Setting Up Fathom Events Equipment with Modern Booth Tech

[Chris Haller]

Folks,

I have been somewhat unofficially assigned the task of getting the set top box for Fathom Events transmissions installed into one of the screens at my theater. I know for a fact that the Fathom box delivers 5.1 audio via a TOSLINK cable, but our standard booths use GDC SR-1000 IMBs with the built in audio processing capability to transmit 7.1 audio over RJ45 cables to a D/A rack mounted converter box. Works great for DCP playback. Unfortunately that SR-1000 doesn't have AC3 decoding capability, just DTS and LPCM. Woof.

Is grabbing a new sound processor like a CP 750, JSD-60, or go even older and pair like a CP 650 with a DMA8 (anything more recent than this is probably off the table due to the cost to acquire it) or something to hook the TOSLINK output into realistically the only way to do this with the SR-1000 handling HDMI video input? It seems like an awful lot of work to rewire and re-EQ the entire theater just for occasional Fathom playback.

It just seems like there's no other way to get the AC3 decoded and fed in with the HDMI video feed, right? I can't think of any easy set top boxes that could combine processed AC3 and the digital video feed off the hdmi tap into a single HDMI output for the SR-1000. What a pickle.

Has anyone found any devices to help them get around these requirements? Or am I just grasping at straws here.

Thanks in advance - Chris

[Steve Guttag]

Are you saying that the Fathom box won't send out LPCM? That would be the easiest solution. Then you have HDMI feeding your SR-1000 for both picture and sound and then you're done.

[Chris Haller]

Are you saying that the Fathom box won't send out LPCM? That would be the easiest solution. Then you have HDMI feeding your SR-1000 for both picture and sound and then you're done.

That's what the documentation I've received says. All AC3 all day. A very, "we should have planned around this during install," kind of deal.

[James Gardiner]

I would expect the fathom device can do 5.1 channel over HDMI. yes HDMI supports 5.1. uncompressed pcm (6ch) audio.

as long as the devices in question support it.

I would imagine the gdc player would as its stupid if it didn't. and I imagine the fathom device would too as this is a likely outcome considering the environment.

give it a go.
check the config options.

[Carsten Kurz]

Shouldn't Fathom be able to document it's equipment capabilities in a manual?

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Perhaps you need a different box from them. I find it hard to believe that one box can cover everything out there. There is just way too may different pieces of audio gear. and different input options on projectors to have one box. I suggest you call their tech support and inquire. Tell them what inputs you have available.