Vertical blue lines on Barco DP2K-12C

[Sebastian Plamadeala]

Hello,

I do hope somebody here experienced such an issue, as i am ad the end of my wits. I have a color grading studio and i run the projector without any server, only from hd sdi input.

2 Weeks ago, my Barco 12C has vertical blue lines appearing at random times on the projection. Its present even in the internal test patterns as well.

I have tried switching the Green and Blue channel cables in the signal board, to see if this issue comes up with green bars, or if it changes. The issue does not. Once i plug in the cables in the signal board correctly, the issue appears in 10-20 minutes. After a reboot of the projector, it goes away, but comes back at random intervals. It came up after 5 hours, after 8 hours, or after 10 minutes. Its never constant.

I talked to barco service guys and they guided me on how to change cables, and try different things about this issue, but they are stomped as well, as inverting signal cables does not cause the issue to appear. Did a firmware upgrade to the latest version, but same issue.

I know the 3 main culprits are the ICP board, the optical assembly, or the signal board itself, but cannot pinpoint.
Im trying to get another ICP board from somewhere as the cinemas are closed, but what if the issue still appears? Optical assembly or signal board?

Once the issue appears, signature tests all fail.

Can you advise?

Best,
Sebastian

[Carsten Kurz]

Probably the formatter board connection. Not the first time, and typical to occur sporadic or heat related.

[Marco Giustini]

Sebastian

Are you saying that when you swap the signal cables between two colours all works ok - but with colours swapped - and when you put them back the blue lines come back again?
If that is the case I had a very similar issue where a picture issue would appear only with a certain configuration of wiring - swapping cables would flip colours but the picture corruption would not be there.

If this is the case, very hard to say what could the problem be. If the issue is with patterns as well, in theory this points to the formatter as Carsten mentioned.

[Sebastian Plamadeala]

Thank you so much for your answers.

@Marco, yes, with the cables swapped, the is no issue, only colours are wired. I had it run 2 days without the issue appearing. Once i plugged the cables correctly, issue appeared in 5 minutes. And yes, issue is in the patterns as well, so that would leave out the ICP board.

If its the formatter, that means i have to change the optical assembly entirely, no? Or is it partially serviceable?

Can it be heat related? Its 26*C in ambient temperature i see in the sensors.

Best,
Sebastian

[Randy Stankey]

It's not directly because of heat. It's because of repeated cycles of heating and cooling which make the circuit boards and other components expand and contract. Over time, this can cause circuit boards to "walk" out of their connections.

It doesn't have to be a great amount of heat to cause this to happen. Only a few degrees of repeated warm/cool cycling would be enough to cause this to occur, over time.

Dust, corrosion or oxidation between the mating surfaces of the contacts in a connector can also cause this.

Your first-line solution should be to remove the boards from their edge connectors, carefully clean the contacts and mating surfaces then reinstall, making sure that the connections are sound.

If the engineers who designed the equipment and the manufactures who built it used better connectors, this wouldn't be such a problem.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I had that very thing happen on a brand new NC-2000... green channel... and it ws an improperly torqued green DMD formatter board.

[Randy Stankey]

We have electronic interconnects that fly to Mars without failing.

Of course, that kind of thing would be tres expensive to put into a stupid movie projector but the point is, when something is known to fail and we know the reasons why, how come people keep using the same thing?

I’ve seen equipment go up in smoke because of ill-fitting edge connectors.

[Sebastian Plamadeala]

Thank you so much for your answers.

Just an update, i changed the ICP board from another projector it seems that the artefact is no longer, BUT the whole blue channel goes out. See photo.

After i changed the board, i let it run for about 8 hours. No defect. I shut the projector down, let it rest 15 minutes, turned off air conditioning in the projector case. Then i power the projector on, turned on AC, it was fine. Then after 5 minutes, the blue channel went byebye.

I rebooted from the communicator, and it was fine for 5 minutes, then again the defect. Still it worked for 8 hours in the morning with no issue. Im starting to think it is temperature related also.

Strange fact, when the defect was present, with my old ICP, the IMB external signature tests and ICP internal signature test were failed. With this ICP, only the ICP internal signature test is failing, the IMB signature is passed.

Will try to take out the optical assembly and reseat the blue dmd connectors, see what happens.

All the best,
Sebastian

[Miguel Angel Cruz]

Hi , a few months ago I had a similar problem with a DP15C with GDC SX3000, there were red stripes similar to the ones you show, and what I did was remove the metal plates that serve as the separation between the ICP and the server, redirect the air conditioning to the projector and the problem is solved.

[Steve Guttag]

I would invest in some Deoxit and treat both the ICP board and the socket(s) on the signal backplane. It is quite likely that the signal backplane connectors are your culprit. Barco is a bit notorious for its signal backplanes going noisy. If that is the case, then signal backplane replacement is really the only solution which, as parts go, isn't all that pricey. It is just the PITA of unplugging most everything and getting it out. Unfortunately, I've gotten faster with the various ones I've done.

When the display is in the failure state...try pressing IN on the ICP board (press very firmly) and see if the image changes/fixes...a further indication of signal backplane connector issue.

Additionally, remove the ICP, loosen the three screws that secure the front panel to the board and separate the panel as far from the board as possible (it won't be much...maybe a mm or less. Then tighten the screws. This will force the ICP to go further into the sockets on the signal backplane which may resolve the problem for a while as it will put a different part of the contact on the board and get more of the board into the connector.

[Leo Enticknap]

It is just the PITA of unplugging most everything and getting it out. Unfortunately, I've gotten faster with the various ones I've done.

Compared to getting the card cage motherboard out of one of the more compact NECs, extracting the backplane from a Barco "C" series is a walk in the park. Which is just as well, because, as you point out, they fail pretty frequently, especially in humid booths or pods, and/or if the air filters aren't cleaned regularly. In most of the cases that I've had to replace a backplane, I've found the card cage air filter to be gross and disgusting, and often the site staff are completely unaware that it's supposed to be cleaned every month.

[Marco Giustini]

What Steve said.
Failing that, you may need a new engine or a new backplane or a new set of cables - but I am not sure Barco sell them without the engine.

It's such a weird issue that only a specific cable combination is causing the issue!

[Marcel Birgelen]

or a new set of cables - but I am not sure Barco sell them without the engine.

I can't speak for the situation right now or for Cinionic in general, but Barco did so in the past...

[Steve Guttag]

I, actually had Barco refuse to sell the cables as a part...even though the part number is right on the cable. That said...a box mysteriously showed up with the cable in it! Barco isn't set up to sell discrete parts like that. They sell assemblies unless a discrete part is considered a wear item.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I, actually had Barco refuse to sell the cables as a part...even though the part number is right on the cable. That said...a box mysteriously showed up with the cable in it! Barco isn't set up to sell discrete parts like that. They sell assemblies unless a discrete part is considered a wear item.

For me it was a rather similar situation.
Yes, they like to sell "complete assemblies", getting them to sell you individual parts can be quite a pain. But that doesn't mean it never happens. That's why I needed to add the disclaimer.