Barco DP2K-12C light engine/missing colors issue

[Marin Zorica]

I've had a strange situation. DP2K-12C working just normal, with ICP + Doremi IMB. I have removed and installed ICMP-X in it, because I needed some quite 8doremi ShowVault fns are quite noisy) and after boot and marriage, everything as expected. Started some trailer and picture was all pinky........rebooted, reseated boards, cleaned contacts, update.......things as usual but still the same. Returned ICP and IMB back in projector, and also same problem......

So, tried test pattern, and have found only green is working, while red and blue dmd not! Swapped cables between green and red, now green is working on red test pattern. Then swapped green and blue, and then green is working on blue test pattern. So, basicly light engine failure on red and blue DMD, so nothing comes out from those two.
Went to try again with ICMP-X, same thing, only green is working, BUT!!!! On ICP, both red and blue colors are full off, so you can see only green color. While, when ICMP-X is installed, both RED and BLUE are fully on, and only green is having control, while blue and red are whole time 100% (that's where I have pink).

So yes, it should be engine failure on red and blue formatter/dmd, but it is strange that when ICP is used, both red and blue are fully off, and when ICMP-X is used, both red and blue are full on, complete opposite.
Only thing I did not tried are cable swap, but I rely doubt that could be issue.

I have tried to reinstall ICMP-x and ICP, also projector software. Projector was working ok last time, like two days ago, and now when powered with ICMP-X colors gone.
I bet, maybe it is just pure coincidence in same time while swapping IMB/ICP for ICMP-X.....

Any clues or ideas i could try out......?

[Leo Enticknap]

I'm wondering about the backplane. We know that they are an infamous failure risk in older Series 2 Barcos. Maybe the act of pulling and seating cards compromised the PCI receptacles?

[Steve Guttag]

I just changed a signal backplane. Blue was flaky. You could grab onto the cables by the sockets and make the color come and go. Changed the backplane...problem gone.

I'm also getting an uptick in CCB issues (changed another today). This time, it wasn't the typical router failure where you can't talk to the projector anymore (except via RS232). This one just started blaming the ICP AND the Enigma for lack of communication. Amazingly, one could use the TI program to talk to both (neither of which were showing errors or communication issues)...and, if you think about it, to talk to them, you are going through the CCB's router...and despite being able to talk to them, the CCB itself was saying error communicating to one or the other or both.

This stuff is getting old.

[Marin Zorica]

Backplane was actualy my first tought, as it can be damaged by pulling cards in and out, maybe losen connectors for icp etc.
But then again, when swap formatter cables on backplane, green formatter cables to red, green still works when red patten in chosen, so obvious, red output to formatter is working. If green is swapped with blue, also same green is working when blue is chosen, so either blue output is working too. Otherwise, if backplane is issue, when swapped, green to any other color, it shouldn't work!?
Only other bottleneck which is left, are formatter cables itself, but I give that low chance, as it is part which is not mowing at all.
Also tried to shake cables and board while pattern is running, but nothing changes.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Strange issue you have at hand. But since the DP2K-series don't have a FIB anymore, there is little you didn't eliminate with the exception of the backplane, I'm afraid.

[Leo Enticknap]

The other CCB issue I'm noticing an uptick in is the DVI inputs kicking the bucket; either completely stone cold dead, or with digital noise on the screen and a crap ton (or, given that this is a European projector, maybe a metric crap tonne?) of CRC errors registering in the diagnostics. Thankfully, the last time this happened was to a 2018 projector, the owner of which had kept up the warranty since it was new, so we got a free ICP-D to fix that problem with, as well as a CCB. I suspect that Barco are now short of TI CCBs and need as many as they can get their hands on to service users with IMBs that won't work with an ICP-D (e.g. Dolby cat745), hence their offer to replace both boards, even though I only asked for a CCB.

[Steve Guttag]

I've noted the DVI problem on, ironically, late-model CCBs. The original gen-1s haven't had the problem. But, if your projector SHIPPED with the good button panel, you have a late model CCB too and those are hit-and-miss.

My guess is that Barco is acknowledging the CCB/DVI issue and using the ICP-D as a means to "fixing" the problem by killing off the DVI ports and handing you a shiny new HDMI port to work with. And yes, the ICPs are being hoarded, essentially, for Dolby DSS server usage as they are the significant system that depends on the ICP for captions/subtitles.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I guess when they can hand-out "free" ICP-D's, they could as well hand out "free" refurbished ICMPs or ICMP-Xs when even those run out...

[Steve Guttag]

I doubt anything is free. However, Leo stated that the system was under extended warranty so, in a sense, the cost of the boards is included. It is up to Barco to "repair or replace" the faulty components to effect repairs.

[Leo Enticknap]

"Free" was likely a bit misleading on my part (or at least, I should have put it in quotes), because I would guess that the one-time purchase cost of an ICP-D plus a CCB is about what this customer paid for the five years of warranty extensions before the CCB DVI fault materialized. However, if this projector had not been in warranty, we would only have replaced the CCB.

[Marcel Birgelen]

It's free as in "free". Extended warranty is essentially an insurance plan with broad coverage. So, you'd expect the extended warranty to include all reasonable repairs to restore the system to a functioning state, even if that would entail replacing the entire machine with e.g. a newer model, because there are no spare parts left for the current one.

Nasty conflicts could happen though, if the server/IMB inside your projector isn't covered by (extended) warranty anymore, but your projector still is.

[Leo Enticknap]

In that scenario, if the IMB is malfunctioning and you suspect the projector as being the cause (e.g. a bad tamper switch or backplane/motherboard), Barco and SharpNEC will usually ask you to try the suspect IMB in another projector before shipping any parts. In a 'plex that is possible (though time consuming and disruptive), but in a single screen venue, it's not. I've been in a stalemate once or twice because of that.