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What might possibly make them not such a good solution for this particular use case is that DCI projectors are subject to extreme heat cycling. Take the worst case scenario of a 7kW lamp going on and off regularly only 6-7 inches from the card cage, and that's a lot of expansion and contraction cycles being applied to those PCI contacts and their receptacle. I would speculate that this has something to do with the high proportion of reseats fixing various issues, and to a lesser extent, backplane replacements.
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Dolby used gold finger cards on all of their analog cinema processors...we never had issues. I think it is the materials they are using, particularly since RoHS restrictions and they VERY low current signals that make them less suitable. Still, as noted above, Barco seems to have a particular problem with them so I have to suspect the connector they have chosen to use versus what the other brands have.Comment
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Heat cycling, vibration and environmental conditions all come together to contribute to micro fretting between the surfaces of the contacts. Fretting leads to oxidation and corrosion. That leads to increased contact resistance and eventual circuit failure.
That video card inside the computer, sitting on your desk, isn't going to see any noticeable heat cycling or vibration. It's never going to be exposed to moisture or dirt. Your average computer will likely never be exposed to the kind of conditions that a digital projectors have to endure. Even a Dolby sound processor isn't subject to that kind of torture. Sound gear sits in its own ventilated rack.
We need to consider video, sound and computer equipment as mission critical. No different than the computers and equipment that runs an assembly line in a factory, we have to consider that, if one piece of equipment fails, it could affect the whole operation, possibly causing a shutdown. They don't have to be medical or military grade but good industrial grade that won't fail.
Card edge connectors are 1970s technology. Not only do we have better connectors, these days, they can work at higher data rates. Besides, they were designed to be cheap to produce. Everybody knows, cheap usually isn't good. It might add a few hundred dollars to the cost of a projector that costs a quarter million. I think that the trade off in reliability will be worth it by saving money in the end.
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Good point. Heat cycling immediately sprung to mind, but these projectors are also crammed full of fans (something like 15 in the case of the NC900), and for a small form factor projector such as the NC900, close to and surrounding the card cage. And if the air filters aren't swapped out regularly, environmental conditions inside the projector will be even more challenging than its designers factored in.Originally posted by Randy StankeyComment
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So ...
There is no internet available on that location. There used to be a public WIFI for some years, but that was always unstable, and it completely broke down a few months ago. And because it was a volunteer network, there is no one responsible to get it fixed.
They had been working on getting a cable connection for quite some time (even considering Starlink), but the site is remote and it's not easy to connect. At another place, I was now able to connect remotely to his notebook and install an older version of DCC S2. BUT - his brandy-dandy notebook does not have a physical ethernet port anymore, just WIFI. So I sent him away to buy an USB-Ethernet-Adapter. And teached him how to use his iPhone Hotspot with his notebook, so maybe we can get a remote connection into the NC900 later this day to see if we can get some logs or diagnostics. And hope that his prepaid iPhone contract has enough volume to get through long enough...
Sheesh...
The site is not particularly environmentally challenged, the booth may get a bit hot in summer, but nothing serious. Humidity is continental. That NC900 never had issues there during the last 10 years.
When we get DCC S2 working remotely, I should be able to get some logs, and it would also be possible to perform a remarriage after a card reseat. I don't think that NC900 supports marriage/arm through the keypad as Barcos do.Last edited by Carsten Kurz; 12-16-2024, 07:16 AM.Comment
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Still not sure about the router vs. Enigma board, but in case the Enigma is fried - does anyone know wether NEC Enigmas are still available new or refurbished? A german cinema system integrator told us they are no longer available.Last edited by Carsten Kurz; 12-16-2024, 10:08 AM.Comment
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For the ICP in Barcos, the front panel attaching screws can be loosened and the panel pried as far away as it can go then the screws tightened. This give maybe a mm deeper connector mating and in my experience it helps. Reseats have been reduced considerably.Comment
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I have had that exact issue, but more so on the larger NEC's. If you have a Real-D or similar mounted on the front, those two filters up front live behind the 3-D attachment and are often forgotten about by the theater owner or booth people.Originally posted by Leo Enticknap View PostComment
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Is there a way to bypass the Enigma in order to play unencrypted content from the Doremi on the NC900? Will the Doremi Dolphin output unencrypted HD-SDI for unencrypted DCPs at all? I know it was possible at some time with some software versions, but is it still possible with current software?Last edited by Carsten Kurz; 12-16-2024, 11:31 AM.Comment
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Yes, you can. With DCC you change the type of board you are declaring the slot. Instead of a Legacy Board "LB" turn it into a "DS" board (same board but without the Enigma).
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I cannot answer your question on the Doremi with unencrypted content. Hopefully, there is a means.Comment
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Okay, thanx. I could find an 'ENIGMA Bypass' Switch in Maintenance, but it seems to be only a temporary test thing. I know there was a script to switch the Doremi to unencrypted HD-SDI, respectively, to disable Link-Encryption (as with Dolbys DSS servers), but I don't know wether it is still functional in current software.Comment
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Barco has a temporary Enigma bypass. I don't recall one for NEC.Comment
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Two things come to mind:
1) S2 NECs that used IMBs may have had Enigmas as well. So, you might be able to find an NEC enigma board from another S2 NEC that doesn't use it. It worth asking around.
2) The link encryption is another kind of encryption than the one used for the DCP encryption. So, I guess that even non-encrypted content would use it. Which makes sense, since the media block on a DCP2000 decrypts prior to the 2xHD-SDI connection. On a Dolby DSS, one could set the Cat.862 cinelink to "off". I haven't seen any such choice on a dolphin card, but (as much as I would like the title) I am not an all-knowing. (And since you, Carsten say there is...)Comment
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Hi Carsten,
You'd be right, that Enigma is toast unfortunately. As said before there will be lots of NEC projectors with IMB's that will have healthy Enigma that you could probably get the use of. When removing the healthy Enigma from said machine, ensure that the Board is changed to a 80DS instead of an 80LB otherwise it will throw up errors.
Cheers FraserComment
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