Audio and color on NEC NC900C

[Rodrigo Wilson]

So I´m currently working with an NC900, and would like to create a cue so I can select my audio automatically. I also use a SP2K Barco, and it is easier to do, I only have to create the User Cue (I didn´t know the correct value so I copied it from a Cue that the Projector already had and copy pasted this ´setvol 8\0D\0A´ , which btw I didn´t find where those commands are on the manual).

Also, my NEC compared with the Barco is really really really dark, it has the lamp at %97 and still looks too dark, I think it might be that the projector is just a bit old, but just as an example, we had Nosferatu and it was basically black, it completely lost information at some points of the movie. The same movie with the Barco, perfect.
Is there something to try to fix this? Is it just the projector which is like that? Is it the color space?

If necessary I can attach some pictures of the config of my DCC

Edit: And I forgot, on that Barco model, is there a way to stream my PC screen without connecting a PC directly by HDMI cable? Because I have the projector on an elevated platform and it´s a bit hard to get to it.

[Agnius Acus]

As for brightness, there’s not much you can do besides removing the notch filter and replacing it with a dummy one, running lamps no longer than 1500 hours and using it for the smaller or higher gain screens. Even then, you’ll have to accept an inherently low contrast ratio. It is a notoriously underspeced entry-level DCI projector from 2014.

[Rodrigo Wilson]

Thanks for your reply

I actually don´t know what the Notch filter is, and how to remove it. Can I run the projector without any filter? I mean instead of the dummy one you mention, because it´s too dark. We have many lamps, but I don´t know why, the timer I restart each time I change a lamp, it stays on the same number, or it doesn´t even start the count again.

We have 3 screens that are the same size, so the 2 Barco projectors are great, and this one is a bit too dark

[Agnius Acus]

If I recall correctly, the notch filter filters out part of the blue color spectrum, including additional light associated with it, in order to fulfill DCI requirements for color accuracy. The dummy filter comes with the projector. It's very easy to replace it. It is a different question, if your local suppliers still have it for order.

After changing lamps, you should reset the hours manually, using the controls on the side of the projector.

[Carsten Kurz]

What is the screen size for this NEC auditorium? Are you sure you use original NEC lamps? And are both actually new and working? Taking out the notch filter really is the last resort. I would not do that.

[Rodrigo Wilson]

Thank you for your answer.
The screen is 7.17 meters width, 3.55 meters height, it´s 2:1 aspect ratio, it always has some screen with no information, which is why we were thinking of using some curtains to mask the extra screen when needed.

Now, besides this, I´m still trying to automatize the audio volume on this NEC, I don´t know if it´s possible. In the ¨Automation Cue¨ menu, on Administration, I can add a macro that puts volume at a value I choose, but when I put that Cue on my show, it doesn´t change my Audio processor volume. Even though I added the device on the devices menu. I can be doing anything wrong, but I don´t know where.

[Dave Macaulay]

Some confusion here.

What's the gain of your screen? The 900 should be OK with a ~1.8 gain screen your size, but if your room is wide the light will be low at the side seats. With a matte 1.0 screen it is going to be dim. This is the lowest lumen cinema projector NEC made. The lumen spec is pretty hard to find (can't find it in the NEC documents I checked) but when you do find one it's about 4500 on a good day with new genuine NEC lamps. The specs say it can do 14 ft-L on a 9M wide 1.8 gain screen.
The lamps lose brightness as they age, all lamps do. Putting one in an actual 9M wide 1.8 screen would be 100% power to get 14 ft-L centre on day one, dropping as time goes by.
This is only with genuine NEC lamps, there are lots of alternatives for a lot less money that usually have the actual HID bulb replaced in a used OEM module and, well, in my experience they are crap. Lamps should be replaced in pairs with new OEM modules. For some reason the lamps have a pretty short shelf life so check the date on the box, it should be recent.
If you do the lamp change procedure properly through DCCS the lamp hours will reset.
Having a lamp go over hours to where it explodes is not great, this often fries the lamp ballast and replacing an NC900 ballast is not a trivial task. The projector was designed to be small and serviceability was obviously ignored in the design process.

The notch filter reduces light output a bit to achieve the DCI color space, this is required to get a projector DCI certified - which was a big thing in the conversion rollout as VPF financing required DCI certified equipment. Take it out and you get a bit more more light but you won't have accurate DCI color. It's unlikely that anyone will notice.

As for cues: the server is separate from the 900C projector although it's mounted in the projector.
What server do you have? There are many options, is it the NP90MS02 NEC rebranded Doremi IMS1000? Not a bad server but I've only dealt with the Doremi version. What sound processor are you wanting to control? Is the networking set up to communicate with it? Once you set up, say, a CP750 in Devices you can select premade cues from the built in cue library with the IMS1000 so the NEC one should be the same I think.

You can't compare a Barco SP2K laser with the NC900C and expect similar performance. The (smallest model) SP2K-7s is around 6000 lumens and has better contrast in my opinion, there are much brighter models in the line and you don't say which you have. The ICMP server is newer technology.

Seems like you're learning a lot, I wish you well!

[Leo Enticknap]

As others have noted, the automation cue issue doesn't involve the projector at all: it is about communication between the DCP server and the audio processor. For starters, we'd need to know what the models of each are, how they're communicating (direct via IP, direct via RS232, server commands automation controller which then commands audio processor, etc. etc.), in order to be able to help further.

As for the projector, agreed with all here. I was recently dealing with a very bizarre situation involving a production company that has a pretty old NC900, that uses it for QC-ing 3-D DCPs. They are convinced that its light output has dropped below the level they need suddenly, for no apparent reason, and after many years of satisfactory performance. They even had us replace the integrator rod, which didn't really do much. They came back to us a couple of weeks ago, claiming that they had done back-to-back tests using two sets of new lamps, that one set delivered significantly more light than the other (they didn't give us any figures), and that therefore there must be an issue with SharpNEC's quality control in the manufacturing process.

We explained that the NC900 was never designed with the expectation that it would be used in a QC-critical post-production workflow, that it was on the verge of obsolescence, and that pouring more money into trying to make theirs do what they needed done was likely not sensible. In response to further questioning, I speculated that the only reason I could think of for the difference in performance between the two sets of lamps is that SharpNEC made one massive, final batch of them some time ago now, are now in the process of selling them, and that when they're gone, the only options available for NC900 owners who wish to keep their projectors in service will be the Appotronics laser retrofit or aftermarket no-name lamps from Amazon (use at your own risk: another customer tried a set of those in her Barco DP2K-6E, and they blew a ballast within 15 hours). Therefore, the official lamps now being sold have likely been on the shelf for several years, and therefore some have lasted better than others.

[Rodrigo Wilson]

I actually don´t know the gain of the screen, I´d need a photometer right? I asked for the gain but I think the person who should´ve done it, didn´t do it. The room is not wide, it´s rather small, about 95 people, I don´t have the size right now. The projector is a bit more than 14ft away from the screen, I think it´s at 7 meters, or even a bit more. When you talk about the L, you mean the distance from the projector to the screen, right? the distance at which the eyes can mix pixels and see a continuous color, is that correct? I studied that at highschool but don´t remember it very well.
I made the lamp replacement, and restarted the lamp hours and still it didn´t change. We never had a lamp until it exploded, they did stop working, but never exploded.

I think I´ll try removing the notch filter, and then put it back to compare how much it changes.

I´m using an DOREMI IMS1000, and a JBL CPi2000 as the audio processor. They are connected via ethernet to a switch and from there I can ping the JBL from my PC. They also have a RS232 connector. I use the JBL program to control the audio levels, but still I do it manually. I´ve tried adding a Device in the Devices list, and then using the Cue, but still didn´t work.

After reading some of your answers, there is not much to do with it.
As Dave mentioned, I´m still learning, I´ve been projecting for almost 2 years, using the same 2 Barco and the NC900C in a theater that opened as soon as they bought the 3 projectors, and I started working with 0 experience, so I had my ups and downs, I didn´t have any training, so I had to learn by reading the manuals and from what other projectionist taught me.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Screen gain values are published with the manufacturer specs, perhaps on a label on the back near a corner if you are lucky, otherwise you have to do some research in records or find out who the installer was (they might have record).

[Gordon McLeod]

I have had good luck with the Jaspertronix lamps for both the 900c and 1000c

[Ryan Gallagher]

If the JBL processor is not a listed device in the devices wizard, automation of fader levels will likely require referencing the JBL manual to learn the tcp or serial commands it expects and appropriate escape characters. Then you set up a raw serial or tcpip device in the IMS and build a set of fader macros against it.

But I would focus on your image quality issues first!

[Ryan Gallagher]

Aslo no one picked up on your comment yet. But YES, side masking you can move is a huge presentation improvement that will upgrade the look of your picture when showing content narrower than 2:1. Something not many cinemas do properly anymore.

Does your 2.39:1 image fill the screen or leave some top and bottom empty screen? Top or bottom masking would be the next level of upgrade, but often a bit more expensive a retrofit, typically one would only consider adding these things when replacing a screen fabric in a larger room upgrade.

[Rodrigo Wilson]

The thing with the image quality is that there is not much to do with the projector, we´ll see if we can change o clean some parts of it, but from what I´ve read here it´s really hard to fix the low light.
I´ll talk with the owner of the cinema and see if he agrees to put the side masking

[Ryan Gallagher]

The thing with the image quality is that there is not much to do with the projector, we´ll see if we can change o clean some parts of it, but from what I´ve read here it´s really hard to fix the low light.
I´ll talk with the owner of the cinema and see if he agrees to put the side masking

you do have to be a bit mindful of where the center 3 channel HF/MF drivers are when considering side masking and material, or risk muffling the L+R channels. Hopefully on a 2:1 screen they are clumped central enough for even a 1.66:1 image. 1.33:1 is more likely to block them, install depending.