my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » Integrating Nec NC 900 with Extron Control

Author Topic: Integrating Nec NC 900 with Extron Control William Stewart Lane Film Handler Posts: 1 From: Vergennes ,Vermont USA Registered: Jun 2015 posted 08-03-2015 07:45 AM                     Has anyone done this using Extron control and have there been any issues or lack of functionality? Also has anyone installed both the 900 and the 1200 and are there pros and cons with either ( both) units? We have also been told that NEC is not providing control info that Extron needs to build a driver for either MEC. Any thoughts ideas would be appreciated. Thanks for your time!!!  |  IP: Logged Jim Cassedy Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1661 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Dec 2006 posted 08-03-2015 09:06 PM                     One of the screening rooms I work at has an NEC interfaced with an Extron touch panel control system which also controls the house and stage lights, curtain, masking and a microphone mixer. ( ! ) I have control over projector power, dowser and all the macro settings from the touch panel. The Xenon has to be turned on right at the side of the projector though, which is a good idea since there's also a switch on the wall right there for the roof exhaust fan. To answer one of your questions- - It works well, and I've never had any problems, other than that I wish whoever programmed the touch-screen panel had put a little more space between the dowser 'open-close' buttons and the projector power controls. It's easy to 'fat finger' the wrong one, and for that reason I keep a stylus hung next to the touch screen and use that to issue commands. As for your other question: I have no friggin' idea how they did it. I don't know who installed and programmed the system, and I have very little documentation on the Extron, nor do I have the software to get into the controller, or any passwords. ( ! ) I don't know how long the Extron retains memory in a power outage. The system is on a UPS, but I have a feeling that if there's ever an extended power outage, and the Extron looses all it's set-up configuration, I'm hosed. . .  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 08-04-2015 04:15 AM                     The Extron memory certainly is not volatile, probably not even battery buffered, but flash. Extron configs are too complex to expose them to such precariousness. Some DCI projectors use common remote control protocol with non-DCI projectors of the same manufacturer. If all fails, the protocol can be wiresharked between a server and projector. I can't believe a company like Extron has trouble with it!? I programmed my own NC900C projector on/off sequence with some help from this forum. http://www.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=002010#000000 - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 08-04-2015 04:18 AM                     pls delete  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 08-04-2015 07:05 AM                     You can certainly control the NEC serially with Extron MLC or GC controllers via commands you can manually enter and Exton allows for direct HEX inputs using the "%" prefex. If you want to use Ethernet you'd use a serial to Ethernet adapter such as those from Lantronix. With Extron's GCP stuff (came about about a year ago), one can also issue their own commands via Ethernet too. As for the NEC command set...NEC has a published list (a rather extensive document too that pretty well describes all of the available commands, their hex strings and what the possible responses are. You'd have to provide Extron with that document for them to create a driver though they likely would need guidance as to what you would consider important on both monitoring and commands. Believe it or not, it has a rather extensive error code list that is monitorable and you could have an Extron controller to start emailing you if say a lamp went over hours and such or any one of several hundred other codes. The more extensive you have them make it, the longer the turn around and if they don't have a sample projector to test it on, it would be up to you to test it upon receipt.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.