Digital Video Machine HD Including the DVMHD-Pro User’s Guide by Alcorn McBride Inc.
Document Revision 3.3 January 2007 Copyright © 1998-2007 Alcorn McBride, Inc. All rights reserved. Digital Video Machine HD, and the other Machine product line names are trademarks of Alcorn McBride Inc. Microsoft Windows, Sony and Pioneer are trademarks of their respective owners. Dolby Digital AC-3 is a registered trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.
Contents Welcome .................................................................................. 1 Using this Guide............................................................................................................1 Specifications ...................................................................................................1 Getting Started .................................................................................................1 Front Panel..........................................
Ethernet Control.....................................................................17 Hardware and Software Requirements ...................................................................... 17 AMINet Protocol ......................................................................................................... 17 Control Message Format ............................................................................................ 17 Control Message Checksum ..............................................
Logging .......................................................................................................................40 Networking Your DVMHD ..................................................... 42 Connecting to the DVMHD via Ethernet .....................................................................42 Connecting to the DVMHD directly from a PC...............................................42 Connecting to the DVMHD Over a Local Area Network (LAN)/The Internet .
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Welcome Thank you for purchasing the Alcorn McBride Digital Video Machine HD, the world’s first intelligent Digital Television (DTV) video playback unit. Building on the strengths of our award-winning DVM line of digital video players, Alcorn McBride engineers have created the first truly affordable solution for dedicated small-format film replacement, high-definition video wall applications, and the next generation of video distribution and point-of-sale installations.
General Command Summary Don’t need all the details? Here is a simple table of all supported Pioneer / AMI commands supported by the DVMHD. Ethernet Control Here, you will find the details associated with controlling the DVMHD via Ethernet using simple UDP packets. Serial Control This section describes how to use RS-232 to control and communicate with the DVMHD. Playlists Playlists are lists of DVMHD commands, including video playback, audio/video mute, etc. to be executed in order.
Obtaining Technical Support We hope you have as an enjoyable experience using the DVMHD as we did designing it, but if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact our technical support team. North America For… Contact… When?… Telephone Support (407) 296-5800 M-F 9am–6pm (EST) Fax Support (407) 296-5801 M-F 9am-6pm (EST) E-Mail Support support@alcorn.com M-F 9am-6pm (EST) Software Updates http://www.alcorn.
4 Welcome
Specifications Video Decodes and Displays all ATSC DTV Formats: 720p, 1080i, 480p, etc. Supports multiple data rates including 8/16vsb (see Playback Time section) and able to playback 24p encoded material at up to 1920x1080i @ 30fps or 1280x720p @ 60fps MPEG-2 MP@HL at up to 50Mbps (gross bitrate) Analog Audio Unbalanced (+4 volts max. into 20K) Less than 10 ohms impedance 16-bit linear quantization 96 dB Digital Dynamic Range 0-48 KHz Sample Rate 20-20,000 Hz +/- 0.
Control RS-232 Serial (DB-9) Ethernet (RJ-45) Scheduler Playlists On-Screen Control Connectors YPbPr or RGB-HV (Software Selectable) Output (HDB-15) HD-SDI (BNC – DVMHD Pro Only) Unbalanced Audio Outputs (2xRCA) Digital Audio Output (XLR) Blackburst Sync Input (BNC) 10/100Base-T Ethernet (RJ-45) 6 Specifications
Getting Started What’s In the Box? The DVMHD is shipped with the following items: • • • • • • This User’s Guide One (1) Hard Drive Docking Station One (1) Hard Disk keys One (1) Null Serial Cable (DB-9F Æ DB-9F) One (1) Null (Crossover) Ethernet Cable One (1) Line Cord Power Supply Settings The DVMHD is compatible with the 115VAC and 230VAC international power standards. The DVMHD’s internal supply is auto-sensing, so there is no need to set any external switches.
This easy-to-use application can be downloaded from www.alcorn.com in the support/software section. It is also available via the DVMHD’s Web and FTP interfaces. Let’s make the DVMHD play a test clip! 1. Connect the RS-232 cable (supplied with the DVMHD) to the port on the DVMHD and your Windows PC. 2. Run AMI Terminal 3. Select DVMHD in the Product Selection dropdown box. 4.
Front Panel LED Indicators The Digital Video Machine HD provides three (3) LED indicators.
10 Front Panel
Rear Panel The Digital Video Machine HD rear panel provides connections for audio/video outputs, control cables, and power. Power Switch The DVMHD is “ON” when this switch is in the UP position (labeled “|”). NOTE: When power-cycling the DVMHD, please wait 5-10 seconds before turning the unit ON. Unbalanced Audio Connectors These 2 RCA-type phono connectors output a decoded version of the PCM or MPEG audio stream.
HD Video Out Connector This HDB-15 Female connector provides video in either the RGB or YPbPr color space. In addition to the H and V-Sync signals, composite sync is present in the “G” and “Y” signals. The pinout of this connector is as follows: RGB-HV Mode Pinout (Non-Pro version only) Component (YPbPr) Mode Pinout HD-SDI Output (DVMHD-Pro only) This connector provides a SMPTE-292M signal for connection to display devices what support High-Definition Serial Digital inputs.
RS-232 Serial Control Port This male DB-9 connector provides an RS-232 serial control connection. The DVMHD will communicate using the Pioneer/AMI protocol. For information about this using protocol, see the Pioneer / AMI Protocol section. The pinout of this connector is as follows: Pin Signal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 N/C RXD TXD N/C GND N/C N/C N/C N/C Ethernet Connector This RJ-45 connector provides connection for a standard 100-Base TX Ethernet cable.
14 Rear Panel
Serial Control – RS232 The unit may be controlled using serial RS-232 (9600 baud rate, 8 data bits, No Parity , and 1 Stop bit -- 9600 8N1) messages via the 9-pin serial port located on the back panel of the machine. The protocol is ASCII-based, and many commands are similar on structure to Pioneer Disc protocol. Upper or lower case characters can be used interchangeably in most cases. Please see the General Command Summary section for a table of commands.
16 Serial Control – RS232
Ethernet Control All the commands that are supported via the serial interface are also supported via UDP control over Ethernet. By sending UDP (User Datagram Protocol) packets across a network, you can communicate with and control many DVMHD’s simultaneously (using Unit ID’s) and/or independently. Hardware and Software Requirements Any Ethernet capable show controller or PC with a network interface card can send messages to units located on the same network.
Control Message Checksum The Checksum is the summation of the hexadecimal value of all of the bytes in the Control Message except the first byte (0xF1), the last byte (0xF2) and of course the Checksum itself. The value of the checksum may easily increase to a value that cannot be represented by one byte. This situation calls for what we call number expansion. If the value of the Checksum is between 0x00 and 0xF9 (0-249), the value is represented in only 8 bits (1 byte).
Detailed Command Summary Pioneer / AMI Protocol The DVMHD uses the versatile Pioneer/Alcorn McBride Enhanced protocol. If you have ever used a Pioneer Protocol based Laserdisc or DVD player, or any of our other Video or Audio products, learning this protocol will be a snap. This section discusses the most commonly used commands in detail, and then lists the entire Pioneer/Alcorn McBride Inc. protocol for the DVMHD in tabular form.
Get IP Address Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine HD to return its IP address. Command Bytes: IP Message Response: nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn Examples: 192.168.0.254 Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine HD to select the specified A/V clip. Once this command is sent, the next Play command causes the specified file to play from the beginning. Command Bytes: nSE Select File where n is the file number in ASCII.
Play Next Description: This command causes the specified file to be "queued" for playback at the completion of the current activity. If a file is currently playing, the queued transition to the selected file will be seamless. If a file is currently looping, the seamless transition will occur at the next loop point. Command bytes: nnnnnPN or “”PN Parameters: nnnnn is the ASCII file number between 0-99999. is an ASCII file name surrounded by quotation marks.
Video Mute Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine HD to output black video. Command bytes: 0VD for Mute on (black output) 1VD for Mute off (standard video output) Message Response: R Audio Mute Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine HD to output silent audio.
Audio PID Set Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine HD to hard code the audio PID to the new value for this search and play. At the same time this was implemented, PID auto-detect was implemented as well. Command bytes: nnnAP nnn is the video PID, like 36 Message Response: R Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine HD to shutdown and restart. This will reset the entire system, including the video decoder card within the machine.
Video Output Format Description: This command causes the Digital Video Machine HD to change its video output format.
Detailed Command Summary 25
General Command Summary The following table shows the complete Digital Video Machine HD control protocol. Using these commands, an external controller or PC can accomplish extremely complex tasks. Throughout the following table, means carriage return, a byte with the hexadecimal value of 0D. Brackets, [ ], denote optional message bytes.
Subnet Mask Request Gateway Request Unit ID Request Set IP Address Set Subnet Mask Set Gateway Set Unit ID Set Time Zone SM GW ID xxx.xxx.xxx.xxxIP xxx.xxx.xxx.xxxSM xxx.xxx.xxx.xxxGW nID [@]nTZ xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx xxx.xxx.xxx.
Playlists Playlists provide a mechanism for the DVMHD to automatically execute a series of commands in a predefined sequence. Playlists often allow the unit to be used to perform complex functions that would normally require an external controller. Playlists can perform functions as simple as cycling through a list of videos, or more complex functions like launching schedules or other playlists. All commands available to the Serial, Ethernet, and scheduler interfaces are available to the playlist interface.
Char Meaning AND All commands AND’ed together will be implemented at the same time. Without the AND operator, a command will not be executed until the previous command is completed. The playlist will go no further until all commands in this set have been completed. See Examples AFTER[dd:hh:mm:ss] Make the following command wait the time defined in the brackets before executing. See Examples WAIT Insert this to make the playlist wait on the current set until it has received another play command.
interprets this command according to the table in the General Command Summary section and causes Video #1 to play. Now that Video #1 is playing, the playlist will not advance to the next command until that video is done playing. When the video is complete, the playlist will advance to the next command (2PL) and do the exact same thing. After the completion of Video #2, the playlist will encounter the ‘<’ operator, causing the playlist to start over at the beginning.
Playlist Example using ‘AFTER’ operator ;play a video and issue a Loop Next 15 seconds later 1PL AND AFTER[00:00:00:15] 2LN The AFTER operator can be very useful when you want to time the execution of events in a playlist. An example of this would be have a Loop Next command issued after a video has started. This will cause the next video to play and loop seamlessly after Video #1 is finished playing. Remember that it is important to include the AND operator in this situation as well.
Scheduler The DVMHD has a down-to-the-minute scheduler based upon its internal real time clock. According to the time of day and date of year, the DVMHD can start a video or playlist at 3pm on January 1st 2005, for example. This functionality is built into a feature called the Scheduler. The Basic Idea for Commands All commands available to the Serial, UDP, and Playlist interface are available to the Scheduler interface as well.
1: Parameter 1 for the event – The command string you wish to issue R: Repeat Number: repeat after this number of periods has expired P: Repeat Period: Time to wait between executions, used with Repeat Number and Set when necessary S: Repeat Set: special case usage described below ; Although not a field, this marks a comment Now that we have seen a table of the event fields, let’s look at the event in Example 1: Here are its fields: T:14:46 D:01/1/2005 E:COMMAND 1:1PL Start Time: 2:46pm in the af
¾ T: Start Time The Start Time is the hour and minute your event becomes active. For most cases being active simply means “gets executed”. You specify it in military time 00:00 is midnight, 23:59, 11:59pm, is last minute of the day something can be scheduled. You can specify the word BOOT as the field’s value. This used to make an event get executed upon every reboot after the start time and start day have been reached. You can also specify sunrise or sunset.
Examples: D:1.1.00 D:1/1/00 D:1-1-00 D:01.01.2001 D:01/01/2001 D:01-1-2001 ¾ R: Repeat Number The Repeat Number acts in one of two ways: • With no Repeat Set field present. • With a Repeat Set field present: With no Repeat Set field present: This is the most common usage of the Repeat Number. It acts as a multiplier of the Repeat Period. They should be read in conjunction like this: “Repeat this event every ”. Ex.“Repeat this event every 30 minutes”.
Periods can be one of the following: Sunrise, Sunset Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday Minute Hour Day Year Boot Notes: Month is not a valid period. If you want to make a monthly schedule, use a combination of repeat number, period and set to do so. See the example in the Repeat Number section for details. You can also specify sunrise or sunset. In order to take advantage of sunrise/sunset calculations in the DVMHD, you need to determine you longitude, latitude, and timezone.
Restrictions Since the Scheduler is very flexible, it is easier to explain what you cannot do, than to explain what you can. 1. When using BOOT as the Repeat Period, the Repeat Number can only be one. The unit does not keep track of the number of times it has rebooted. You can put in other numbers, but it will ignore them. 2. Whatever combination you choose between Repeat Number and Repeat Period should not multiply out to be greater than a century. For example, don’t repeat an event every 102 years. 3.
Double Occupancy: When Two Events Occupy the Same Slot If you plan on having a fairly complicated show, you may want to be sure you don’t have events competing with each other for execution when their time and date come around. This discussion looks at what happens when to events end up on the same time and date. It explains the rules used to determine which event wins.
¾ Scheduler Rules Precedence: If two events occupy the same slot, this is the precedence: 1. StartTime Bootups take ultimate precedence during the bootup minute, and are treated as normal events afterwards ( if they repeat). 2. Repeating Bootups take second precedence during the bootup minute. 3. One-shots take precedence over Loops. 4. Finites take precedence over infinites during their period of execution. 5. Finites started on a later slot will take precedence over earlier finites. 6.
Logging Schedulerlog.txt will be kept in SCHEDULES directory, if the DVMHD is configured to do so. This option can be configured by sending commands to the DVMHD or modifying the DVMHD.INI file directly.
Scheduler 41
Networking Your DVMHD The Ethernet connection is a useful tool for transferring video and other files to and from the unit. It is also useful for transferring feature updates and controlling and monitoring the DVMHD. Ethernet is a physical medium for transferring data. TCP/IP is used to transmit the data over the Ethernet. TCP/IP is a common “protocol” for transmitting data on local Ethernet connections (Intranet) and also global connections (Internet). The DVMHD allows both.
2. Plug the other end of the red “Null-Ethernet” cable into the Ethernet port on your computer. 3. Using Windows 2000 or XP, Right-click on My Network Places and select Properties. A list of available Ethernet connections on your PC will appear. Select the one that is connected to the DVMHD (usually you only have a single entry name Local Area Connection). 4. Right-click on this selection and choose Properties. 5.
12. Upon hitting the Enter key on your keyboard, you should be presented with the introductory Web Page from your DVMHD. This is proof that you have successfully established an Ethernet connection with your DVMHD. Connecting to the DVMHD Over a Local Area Network (LAN)/The Internet Note: This process can only be accomplished once you have already connected to the DVMHD directly and have changed the default IP address to an address approved by your Network Administrator.
Networking Your DVMHD 45
Transferring Files to the DVMHD Removable Hard Drive DTV clips may be transferred into the DVMHD via the removable hard drive. To do so, you will need to install a Hard Drive Docking Station (optional) into your Windows NT/2000/XP PC and copy the files onto the X:\Media\Videos folder of the drive (X represents the letter your PC automatically assigns to the drive).
NOTE: It’s a good rule of thumb to keep the demo clip(s) on your DVMHD. You can rename them and then, if ever necessary, use them later to debug potential problems in the field. Internet Explorer always comes preloaded on a Windows PC, which is why we provide this guide. Even if you do not have a Windows PC, most Web Browsers for other major Operating Systems handle FTP in a similar manner to the following example. Launch Internet Explorer. Type ftp://192.168.0.254 and press Enter.
To copy a new video onto the DVMHD, Double-Click on the Videos folder. Using Windows Explorer or My Computer, find the file you wish to transfer. Right-Click on that file and select Copy. Re-select the Internet Explorer window containing the FTP session with the DVMHD. Right-click in the blank area and select Paste. A Status window will appear and offer an approximation of transfer time.
CD’s, DVD’s, and USB devices The Digital Video Machine HD has the ability to automatically detect media files located on devices connected to it. You can connect a media device that is natively supported under Windows XP (meaning that no additional drivers are required), like a USB key, USB Hard Disk, Compact Flash adapter, or CD/DVD drive.
The DVMHD will copy any files to its MEDIA folders that do not match files already located in its MEDIA folders. If it finds a match, it compares the date & time stamp and file size. If any of these are different, it overwrites the one on its hard disk with the one from the device.
Transferring Files to the DVMHD 51
Updating Operating System Alcorn McBride periodically adds enhancements to its products. These Operating System updates can be downloaded to your DVMHD to add new features if you wish. The DVMHD retains 2 copies of its Operating System: the Current version and the Previous version. This allows you to switch between the versions if you wish to.
Updating Operating System 53
Creating DTV Clips Before Making Your Own Clips Creating your own DTV clips is not a simple task. If you do not possess the equipment, time, or experience to do so, we highly suggest you outsource this work to a post-production facility. For a list of post-production companies that have experience encoding material specifically for the DVMHD, please visit our website or contact an Alcorn McBride representative.
The DVMHD supports all of the following Main Profile High Level DTV video formats: Format Size Chroma Format 4:2:0 Aspect Ratio 16x9 Scan Type Interlaced Frame Rates 1920x1080 23.976,24, 25 1080i 29.97, 30 (Note 1) 1280x720 4:2:0 16x9 Progressive 50, 59.94, 60 720p (Note 2) 720x480 4:2:0 4x3 Progressive 59.94 480p 720x480 4:2:0 4x3 Interlaced 29.97 NTSC 720x576 4:2:0 4x3 Interlaced 25 PAL Note 1: All 1080i encodings are displayed at either 25, 29.97 or 30fps.
Encoding Your Content The following sections describe the specifications and constraints for DTV clips on the DVMHD. Transport Stream The transport stream should be created according to ISO/IEC 13818-1 and within the following constraints: Parameter Minimum Bitrate Maximum Bitrate Value 10Mb/s 50Mb/s NOTE: There can only be one transport stream within the multiplex. The DVMHD will play the first transport stream encountered in the file.
Creating DTV Clips 57
DVMHD.INI The DVMHD.INI file may be found in the MEDIA folder (where you are located by default when you log in via FTP). It contains settings that you can use to setup default behavior of the unit on power-up. Below, you will find an example of this file containing all of the entries and descriptions. All of these are changed automatically when you send a command to change them via the remote control interfaces. However, if you wish, you may edit DVMHD.
DVMHD.
Troubleshooting I can play the Alcorn McBride promo clips and see them on my monitor’s output, but I cannot see my own files playback. I believe I have encoded everything correctly, but I am still getting no video from the DVMHD. When I send the search and play command, it responds with an ack. I even see that the green LED comes on solid, and the hard drive is blinking steadily, just like the unit behaves when playing the Alcorn McBride promo clips.
