NEC NC2500s & NEC NC1600C-A running GDC 2100A Server (Continued from Archive)

[Steve Wilson]

I too have a GDC Server running 7.7a-rc15 software. It rans SEPMTE files just fine. However the GDC SA-2100A Certificate expires this March 9th. By the time that I upgrade the Server to version 8.0, I am assuming it will not run on my Series One NEC NC1600C-A? So we plan on finding a Dobly DSS 100 which still has long certificate dates with the proper software to run on the series one. One of my buddies runs a half a dozen or more Series One projectors this way and some are nearly 15 years old. Does anyone see any problems getting this to work?

"Dolby DSS100 Show Stores and DSP100 Show Players to link to
the projector via HD-SDI. In this configuration, no GORE boards are needed. So they say. I'm no expert, I do not know DCI cinema to that level of knowledge."

This is a remedy to get a few more years out of this projector. We are on a very limited budget

www.HolidayDriveIn.BiZ

[Leo Enticknap]

The Series 1 NEC will need a Gore board in it if you want to be able to play SMPTE DCPs reliably.

For the SMPTE DCPs to work, you will need to update the DSS100/DSP100 to the final software/firmware version that was published for it, which is 4.7.8.7. If you get your hands on a unit that is on an earlier version, this can be done: the last time I did one (last fall), Dolby were still selling update KDMs, and the cost is not significant.

The gotcha is that this is a DCI-compliant software version, that does not allow the use of Cinelink II DH (Diffie-Hellman) link encryption through the HD-SDI cables; only Cinelink II TLS (transport layer security). To be able to use TLS, the projector must have a Gore board. All the NEC 1600s and 2500s I've encountered have had them, though I believe that there are a few early ones that don't. There is a way to see in Series 1 DCC if yours has one or not, but I'm not 100% sure what you have to look for (maybe others could help?). This DCC screengrab was taken from a 2500 running with a DSS200/cat862 on version 4.0.9.6, so if you see this on your 2500, you should be OK.

NEC_S1_hasgoreboard.png
If you have a DSS100/DSP100 with a pre-DCI software version (4.3 or earlier), it will work with a projector that does not have a Gore board, but you almost certainly won't be able to play recent SMPTE DCPs on it.

One useful thing to note is that a DSP100's firmware can be downgraded from a DCI to a pre-DCI firmware version if you discover that it won't communicate with your projector, and you have the KDM to reinstall the pre-DCI version. The firmware on a cat862 (the media block in a DSS200) cannot - if you find one on 4.3 or earlier, and upgrade it to a DCI version, that is a one-way ticket.

[Dave Macaulay]

There are two basic interface board styles - either with or without the security cladding: a board with it looks like a slab of black plastic, and it has a charging wire hanging off it because there is a battery to power the security system... the board will die if left unpowered for a while (6 months?). These secure ones will all do TLS.
The open ones (you can see the parts on the circuit board) come in several types. The early ones can not do TLS and a DCI compliant server won't work with them. Ever.
Later ones can maybe do TLS but it is not certain: some need a "certificate recovery" process, some just work, and some won't do it at all ever
Your image does not help identify yours to me but I don't see many NEC S1 projectors. Maybe "SD" means it is slabbed and good?
Best is a type 5-S board, the last version made. A type 4 should do TLS. Type 3 maybe. Type 2 or 1, out of luck IMO.
Using the TI S1 control software will tell you the version if DCC won't. If you open the projector card cage and see one board that's a black slab you should be ok, may need the cert recovery though if it has never fone TLS before.

[Stephan Shelley]

With a Dolby DSS 100 or 200 with cat 862 you can always set it to cinelink I. That will work with any series 1 projector. That is with any software for the Dolby server even the DC compliant software.

[Steve Guttag]

Leo, the Gore board isn't required to play SMPTE content. There is nothing special about it. All the GORE board is, is a security enclosure. It doesn't affect the TI board's ability to playback anything. In fact, Christie was swapping GORE (Glue Cable) boards of the same "type" number during their program. Now, it was/is possible for the KDMs to check for "Security Enclosure" to prevent playback on non-equipment machines but I've yet to see anyone set that flag. Through attrition, it will progressively be less and less of the non-issue it always was. The only people that HAD to pay for the GORE boards were those wanting VPFs because that was tied to receiving the funds.

This is an active projector still running SMPTE packages, no GORE. Note it is a Type 4 board.


This is one with the GORE board (and is at a site that was in a VPF program. It is a Type 5 board:





Those are Barcos but the same would be true on NECs. And, if you look in the server logs, you'll likely see where the server checks the security enclosure status (at least I'm pretty sure I've seen it on Dolby's DSS servers).

[Leo Enticknap]

Sorry - I'll rephrase that - it is necessary to have a board that can handle TLS decryption in order to be able to be certain that you will be able to play SMPTE DCPs (unless, possibly, you have a media block andp projector input board that both have Cinelink I capability). Without TLS, you are restricted to pre-DCI media block firmware.

With a Dolby DSS 100 or 200 with cat 862 you can always set it to cinelink I

Can you also use Cinelink I with a DSP100 (which is what the OP is interested in) running 4.7.8.7? I've never tried.

[Stephan Shelley]

Dolby system 4.7.8.7 is the newest software a DSS/DSP 100 can run. It is DCI compliant and supports SMPTE encrypted subtitles/closed captions. No Cinelink II DH but can do Cinelink I.

[Steve Wilson]

From what I understand. Dolby Version 4.3.5(13) has been running SMPTE Files with no problems on series One machines. I was running SMPTE files with no problem on my GDC 2100 too. With pretty old software.

[Carsten Kurz]

Maybe, but not if they come with MXF/encrypted subtitles.

[Leo Enticknap]

AFAIK, 4.3.5(13), which is the final pre-DCI version, will play SMPTE DCPs as long as they don't have dynamic channel routing with non-ISDCF channel assignments (in other words, as long as 1 = L / 2 = R / 3 = C / 4 = LFE / 5 = LSS / 6 = RSS / 7 = HI / 8 =VI / 9 = L front extra / 10 = R front extra / 11 = LRS / 12 = RRS on the DCP, you'll be OK, but if the channel assignments are different, you'll have to correct for that in the audio processor, if it's possible to do so), or encrypted CCAPs or subtitles, which won't work. The latter restriction could cause an ADA compliance issue if your CCAP readers stop working when an SMPTE DCP is being played.

[Carsten Kurz]

I don't think dynamic channel routing will ever happen in real life DCPs.

[Leo Enticknap]

I've encountered it once - an SMPTE DCP in which LRS and RRS were on 7 and 8, and HI and VI were on 15 and 16. I wish I could remember the title, but I can't - it was a documentary about a jazz musician, but that's all I can remember. The complaint was that "a strange muffled noise" was audible through the HI headsets. This was a 5.1 only house, so the absence of back surrounds went unnoticed. The server was a Doremi DCP2000 running ancient firmware (I don't think it had been updated at all since the initial installation in 2011). Playing around with the channel routing established what the problem was. When the software and media block firmware was updated to current versions, everything worked OK with the channel routing on defaults, so the issue must have been that it couldn't read the dynamic routing channel tags.

[Carsten Kurz]

There was a short time when a transition to shift HI/VI to 15/16 was considered. If early servers all had 16ch outputs, that would have been the best decision anyway. But as many only offered 8ch at first, they needed 7/8.

I don't think any productive mastering software so offers dynamic channel routing. I think there wasn't even a test package available by ISDCF. I think they quickly understood what that would mean for exhibitors, so they settled for WildTrackFormat (which also offers a suitable acronym).

- Carsten

[Steve Guttag]

HI/VI were originally tracks 15/16 though I never understood why EITHER needed to take up a full-range PCM track when both could be low bandwidth. Which servers couldn't handle 16-channels of PCM audio when that was in the format since day-1? All DSS servers could handle it. The GDC SX2100/SX2000 could handle it. To the best of my knowledge, the Doremi line could handle it. Qube? What minority player could have dictated the switch? I think it was a convenience factor that most installations only ran 8-channels on a single cable (AES3) so 7/8 were already wired. Originally, they were to be LC/RC but got bumped to 9/10.

[Leo Enticknap]

That was my understanding, too - that in some installations, only one Ethernet cable for the AES audio would be run, and that if that happened, losing the back surrounds was the lesser of two evils relative to losing the HI and VI (possible - and now, in the USA at least, actual - legal implications).