dolby 3D system, or probably any other 3D system without a high gain screen.

Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 08-15-2012, 08:56 AM:

Iv never seen a Barco in person but have herd good things. The JSD-100 is a great processor. It's got all the inputs that you could want for alt-content and Iv never had a problem with any JSD equipment. The GDC is a good server. I work at a theater with 4 of them and any problem get resolved fairly quickly. Tech support was always helpful to me although I think for the price they could do a little more polishing on the software though.

Posted by Clint Koch (Member # 1179) on 08-15-2012, 12:27 PM:

Brian, USL, Inc. has sold thousands of the JSD's world wide. We support our products 100%.
Bajsic, not sure why you say that the JSD-100 is not available where you are. We sell these all around the world. If you need a product that we manufacture just contact me.
Jake, thanks for the compliment on the JSD-100.
Clint

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-15-2012, 10:49 PM:

Those JSD-80's (analog and digital) and 100's (digital only) are absolutely nothing to kick around like an old tire - sweetest units to have in any digital conversion.

And, if one want's to keep their analog equipment, pick up the USL ECi60 interface units ... nothing goes wrong here.

Good luck as always to USLinc !!

-Monte

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-16-2012, 12:33 AM:

The JSD-80 is the film processor. I have only worked in one place that had one, but it worked fine. There was one flaw (or perhaps this was by design; if so, it is a weird design choice, though) with that unit that I ran into that almost bit me: when a laptop is attached and "connected" to it and a film format is selected, the changeover command is ignored and the selected projector input stays active until the "disconnect" option is selected in the software. Otherwise, it seemed to be a well-designed unit. It even has a separate main output and monitor output (which is one of my complaints with the CP650).

As for the D-cinema stuff mentioned above, the GDC server still does not have any redundancy for the boot disk. If that fails, the unit is essentially dead until the disk is replaced. As for the Barco, I have no particular opinion other than that you will want the touch panel for it (which, for some reason, is an option) or a computer that is running the Barco software (which does the same thing and is probably cheaper).

Posted by Chuck McGregor (Member # 6826) on 08-16-2012, 01:27 AM:

quote:
Monte said:
Those JSD-80's (analog and digital) and 100's (digital only) are absolutely nothing to kick around like an old tire - sweetest units to have in any digital conversion.

For what it's worth, I agree. I've had considerable experience with countless (mostly non-cinema) professional audio processors of various types, particularly digital ones since their earliest days (late 1980s). I am also blessed? / cursed? with a reliable sixth sense about electronic equipment. Unlike a lot of equipment I've dealt with, and apart from doing its job well in all ways, the JSD-80 gives me warm, fuzzy feelings.

I had several fairly obscure technical questions about its inner workings that were kindly answered in full by Clint of USL - Thanks again, Clint!

Posted by Clint Koch (Member # 1179) on 08-16-2012, 01:52 PM:

Thanks for the kind words. I can't take all the credit, we have a wonderfull support staff here at USL and I fully utilize each and everyone of them when needed. Harold pokes his head in here quite often and alot of credit needs to be thrown his way.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 08-16-2012, 02:48 PM:

Yes, the Barco "communicator" touchscreen is an option. And expensive.
Barco and Christie have different approaches to things. If you have several Barco projectors you don't really need a touchscreen for every one: day to day control of the system is possible with the panel buttons, and in a normal installation even that is rarely needed as the server automation will completely control the projector. Plus you can run the communicator program on a PC and get the same interface. If you have the touchscreen you can vnc from it to the server console and control that from the projector - a nice feature - which the Christie TPC can't do. If the projectors are networked you can connect to any projector from one touchscreen (this is not a good idea though, it's ridiculously confusing to have the panel on one projector controlling a different one).
I believe the Christie TPC is an integral part of the projector so you don't have a choice: you get one with every system. You can use a PC to get the same interface via a web browser vnc login (they might support a normal vnc client as well but I haven't tried).
Christie projectors have motorized lamphouse adjustments and auto-alignment of the lamp. Christie has optional motorized lens adjustement, it's effective but looks like a Rube Goldberg invention bolted on the front of the projector - and costs a bundle. The motorized lens mount is available as a upgrade if you later decide you need it, but installing this kit is not fun at all.
With Barco you get the motorized lens functions (although you maybe can get non-motorized lenses for a cash saving if you choose (these may have been discontinued): you still get motorized lens shift on C models and shift plus focus on B models, but no motorized zoom unless you have a motorized lens). Barco doesn't give you a motorized lamp alignment but offer it as an option. To upgrade to it you need to replace the entire $$$ lamphouse assembly. Manually aligning the lamp is not difficult on a Barco and the automatic option is not as valuable (in my opinion) as a motorized lens mount to accommodate masking that requires a zoom and maybe lens shift change between formats - you need top/bottom/sides movable masking to have no lens changes needed between formats and use the full image chip areas. Some do this with scaling - but that is technically not allowed in the DCI spec (that almost nobody seems to care about).
So both have advantages. We are mostly installing Barco so I'm quite familiar with them: there's more thinking involved when I work on a Christie. A Christie installer would have the same feeling about Barco.
I don't know why Imax switched from Christie to Barco but they'll have pretty much the same issues... the internals are very similar and the TI "guts" are identical. I would rather change a Barco light engine than a Christie though, and convergence on Barco S2 is a breeze.
I could spout a lot of opinions on which is better but the differences are trivial enough that it comes down to other considerations - price, local support, VPF availability, etc.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-18-2012, 12:49 AM:

Why I comment on the JSD-80 is that some booths bought them for their existing 35mm units (or, even dual inventory projection units), but getting ready for digital for the JSD-80's to use .. being a dual system.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 09-22-2012, 03:26 PM:

quote: Dave Macaulay
If you have the touchscreen you can vnc from it to the server console and control that from the projector.

Can you explain how this is set up? I can't find any information on it in the projector or touch panel manuals.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 09-22-2012, 03:57 PM:

I've only done it with Doremi servers.
Doremi: Ingest the vnc package (v1.9 is current I think) into the server and reboot, admin password required: this package is on the Doremi tech ftp site.
Barco: On the projector touchscreen, logged in as "st", open the "server" tab in "control", and pick "edit connection properties" (these are all from memory and may be off). In "server name" or whatever, enter the server's IP address. No other info. Press "connect now". Enter the password and click "connect" and the server screen should just pop up. Log out to default and the server screen will come up when "server" is selected. Occasionally it forgets something and you have to log in as st and re-enter the address and password.
vnc password: It's not easily changed (OK, pretty easy for Linux gurus) and it's an odd one - not one of the other Doremi passwords - but I don't want to post it here. Doremi tech support will give it to you if you call or email them. They may also email you the vnc package if you don't have their ftp password. If you're on a TMS the vnc package will already be loaded since the NOC uses it to access the server. I have never seen the vnc password changed, but I haven't dealt with every NOC.
I understand GDC also supports this but I haven't seen it or set it up.

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 09-22-2012, 04:38 PM:

I reckon a small netbook would be cheaper than the Barco touchpanel and you can properly access everything from there.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 09-22-2012, 08:45 PM:

Doremi, Dolby, GDC all have VNC access available. Contact your tech or the manufacturer for the default passwords (or the changed passwords if that is the case).

A small laptop is absolutely cheaper than buying touchpanels. You don't need anything fancy at all.

Posted by Mark Pasquesi (Member # 7208) on 12-10-2012, 08:24 PM:

In one cinema we are using exactly a cheap laptop with a wifi connect
- having one machine to control the Christie, and the USL JSd-100,
from within the room is great!!
We can set our masks, and check the angle,
while testing the sound, and making sure th distribution is correct.
Only bug with the USL is that it does not remember the presets - so we saved our SMPTE control on the laptop, and reload it every time...
The SPTE is quite good, but... we have mixers noting low response from 1.5-10 k ... and the curve actually did drop this ..
If we have enough people say the same thing, we will set up a second, 'improved' smpte curve based on notes...
What's great with the laptop is that you can easily have various setups, and keep your controlled SMPTE...and 'improved' versions...

Posted by Harold Hallikainen (Member # 5405) on 12-10-2012, 11:20 PM:

I'm sorry to hear the JSD-100 is not holding presets! I hear this now and then and have not been able to duplicate it. My favorite setting for presets on the JSD-100 is "last used." It will remember the format fader level that was present when you switched away from that format. Please follow up with us at USL if we can help.

Harold

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 12-11-2012, 02:06 AM:

All top notch equipment. I'm sure everyone has their gripes, but when it comes down to it Barco, USL, and GDC are all good products. If it is all installed properly it will serve you well, if not then you will learn quickly how all of this stuff works...the hard way. That being said...it does seem like there is a period during the first two months where you may experience harware failures in the GDC or Barco units. I have not seen any problems with the USL processors though. Good luck.