QM2000.NET

[PyroCPJ4]

With regards to operating with the QM2000.NET controller, what is the timecode source for the QM2000 board inside? Is this provided over the network by a "host" PC, or is there an RS-232 input on the back to plug in the timecode reader module?

Also, when one wants to design a show, will the LD2000 software recognize the QM2000.NET controller over the network and utilize it that way, or do you need to remove the card from inside the network module and put it into the workstation to design the show? And does it work over IP or some other protocol? Is the address static configurable, static fixed, or dynamic?

Also, what does the controller do if it loses its network connection (or the stream of data coming in over the network, if applicable, disappears)? i.e. are the laser states held or does it put the projector into a standby mode?

 

[Pangolin]

With regards to operating with the QM2000.NET controller, what is the timecode source for the QM2000 board inside? Is this provided over the network by a "host" PC, or is there an RS-232 input on the back to plug in the timecode reader module?

When our software is operated over a network -- whether this is with a QM2000 inside a PC running our LD2000_Network.EXE program, or the QM2000.NET device, basically you can imagine that we turn the PCI bus into a very long, very thin, PCI bus. So this means all communication that would normally happen with the QM2000 board over a PCI bus, happens instead over a network cable.

This communication does include synchronization information that is fed by the main software running on the host PC such as Showtime or Autoplay.

Also, when one wants to design a show, will the LD2000 software recognize the QM2000.NET controller over the network and utilize it that way, or do you need to remove the card from inside the network module and put it into the workstation to design the show?

No, when running QM2000 on a network, it behaves exactly the same was as if it were installed directly into a PC. The software will recognize the board and offer full functionality. (Remember my analogy above -- the PCI bus becomes a very long, very thin cable. It's such a smart idea, we should have patented it .)

And does it work over IP or some other protocol? Is the address static configurable, static fixed, or dynamic?

If I didn't know any better, I would swear that you were trying to reverse engineer our software, or otherwise duplicate our processes (two things which are forbidden by our license agreement)...

In any event, we use a combination of TCP and UDP for communications. The ports are "our" ports, assigned to us by the Internet Port Authority years ago. The IP address depends on a number of factors, including whether or not you are using our LD2000_Network.EXE or the QM2000.NET product. In any event, the customer has some control over what IP address is used, including whether or not that IP address is static or dynamic (especially when using the LD2000_Network.EXE).

Also, what does the controller do if it loses its network connection (or the stream of data coming in over the network, if applicable, disappears)? i.e. are the laser states held or does it put the projector into a standby mode?

This depends on the version of software you are running, and, to some extent, whether you are talking about the LD2000_Network.EXE, or the QM2000.NET. But suffice it to say that there are options that allow the user to control these things...

Best regards,

William Benner

 

[PyroCPJ4]

If I didn't know any better, I would swear that you were trying to reverse engineer our software, or otherwise duplicate our processes (two things which are forbidden by our license agreement)...

In any event, we use a combination of TCP and UDP for communications. The ports are "our" ports, assigned to us by the Internet Port Authority years ago. The IP address depends on a number of factors, including whether or not you are using our LD2000_Network.EXE or the QM2000.NET product. In any event, the customer has some control over what IP address is used, including whether or not that IP address is static or dynamic (especially when using the LD2000_Network.EXE).

Haha.....no, no reverse-engineering here. I was just trying to figure out that if we purchased a QM2000.NET system if we had to purchase another card to design the show. I'm seeing now you don't have to do that. And the reason I was asking about the protocol is because we have high-power wireless network bridges that we use for field communications, but they only have a tendency to pass certain protocols; IP goes through, but for whatever reason DHCP requests don't. Along the same lines, some UDP packets go through, while broadcasts tend to be ignored and dropped.

This depends on the version of software you are running, and, to some extent, whether you are talking about the LD2000_Network.EXE, or the QM2000.NET. But suffice it to say that there are options that allow the user to control these things...

Ok, that's what I was looking for. Thanks.

Also, this should probably be posted on a different thread, but I'll ask it in here first -- with regards to the timecode reader, what is the software expecting to see? I will need to come up with a reader that reads FSK timecode data (which is what our other equipment uses) and sends out the data over RS232. Is there a specification defining port speed, data structure format, update rate, etc, etc?

Thanks