Barco S4 1.8.1 has been released

[Steve Guttag]

It would appear that Barco has been busy. In 1.8.1, Mark II versions of quite a few projectors are now supported. I wonder what a Mk II version is...maybe with the new TRP chips? They also support the SP2K-20C and SP2K-25C.

They're getting their feet wet with the Post-Production world by releasing the SP4K-P projector and "Automatic Metameric Offset Correction on MGCD file." This is supposed to give the laser projector more of a xenon look, color wise.

Version 1.8.1 (Major release)

New feature:
• Support new projector model
o SP4K-P & SP4K-P+
o NERTHUS
o Support Mk II version of SP4K-12C / SP4K-15C / SP4K-20C / SP4K-25C / SP2K-20C / SP2K-25C
• Adapt white point calibration algorithm based on the green laser plates detected.
• WebCommunicator Postproduction version (software license needed) including :
o Support file management of LUT-DG, CSC file
o Create or edit TCGD file
o Save PCF file based on activated setting
o Automatic Metameric Offset Correction on MGCD file
o Video path control
• Logging of Lens position in a dedicated file
• Support Gamma settings on the media player input
• Picture page UI improvement
o Letterbox settings redesigned.
o Scaling value validation
o Virtual keyboard adaptation
• Sorting test pattern/ Macro based on the preset/shortcut position
• Improve White point target algorithm.
• Execute file from the Edition/creation page of the file
• Sorting by name or IP projector visible in the dashboard page
• See the existing configuration before to same a file Bug fixes:
• Fix an issue where fans were not spinning after a CCB exchange.
• Fix an issue where DHCP IP address was released right after the startup.
• Fix an intermittent issue where laser didn’t turn on after swapping a CCB between RGB and laser phosphor projector
Known issues:
• ICMP: HDR formats are not supported over HDMI.

[Leo Enticknap]

I'm disappointed that "HDR formats are not supported over HDMI" has still not been fixed. The HDR over HDMI optional license is a significant investment, and those who paid for it now either have to not upgrade beyond 1.7.something, or, if they need a later version in order to address another issue, lose the functionality they paid for.

[Marco Giustini]

The Metameric correction is interesting even though the metamerism is supposed to be subjective so I wonder whether a fixed correction can be good for everyone. My personal experience with a 3P system was that I was seeing a very cold picture while someone said it was very warm (while the colour meter obviously said it was perfect)

Also, I did try doing the same correction many years ago. Half screen Xenon, half screen Laser. I ended up applying quite some correction (keeping one colour untouched of course) that brightness was affected by a noticeable margin. But that was a different system, maybe Barco have designed the lasers to behave better.

I'd be curious to see the outcome!

[Steve Guttag]

Yeah Marco, that's my take on it too. I tend to see laser projectors as looking too red...while, at the same time, the person next to me sait it was too green. How do you correct for that? I'm interested to see what they've done and how well it works. Then again, it is in the "Post Production" section so I don't know if it applies to conventional set ups or not. I'm not about to put a new release on projectors until it doesn't get pulled or immediately updated a week or two later!

[Elia Orselli]

The Metameric correction process is described in a recent Cinionic White Paper https://www.cinionic.com/white-paper...ostproduction/
I think that the correction would be effective also in commercial 3P RGB screens

[Steve Guttag]

I've delved a bit more into it. It would appear that Barco/Cinionic are going to license the post production features on a per-projector basis rather than to the technician, as was done for the S1 and S2 projectors. Therefore, until you apply the license to the projector, the metameric corrections won't appear nor the other post-production features (ability to change gamma (LUT-DG) or set your own TCGD...etc.

I'd think that since the metameric correction is an automatic thing, why restrict it to just post-production? Furthermore, since it is supposed to generate both standard MCGD and metameric corrected MCGD...the installer to use whichever looks best. What is the harm there?

[Leo Enticknap]

No harm; they just want to make more money out of the extra features.

However, after the situation with HDR thru HDMI (broken and listed as a known issue in the last two software releases) I would personally be cagey about recommending that anyone pay significant money for a license for these extra ICP features, because of the risk that they could also be broken in a future software release that the end user might have to install to fix another bug.

[Marco Giustini]

I don't understand. Let's ignore for a moment the subjective issue of the metamerism error, If the projector applies a correction in post production which will NOT be applied on the field, then the outcome is NOT going to be consistent across the cinemas, what am I missing here?

[Steve Guttag]

You already have that. The color from Xenon and the color from Laser do not look the same. If Post is going to use metameric correction, then should the laser projectors also apply that correction? And, if so, wouldn't that then have all cinemas looking like it did in post? Since the correction is in the MCGD, it only affects that particular projector. It is like putting a filter on the viewer so as to not correct for how people perceive laser light.

I don't foresee any significant amount of cinemas (if any) that would pay for such a correction. How many more tickets would it sell? How many more buckets of popcorn would it sell?

As to the HDR thing, it would seem to me like a breach of contract to sell a feature and then not deliver on the feature. Or to take away a feature that has been paid for. I don't see how that has anything to do with the Post Production features other than an example where software can be broken and one is beholden to the software developer to fix it. But that has been true of all forms of software/firmware.

[Antti Näyhä]

Apparently the HDMI HDR issue is fixed in v1.4.4.15.

[Steve Guttag]

S4 1.8.3 was just released. Though the release notes just mention:

• ICMP: Fix an issue where custom FTP ports were ignored during ingest

1.8.2, which never made it to release has the bulk of the fixes in it:



New feature:

• Improve vertical lens shift of SP2K-xxS.
• ICMP/ICP-D: Improve SPxK-xxC MKII support.

Bug fixes:

• Fix an issue where WebCommunicator can’t be accessed over https.
• Fix an issue where the numbering of laser where not correct on SP2K-xxC.
• Fix an issue where the numbering tfans were not spinning after a CCB exchange.
• ICMP: Prevent an issue in the entropy generation that can break HTTPS communication.
• ICMP: Improving Audio DSP preventing unexpected sound during live stream.
• ICMP: Improve KDM parsing methods while playing.
• ICMP: Add a new parsing method which allows ICMP to not show KDM not linked to its certificate. That method can be enabled by adding “?kdm=match” at the end of the path of the storage configuration.
• ICMP: Increase Live IP stream playout robustness (start / stop / resume / …).
• ICMP: Improve Live IP audio decoding (fix a channel mapping issue).
• ICMP: Fix a Live IP issue where the stream was stopped when the player is started but UDP stream is started later.
• ICMP/ICP-D: Fix an issue preventing to correctly play HDMI HDR formats.
• ICMP/ICP-D: Fix a scaling issue when playing 3D on SP2K-xxS.

[Tacky Ting]

S4 1.8.3 was just released. Though the release notes just mention:

• ICMP: Fix an issue where custom FTP ports were ignored during ingest

1.8.2, which never made it to release has the bulk of the fixes in it:



New feature:

• Improve vertical lens shift of SP2K-xxS.
• ICMP/ICP-D: Improve SPxK-xxC MKII support.

Bug fixes:

• Fix an issue where WebCommunicator can’t be accessed over https.
• Fix an issue where the numbering of laser where not correct on SP2K-xxC.
• Fix an issue where the numbering tfans were not spinning after a CCB exchange.
• ICMP: Prevent an issue in the entropy generation that can break HTTPS communication.
• ICMP: Improving Audio DSP preventing unexpected sound during live stream.
• ICMP: Improve KDM parsing methods while playing.
• ICMP: Add a new parsing method which allows ICMP to not show KDM not linked to its certificate. That method can be enabled by adding “?kdm=match” at the end of the path of the storage configuration.
• ICMP: Increase Live IP stream playout robustness (start / stop / resume / …).
• ICMP: Improve Live IP audio decoding (fix a channel mapping issue).
• ICMP: Fix a Live IP issue where the stream was stopped when the player is started but UDP stream is started later.
• ICMP/ICP-D: Fix an issue preventing to correctly play HDMI HDR formats.
• ICMP/ICP-D: Fix a scaling issue when playing 3D on SP2K-xxS.

Did you know that SPxK-xxC MKII has started shipping?
Does it have any improvements?

[Steve Guttag]

I do not know if it has actually started shipping. The MKII light engine is supposed to not get sticky mirrors like the original TRP light engine. Since they've come up with a new test pattern for the MKII...no doubt the position of the three DMDs has change such that green is no longer the fixed color or it has shifted such the direction the DMDs moved is different than what is showing on the original "C" convergence pattern.

[Steve Guttag]

I should point out, 1.8 updates the CCB's router. This is a particularly lengthy process (many minutes where the projector won't even respond to a ping). It first updates the router...goes into the dead zone for minutes...then comes back to do the rest up the update (true for both 1.8.1 and 1.8.3 if you are updating from 1.7). I've noted that 1.8 isn't good about updating the web page on updates so don't expect your browser to switch over to the update screen or update itself when its done with the CCB update. You'll need to do the refreshes on your own in the modern world, it would appear.