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Brick-2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Technologies

1. CO N gt O1 amp Oo PO lt o Source Video Input Channel 2 Source Video Input Channel 2 Automode 0 disabled 1 enabled Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 14 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 VIDEO OUTPUT COMMANDS These commands are used to change the video output configurations VIDEO OUTPUT MODE The video outputs can be configured for RGB Composite Video or disabled All outputs channels will be set to the same configuration Colour Systems supported are PAL NTSC or SECAM Code DISPLAYMODE Function code 30 1 0 Composite 1 S Video 2 Future Dual Composite Not supported current READ MONITOR STATE RDMONST Function code 31 Returned Data state information on one video output channel display monitor Code RDMONST Function code 31 Video source A magnified by split Video source B not magnified x1 Wash Colour Bars Colour wash values in YUV format Colour wash values in RGB format SAVE VIDEO OUTPUT SETTINGS Save the current video output settings in a file in FLASH memory These settings will automatically be applied on power up or reset SAVEOUTPUT Function code 34 READ VIDEO OUTPUT SETTINGS This command reads back the current video output settings The returned parameter corresponds to byte 1 of function 30 Copyright Media Technologies 1999
2. PAL 1 NTSC 2 SECAM FIELDRATE FIELDRATE Function code 22 Issue 7 Returns the current field rate 1 field For PAL SECAM this will be 49 50 or 51 and for NTSC 59 60 or 61 If there is no input signal the value is indeterminate AUTOMODE Sets the automatic colour system selection mode If set ON the Brick will detect the presence of an NTSC or PAL signal to Video Channel 1 and set the processor accordingly If set OFF the processor will operate as configured regardless of the input system usually resulting in unpredictable operation if the input system is different from the configured system Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 13 of 61 Issue 7 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide AUTOMODE Function code 23 1 On VIDEO SOURCE SAVE Save video source settings in FLASH memory Saved settings are applied automatically on power up or software reset SAVEINPUT Function code 24 READ VIDEO SOURCE SETTINGS Reads the current video source settings for both channels READINPUT Function code 25 Returned Data Code READINPUT Function code 25 Brightness Video Input Channel 1 Contrast Video Input Channel 1 Saturation Video Input Channel 1 Hue Video Input Channel 1 Brightness Video Input Channel 2 Contrast Video Input Channel 2 Saturation Video Input Channel 2 Hue Video Input Channel 2 Colour System Video Input Channel 1 Colour System Video Input Channel 2
3. Selected 0 Deselected Monitor 21 0 Deselected Monitor 22 Selected 0 Deselected Monitor 23 Selected 0 Deselected TEST PATTERN Monitor 24 Selected 1 1 1 1 Selected 1 1 1 0 Deselected This function will draw a test pattern on the display using the graphics facilities Each monitor has two diagonal lines drawn from opposite corners and a circle with the channel number in the centre The channel numbers are written using the font TEST FNT If this file is not present in FLASH sector 4 the test pattern will still be drawn but no channel numbers will be displayed Code Code TESTPATTERN Function code 51 Use field 0 Use field 1 Use current split Draw for split 1 Draw for split 2 Draw for split 3 Draw for split 4 O 0 1 2 3 4 5 Draw for split 5 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 21 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 WIPE This command provides wipes between a graphics colour mask similar effect to a WASH and video It also wipes between the two video sources Wipe to source A Wipe to source B Wipe to graphics colour 3 Speed __ Range 1 255 increasing speed 0 Instant 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 TIMEBASE CORRECTOR FUNCTIONS TBC The second video input source is processed internally using time base correction TBC to synchron
4. The screen has the same logical co ordinates as used with graphics commands of 380x300 pixels Only one Zoom factor of 50 is currently supported Parameter Comment ZOOM Function code 101 X position low byte X position high byte Y position low byte Y position high byte BOUNCE Bounces a zoomed image within a box set by the BLIMIT command BOUNCE Function code 103 Range 1 to 5 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 23 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 BLIMIT Set the bounce limits The BLIMIT command sets the boundary of a box within which a zoomed image is bounced The command may be applied when an image is already bouncing on screen if preceded by the IMMEDIATE command The speed of the bouncing image can be updated with the rate parameter which is the same as that used with the BOUNCE command If the rate is OxFF the current bounce rate is used The default values are the edge of the screen i e for PAL x1 0 x2 360 y1 0 y2 288 Parameter Comment BLIMIT Function code 99 X1 low byte Left Limit X1 high byte X2 low byte Right Limit X2 high byte Y1 low byte Top Limit Y1 high byte Y2 low byte Bottom Limit Y2 low byte Rate 1 to 5 or OxFF to use the current value O 00 NO 01 AON MINIFY Display duplicated small images This is the opposite of magnification The minification f
5. 2006 Issue 7 Page 8 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 4 EFFECTS COMMANDS This section is intended for advanced users who wish to create their own complex videowall effects sequences Simple configurations of magnifications and colour washes can be achieved directly from the control software supplied without the need to understand these commands Examples are provided on the distribution disk which should be consulted to gain a further insight into the application of these commands Function codes are used in messages with either the BRICK2 EXE or SEND EXE programs The functions may have a number of parameters and are preceded by the address of the device to which they are directed SEND 7 0 EN CODE p1 pn SEND Builds and sends a message to the selected device 7 The device type for the BRICK processor 0 The sub address of the device type FN_CODE Command code 0 to 255 binary p1 pn Optional parameters For example to set the global split to 4x4 SEND 7 0 40 4 Where 40 is the function code to set the split factor Some functions require 16 bit parameters These can be created by preceding them with the amp character For example to position the graphics cursor SEND 7 0 85 amp 100 amp 100 String parameters are required by some functions These are terminated with a zero character which must be done explicitly using send For example SEND device address FN_CO
6. files to be included more than once without causing re definition errors a conditional EXIT command is provided Command syntax is EXIT IF DEFINED symbol If the symbol is already defined including is abandoned and control continues from the calling file For example EXIT IF FRED DEFINE FRED 1 COMMENTS Comments can be included either on a blank line or at the end of a command line by preceding the comment with a semicolon Commented lines must be less than the line maximum of 132 characters Blank lines and spaces may be freely spread throughout a command file to improve readability Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 52 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 8 DOS COMMAND LINE EXECUTION A version of the control software SEND EXE is provided which provides control of the hardware in MS DOS batch files Control commands are decoded and sent as messages to the hardware using the COM1 or COM2 serial ports The language of the control file uses a basic command and parameter list format A simple line based macro processor is included The contents of the sequence files used by the SEND program are the same as those used in the control software but without the overhead of the graphical user environment See previous section COMMAND LINE INVOCATION SEND expects at least one argument the command file to send If no filename is supplied a short prompt mes
7. 0x7E EOM 0x7D BSF 0x7C Byte transparency is achieved by replacing any of the three special characters that occur as data bytes with a two byte sequence headed by the BSF character The second character is the character X ORed with the smudge character 0x20 which prevents recognition by the receiver as a special byte e g a data byte 0x7E is replaced with the byte pair 0x7C 0x5E Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 4 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 CONTROL CHECKSUM START 7E ADDRESS END 7D MESSAGE DATA BYTE STUFF CHARACTER 7C RS 232 Link Protocol Frame Format CONTROL AND ADDRESS BYTES The control byte comprises two fields The upper 4 bits are mode bits controlling the using of the addressing information The lower 4 bits are the Device Address In the receive direction Processor to PC the mode bits are not used Unused bits are marked in the table below with an x As a convention unused bits should be set to zero but receiving software should not reject messages if they are not ie a EES RECH a A ae BCE ee e ee Lx x x x LAS A2 At ao The following Device Address code has been allocated to the Brick series of videowall processors Device Address A3 to AO Device Type 0 6 RESERVED The two mode bits M1 and MO allow for 4 addressing modes Mm mo Addressing Mode 0 O Normal Address 0 1 Response
8. 2006 Page 15 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 READOUTPUT Function code 35 Returned data Code Code READOUTPUT READOUTPUT Function code 350 code Function code 35 o Composite S Video Ger Future Dual Composite Future e e EE dE Mere 1 or 28 Pixel Filter Off Pixel Filter On Pixel Filter intermediate Note Pixel filtering is not yet available in current versions of firmware Contact us for availability ADJUST VIDEO OUTPUT HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT Move a vertical column of monitor images left or right The offset is specified in pixels but is actually only possible in increments of magnified pixels Code Code ALIGNH Auen Functioncode 36 code Function code 36 sd Column D A Offset Signed byte ADJUST VIDEO OUTPUT VERTICAL ALIGNMENT Move a horizontal row of images up or down The offset is specified in pixels but is actually only possible in increments of magnified lines Code Code ALIGNV Function code 37 Row 0 4 Offset Signed byte SAVE VIDEO OUTPUT ALIGNMENT IN FLASH MEMORY Saves the current alignment settings in a file in FLASH memory in the processor These settings will be applied automatically on power up or reset SAVEALIGN Function code 38 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 16 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 READ VIDEO OUTPUT ALIGNMENT Reads back the current
9. 299 FILL PAGE The currently selected page is filled with the current drawing colour FILL Function code 88 DRAWING COLOUR RGB Sets the current drawing colour using the RGB colour format This is converted to the internal YUV colour format COLOUR Function code 89 1 Red CCC Red component 0 255 Green component 0 255 Blue component 0 255 PLOT BITMAP Plots a two colour 1 bit bitmap Pixels in the file set to 1 are written as the current drawing colour Pixels set to 0 are unchanged For example SEND 7 0 90 5 LOGO BMP 0 BITMAP Function code 90 1 L eco CS FLASH Sector 1 5 Character string First character Na astcharacter INO String termination null BMP files can be loaded into FLASH memory using the supplied utility FLASH EXE in the CABRICK EXE directory PUT C yourdirectory yourlogo BMP 5 MYLOGO BMP Installs the file MYLOGO BMP in FLASH sector 5 Names of files stored in FLASH memory are case sensitive To plot pictures with multiple colours use a photo editor or similar package to separate the colours in your multiple colour bitmap into separate 1 bit bitmap files and download them separately into the processor Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 30 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Use multiple bitmap commands to overlay them on the display bitmap commands overwrite previous bitmaps DRAW ELLIPSE
10. Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Media Technologies CONTENTS Page 1 BRICK 2 VIDEOWALL PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE ssssssssssssssssssssessssteessssteesssntessssneesssaseessssees 3 2 S232 LNK PROTOCOL ee ote a hee 4 Seele EE 4 SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS FRAME STRUCTURE 000 cessssesssseesssseeesssneeesssneeessseeessneeessnessssneessnnaess 4 3 CONNECTING THE PROCESSOR erer 7 AS CEEEEESEO RRE RE 9 KIEREN ee 12 IDEE eege 15 EFFECTS COMMANDS EE 17 TIMEBASE CORRECTOR FUNCTIONS TBC icttssctesssnssdusasesstesnersstesscrestrsssmseteesanssdnassrsstmeninesdeaseriste asain 22 COLOUR CYCLE S E AEE A E E 25 SEQUENCE EXECUTION FUNCTIONS eecs asseesncsucteessessdrsaorsstisnaseadeasertstessunuteenenssdrieorsetmenssesdeaseristeissai 26 GRAPHICS FUNCTIONS eege 27 5 CONTROL SOFTWARE INTRODUCTION as sssssssssssesessssssessnssessusseesssnsesonssesssunesessansesesuneesoassses 32 COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS ee detec ated a usd Mi ue aang Med ac Mel al Ol E 32 INS 32 RUNNING THE PROGRAM ee 33 SEQUENCE FILE EE 33 6 CONTROL SOFTWARE USER DE 34 QUIT i tt it ee E 34 TEE 34 WIESEN 34 VIDEO TEE 34 SEI 36 FOIE CTs ES INU tte cet tte i eer ede tl dead cele dead dete 36 SEGUE NSE TEE 37 CONFIGURE MEN ec cet te cece hn de chi dh cet cede elated de dtc 41 ALIGNMENT TEE 43 7 CREATING SEQUENGES eher Kee eene ak Bake 44 SEQUENCE le 44 el ee el EE 44 8 DOS COMMAND LINE EXECUTION Eer 52 COMMAND LINE e ege 53 9 EEASHMEMORY UTILI
11. The file STD INC is a special case If a file of this name is found in the current directory it will be included before the sequence file is executed If not the directory defined using the VIDEOWALL environment variable will be searched SEND The SEND command sends a single command to the processor The send command expects at least 3 parameters See the hardware interface description for details of commands Command syntax is as follows SEND lt p1 gt lt p2 gt lt p3 gt lt p4 gt lt pN gt The parameters p1 to pN are numbers in the range 0 255 A parameter from p4 onwards may be preceded by the amp character to force it to occupy two bytes LSB first The first 3 parameters common to all SEND commands are as follows p1 Module type p2 Module address p3 Message function code Module type is a number with the following allocation 0 6 RESERVED 7 BRICK PROCESSOR The module address is a number from O to 255 A macro _UNIT may be used instead which substitutes the currently selected unit address from the UNIT ID menu The message function code is decoded by the addressed module which executes the function using any parameters which follow The Brick series processors have no internal modules so requires only one sub address By default this is zero If additional processors are used e g to provide full frame splits greater than 5x5 each processor needs to be allocated a unique address
12. etc until Loop 3 3 These special macros can be used as parameters to macros and procedures AGAIN This command marks the end of a looping program block There are no parameters See above REPEAT command UNTIL The UNTIL command marks the end of a sequence loop The loop is repeated conditionally with one of three conditions TIMECODE ELAPSED or LOOP Command syntax is UNTIL TIMECODE hh mm ss dd ff ff UNTIL ELAPSED TIME hh mm ss dd ff ff UNTIL LOOP TIME hh mm ss dd ff ff TIMECODE is followed by time parameters The loop will continue until the current time code is greater than the time code parameters specified ELAPSED TIME is followed by time parameters The loop will continue until the elapsed time since the start of execution of the file is greater than the time parameter UNTIL LOOP TIME is also followed by time parameters This will loop until the elapsed time since the start of the loop is greater than the supplied time parameter SPEED This command can be used to change the baud rate of the serial communications port Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 50 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 By default this is 19 200 If other devices are connected to the same port it is possible to send commands to them using the OUTPUT command to build the command messages and SPEED to select the correct t
13. Draws an ellipse centred on the current cursor location The horizontal distance from the centre is specified by DX and the height from the centre by DY The cursor remains unchanged ELLIPSE Function code 91 X Radius 0 180 Y Radius 0 150 DRAW RECTANGLE Draws a filled rectangle at the current cursor of length DX and depth DY The cursor is updated If the rectangle extends beyond the drawing limits it is not displayed and the cursor is unchanged RECTANGLE Function code 92 X length 1 360 Y length 1 300 DRAWING COLOUR YUV Sets the current drawing colour using the YUV colour space as defined in CCIR 601 YUVCOLOUR Function code 93 Y component 0 255 U component 0 255 V component 0 255 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 31 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 5 CONTROL SOFTWARE INTRODUCTION The control software enables all of the hardware features to be configured remotely using a single serial link between a PC and the processor It is used to create maintain and execute video effects sequences These may be timed using the PC real time clock or synchronised to time codes associated with the video image using a standard time code reader which can be installed in the PC The user interface is graphical and makes use of a mouse which may be a standard 2 or 3 button type COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS The minimum requirements for the computer running the progra
14. On return the serial port is reset and the transmission rate is set to the default rate of 19200 baud For example to display the current directory Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 51 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 SHELL DIR w Or using a MACRO DEFINE FILES SHELL DIR C WALL SEQ W FILES The SHELL command should not be used if the program requires any keyboard input because the output is held in a temporary file and only displayed in a window when control reverts to the BRICK program Any keyboard input would not be echoed back to the user until the program ended Also the SHELLed program must not change the video mode of the screen otherwise the control software display will be corrupted Programs which require input or write directly to the screen can be executed directly from the control software using the EXEC command EXEC This command completely suspends the BRICK program and executes the specified MS DOS command The screen contents are saved This command allows programs such as word processors that will reconfigure the screen to be executed from a button For example to execute WORDPAD EXEC WORDPAD END This command will terminate sequence file execution Any succeeding commands will be lost This has the same effect as an end of file and is therefore optional This command should not be used in procedures EXIT IF This command enables include
15. Poll 1 0 Globaloftype A3 to AO Global all units NORMAL ADDRESS MODE In this mode the address byte is used to select a specific device one of 256 of the type set by the device address field in the control byte Only one unique device will therefore act on the message RESPONSE POLL MODE The message will be received by the addressed device in the same manner as the Normal Address mode however the addressed device will respond with a return frame If there is no message pending in the addressed device the response will be a null frame GLOBAL TYPE ADDRESS MODE All devices of the type defined in the control bytes unit field will act upon this message It is not possible to globally poll devices since more than one would respond and the messages collide In this mode the address byte is redundant but it is still sent to maintain a simple frame structure By convention the address byte should be zero in this case Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 5 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 GLOBAL ADDRESS MODE This is similar to the previous case except that all devices of any type will act on the message The usefulness of this mode is really restricted to generic commands such as RESET and BAUDRATE CHECKSUM The checksum is calculated by summing modulo 256 all of the bytes between the start and end of message characters prior to the byte stuffing process and subtracting this
16. n file GET n file d path dosfile typ Set ID To address a specific processor ID type the ID at the command prompt and all subsequent commands will address the unit with that ID DIR Lists the entry for a specific file a sector or all sectors Sectors are numbered 1 to 5 DIR lists all files in all sectors DIR 1 lists all files in sector 1 DIR 1 SYSTEM COM shows file statistics for the specific file Three parameters are shown with respect to each sector displayed related to the memory usage These are 1 the amount of memory used 2 the amount free and 3 the amount wasted Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 55 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Wasted memory is memory that cannot be used because a file has been deleted To recover wasted memory use the RESTORE command Example RESTORE 3 ERASE Removes a specified file form the filing system The file is defined in the form lt sector gt filename Example ERASE 1 SYSTEM COM The filename will no longer be visible but no memory is released To release the memory use the RESTORE command RESTORE Restores memory consumed by deleted files This process takes a few seconds to complete for each sector Example RESTORE 1 VER Gets and displays the version of firmware running on the target hardware TYPE Types an ASCII file stored in the FLASH filing system Example TYPE 1 CONFIG Output can be directed to
17. operation Normally the appropriate sequence command PAL or NTSC is included at the beginning of the STD INC file depending on the country where the system was purchased In the event that it is required to operate in PAL mode in an NTSC country the user should create a version of STD INC with the command PAL substituted for the command NTSC and vice versa Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 44 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 INCLUDE The include command includes text from another file in the current file Command syntax is INCLUDE lt filename typ gt d path filename typ The INCLUDE command has one parameter either a filename in angle brackets or a conventional MS DOS filename Quotes are optional on the conventional filename Included filenames in angle brackets are prefixed by the MS DOS environment variable VIDEOWALL For example in the system AUTOEXEC BAT file the SET command may be used to prefix all the SEND program include files enclosed in angle brackets with the subdirectory C BRICK using the following format SET VIDEOWALL C BRICK2 Conventional filenames without the angle brackets can optionally have drive letters path descriptions and file types Includes can be nested to a depth of 10 The nesting depth is the only method by which recursive includes are trapped Files may be included at any point in a command file
18. Page 54 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 9 FLASH MEMORY UTILITY The FLASH utility provides a means of administering the data held in the Brick hardware s FLASH memory FLASH MEMORY COMMANDS de Brick processor contains a 512KB FLASH memory used to hold the basic operating system and data iles The memory is divided into 8 logical sectors of 64KB The basic operating code is held in Sector 0 and is protected from accidental erasure Five sectors are available for use as a filing system accessible using the TWALL EXE utility The remaining two sectors are reserved for internal use File names are case sensitive and can be up to 12 characters File extensions are not used but is a legal character so file names in the MS DOS 8 3 format can be used e g SYSTEM COM The utility is invoked by typing FLASH at the command line Commands available are printed by typing at the command prompt Common commands are By default the serial port used is COM1 which can be changed by specifying the port in the FLASH INI file This is a text file that can be edited with any text editor TWALL EXE will look for the TWALL INI file in the same sub directory as the EXE file To display a list of commands and their syntax enter at the prompt The following are common commands not complete DIR n file ERASE n file RESTORE 1 5 VER TYPE n file DUMP n file PUT d path dosfile typ
19. alignment settings READALIGN Function code 39 Returned Data READALIGN Function code 39 Row 1 Signed byte Column 1 Row 2 Column 2 Row 3 Column 3 Row 4 Column 4 Row 5 Column 5 CO N O 01 AJOIN Po EFFECTS COMMANDS These commands are commonly used to assemble sequences of effects SET SPLIT Set the split factor This will magnify the image by the factor For example a split of 2 on a 4x4 array will result in four identical 2x2 images The vertical and horizontal shift parameters are optional If supplied and set to a value other than 0 they cause the image to be offset by the number divided by 2 In the case of a vertical shift of 1 this moves the image up half a screen A horizontal shift of 2 moves the image to the left one monitor A typical application of this function is to position a letter box source across a subset of monitors e g a 4x4 magnified image on a 4x3 videowall The command to achieve this would be SETSPLIT 410 SETSPLIT Function code 40 PSSM Tn nn M E o E 15 Shift ER 15 Shift ASPLIT Set an asymmetric split This command is similar to SETSPLIT but the horizontal and vertical magnifications can be different No monitor shifts are supported by this command Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 17 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide For example to set a horizontal split of 4 and a vertical s
20. changes in its products without notice in order to improve design and performance The information in this document is believed to be accurate in all respects at the time of printing but is subject to change without notice Media Technologies assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions and disclaims responsibility for any consequences resulting from the use of the information included herein Additionally Media Technologies assumes no responsibility for the functioning of features or parameters not described Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 61 of 61
21. figure from zero The receiver checks the received data by summing all the bytes following the start of message after expanding the stuffed bytes When the end of message character is received the sum should be zero MESSAGE CONTENTS The length of the message is not limited by the protocol As described above it can be of zero length for use in polling and null responses where there is otherwise no data to transfer The message format is the same for both directions of transmission comprising a function code in the range 0 to 255 followed by an optional parameter list The convention for parameters greater then 255 is least significant byte first Function codes are device specific and detailed in separate manuals for each device The function codes from O to 15 are reserved for generic operations such as returning software version numbers which all devices support In addition there are generic function codes to support extended addressing techniques for selecting multiple devices PROTOCOL VIOLATIONS Any protocol violations should cause the current message to be abandoned The receiver will revert to a mode waiting for the start of message character If the violation was an out of sequence start of message character a new message will be assumed Message frames with checksum errors are ignored Although the BSF character would normally only precede a smudged version of one of the 3 special byte codes SOM EOM BSF the presenc
22. file can also be deleted and executed from this menu By pressing Execute the sequence can be invoked without resetting the unit to test it for example SHOW MENU Shows the filename of the currently executing sequence or none if no sequence currently running MAP MENU An editor is invoked to edit a text file stored in FLASH memory that maps the front panel Effect switch to a particular downloaded file The format of this mapping file follows lt keycode gt sequence sfb The downloaded effects can be invoked manually using the front panel Effect switch and pushing the Store ID button If the mapping file does not exist in the processor FLASH a blank file is automatically created for editing Additional mappings can be included using key code 16 to 255 These can only be invoked using a command via the serial link A sample file is provided on Sequence Page 10 of the software examples UNIT ID By default the software addresses processor with ID 0 If more than one processor is connected by daisy chaining units together it is necessary to change the ID used by the software in order to control one of the other units When the Unit ID button is selected an array of IDs is presented If one of these other than zero is selected a window in the title bar will display the selected unit ID All commands issued by the PC software will now use that address Some menu options in the PC control software
23. ss dd ff ff dd decimal fraction 01 99 lt offset gt hh mmi ss dd ff ff ff Fields 1 24 for PAL lt rate gt 0 65535 The default if no sub command is supplied is the same as FOR The time and offset are defined in 24 hour clock format hours minutes seconds and optionally hundredths of a second if a dot is used to separate the seconds or fields if a colon or dash is used There are 25 fields per second for PAL and 30 for NTSC The actual time is calculated by multiplying the rate and offset then adding this to the base time and compensating according to the PAL or NTSC command included in the STD INC file See also the PAL NTSC command The offset and rate are optional These are mainly used in loops for example REPEAT 9 SEND BRICK i EFFECT P1 P2 Prime hardware with an effect WAIT TIMECODE 0 0 10 0 0 1 i Wait at time codes 0 0 10 0 0 11 etc AGAIN WAIT FOR The WAIT FOR subcommand will wait for the selected time on decoding the command If any key on the keyboard is pressed the wait command will terminate Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 46 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 WAIT ELAPSED The WAIT UNTIL subcommand will wait until the elapsed time from the start of the command file is greater than the time defined If any key on the keyboard is pressed the wait command will terminate WAIT UNTIL The WAIT UNTIL subcommand will wait until the ab
24. stored in FLASH memory The file 2 IRMAP TXT in the FLASH memory maps the front panel Effect switch to sequence file names The Effect switch returns codes 0 to 15 when the Select button on the front panel is pressed Other codes can be used to map files to be invoked by this function over the RS 232 control link Sequence files can always be executed by name using Function 77 ASCII key code READ SEQUENCE TERMINATION CONDITION The reason for termination of a sequence file can be determined using this command A non zero condition indicates either an error or forced termination using Function code 79 Errors usually occur because a dependent file is missing e g if the INCLUDE command is used and the file does not exist or the file name has been entered incorrectly Sequences will also terminate if recursive loops are used causing too many files to be opened for example Returned Data Normal termination Stopped by user FN 79 Error reading FLASH Error opening FLASH file FLASH file seek error Illegal function Function code unsupported Include name Include open Include depth 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 26 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 RUN SEQUENCE FILE Executes a sequence file by name Sequence files are stored by default in FLASH Sector 3 1 FLASH Sector 5 typically 3 Character string a chara
25. than zero is selected a window in the title bar will display the selected unit ID All commands issued by the PC software will now use that address Some menu options in the PC control software make use of global addresses and will therefore control all units simultaneously irrespective of their IDs e g setting the overall split VIDEO INPUT MENU This allows the contrast brightness etc to be remotely adjusted Settings can be stored remotely in FLASH memory or saved in a notepad file for inclusion in a sequence file Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 34 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 The following features are provided INPUT CHANNEL Selects one of either of the two digitisers available in the Brick processor COLOUR SYSTEM Enables the colour system to be set for the selected input channel Four options are available PAL NTSC SECAM AUTO The selection of PAL SECAM on the primary video input channel also selects 50Hz frame rate processing in the pixel replication logic Selecting NTSC configures the processor for 60Hz frame rate processing in the pixel replication logic The AUTO button allows automated selection between NTSC and PAL based on the input signal to Video Input Channel 1 If a valid signal is detected when the AUTO button is highlighted the PAL or NTSC button will be highlighted as detected by the processor and the processor configured automatically for eithe
26. DE string 0 Commands and parameter names in CAPITALS are the function names used in sequence programme scripts they are defined in the system file STD INC It is possible but not recommended to edit STD INC to customise the names for function commands for example to substitute words in another language For example the sample command to set the split above has been defined as follows to make it easier to use SETSPLIT 4 Commands have two attributes immediate and sequence Commands with the immediate attribute are executed when they are received Commands that do not have this attribute are queued and execute when the current background task completes If there is no background task they also execute immediately This allows commands such as WIPE to be sent one after the other without the next command being executed before the current command completes It is possible to change the immediate behaviour using the IMMEDIATE command A command sent after the IMMEDIATE command will act immediately regardless of its immediate attribute Commands with the sequence attribute will execute in downloaded sequence files Commands without this attribute are commands that would normally be used with an external control program and could have a detrimental effect if executed locally within a downloaded sequence e g RESET Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 9 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Th
27. If the processors are ordered with this intention they will be supplied pre configured Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 45 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Parameters p4 to pN are placed in the data bytes section of a message An ASCII text string can be used in the parameter list Each character of the string will be converted to a number in the range 32 127 and used in the same way as numeric parameters OUTPUT The OUTPUT command is a lower level version of the SEND command It will send any number of parameters supplied as bytes to the hardware limited by the maximum line length without formatting the data into a structured message Command syntax is OUTPUT lt p1 gt lt p2 gt lt pN gt A parameter may be preceded by the amp character to force it to occupy two bytes LSB first ASCII strings may be sent by enclosing them in double quotes For example OUTPUT PLAY 0x0D WAIT This is the primary time dependent command word Parameters supplied determine whether the control program will wait for a set period until the elapsed time since the start of the file the absolute time or on reaching a time code for the selected video source Note Use of time codes requires a compatible time code reader to be installed in the PC Command syntax is as follows WAIT FOR UNTIL TIMECODE ELAPSED lt time gt lt offset gt lt rate gt lt time gt hh mm
28. TY cirri Act Rast Mai Datel aat t 55 FLASH MEMORY COMMANDS etic alerted nate en cdeteacGete dened ctanteredastetid tant Sdtnega lacs aterert tette 55 10 ENER 58 BOOT ROG eege 58 FLASH FILE SYSTEM RECOVERY ccte tecscensderscues ders ceea densuescu om tes constr cuerivaren denueenscte etm erscetacatrtesicenst 58 11 SPECIFICATION WEE 60 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 1 BRICK 2 VIDEOWALL PROCESSOR ARCHITECTURE The Brick 2 videowall processor architecture is shown below The Brick consists of two independent video digitisers The second video digitiser has a video buffer memory to enable synchronisation with the first video digitiser Video fields are streamed into the video frame memory which can store up to four video fields The output of the frame buffer is fed to the video output processors which magnify the portion of the image to be displayed on the particular monitor in the videowall array Various pixel switching and pixel intensity effects are provided in hardware The video output processors include colour wash registers to enable each monitor in the videowall array to display a different colour wash These colour washes block the display of video and can be dynamically switched to enable wipes between wash and video In addition to a wash each output processor can select each video input channel to enable both to be displayed simultaneously on the videowall array The powerful on board microcomputer can w
29. a file on the PC using the gt feature of MS DOS Example TYPE 1 CONFIG gt CONFIG TXT DUMP The same as FLASH TYPE but data in the file is presented in HEX Example DUMP 1 SYSLOAD COM PUT Copies a file from the PC to the FLASH memory The transfer is always binary It is necessary to ensure that sufficient space exists in the target sector prior to performing the transfer No file can exceed the limits of a single sector 64KB less the minimum 512B directory overhead per sector Example PUT C BRICK2 FIRMWARE SYS107 BIN 1 SYSTEM COM Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 56 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 GET Does the reverse of PUT loads the FLASH file to the PC disk Example GET 1 SYSTEM COM C BRICK2 FIRMWARE SYSTEM BIN Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 57 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 10 LOW LEVEL MONITOR Rarely such as a PC power failure during firmware upgrade the operating system in the processor FLASH memory may be corrupted In that event the FLASH memory must be rebuilt using the low level monitor If the Select button is pushed during power up the BRICK processor will not boot and instead drops into a low level monitor If the filing system has been corrupted the processor boot into this mode without intervention if it cannot find a suitable system image on power up in the flash filing system Commu
30. actor sets the number of images in each row column A factor of 2 for example puts four replicated images on each monitor Code Code MINIFY Function code 104 SLIMIT Sets the overscan limits of minified images This masks the edge of the image which is not normally visible since it would be in the overscaned part of the display outside of the visible part of the image It can also be used to increase the gaps between the minified images to simulate the physical gaps between monitors in a conventional videowall The mask is applied when the MINIFY command is issued To change the mask on screen it is necessary to send the updated limits with SLIMIT and then repeat the MINIFY command The colour of the masked area is that set with the COLOUR command function code 89 In order to apply this colour the masked area needs to be cleared using the CLEARSCREEN command function code 94 Typical values SLIMIT would be x1 0 x2 350 y1 5 y2 287 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 24 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Parameter Comment SLIMIT Function code 99 X1 low byte Left Limit X1 high byte X2 low byte Right Limit X2 high byte Y1 low byte Top Limit Y1 high byte Y2 low byte Bottom Limit Y2 high byte 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 For example COLOUR 000 Set colour in RGB colour space to black CLEARSCREEN Set overscan area to colou
31. atures present in the video source material NON INTERLACED Alternate incoming video fields are displayed reduces flicker if a lot of text or horizontal features are present in the video source material BARS Switches the display to colour bars ON OFF FILTER Controls the pixel interpolation mode ON OFF PARTIAL This function is not implemented in current firmware versions Contact us for availability SAVE IN FLASH This button will write the current settings into a file in the FLASH memory system for both channels If this button is not pressed the processor will revert to the previously saved settings on power up SPLIT MENU The SPLIT menu allows different splits to be configured on the array This setting over rides the switch on the processor front panel but the processor will revert to the default value on the panel switch value on power up PROJECT MENU A project is a sub directory containing sequences files SEQ sub project files EFX and data files containing the non default configuration data The file which defines the sequence file buttons is called by default WALL EFX Additional files with the extension EFX can be used for further sub projects in the project directory The default settings and wall dimension will be the same for all EFX files in a sub directory The initial project selected will be set to the last used project on start up unless the p switch is used to suppres
32. cter Na Last character INO String termination null READ EXECUTING SEQUENCE FILE NAME READSEQ Function code 78 Returned Data READSEQ Function code 78 1 FLASH Sector 5 typically 2 Character string GE character Na of astcharacter INO String termination null CANCEL EXECUTING SEQUENCE STOPSEQ Function code 79 GRAPHICS FUNCTIONS A limited set of graphics functions are provided These write pixels directly to the common video frame store It is therefore necessary to freeze the image Two graphics pages are provided equivalent to the even and odd video fields Each page has a set of independent drawing variables e Drawing colour e Cursor X Y e Font When page 1 is displayed page 2 is accessible using the drawing functions and vice versa Both pages can be displayed sequentially as an interlaced full frame picture This is not generally recommended as this can introduce a strong flicker The frame store holds images in YUV colour space format Colours can be specified either in RGB or YUV format The nominal displayed image is 720x288 pixels with a 50Hz field rate PAL SECAM or 720x240 at 60Hz NTSC In practice the horizontal pixel range is halved 360 to simplify access to the video memory Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 27 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 which is in YUV 4 2 2 format Some additional vertical over scan is provided whic
33. d device to place data in the output buffer containing the firmware version The data is read using the POLL command There are no parameters associated with this command GETRLS Function code 04 Returned Data GETRLS Function code 04 Version Number MAJOR Version Number MINOR ASCII Text Message Software release name KILL Kill any background task currently executing KILL Function code 05 SETID Issue 7 Set the unit identity This is only required when multiple Brick units are used for splits greater than 5x5 for example If ordered at the same time units will be supplied with the ID already preset SETID Function code 06 Address 0 255 ee o o O 1 8 3 Hardwaremode PO The default split is applied on power up if the split front panel Split switch is set to zero The hardware mode X and Y offset values depend on the global split required and number of Brick units used A standard unit i e for splits from 1x1 to 5x5 should have these values set to 0 For non standard configurations any non zero values required for the hardware mode X or Y offsets will be noted in the hardware specific documentation supplied Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 11 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 GO Execute a held command Used in multi device applications A hold command may be broadcast to all devices followed by a command to each device whic
34. d shell No data is sent to the processor Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 53 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 VERBOSE EXECUTION MODE v This mode is much the same as normal execution mode except that the lines of the command file are displayed as they are interpreted When a WAIT command is encountered a wait prompt message is issued causing the command to be displayed INTERACTIVE MODE i In this mode the source text is taken from the keyboard instead of a file Unlike the previous modes an error will not cause the program to exit to MS DOS To exit to MS DOS enter Z End of file or the command word END LOG FILES In either execution mode the I switch can be used to log the messages sent to and from the serial port in two files TX LOG Messages from the PC to the hardware RX LOG Messages from the hardware to the PC in response to a POLL Each line of the log file contains the raw message in HEX preceded with a time stamp For example hh mm ss dd 7E message in hex 7D SERIAL PORT The SEND program uses COM1 by default This can be overridden by specifying COM2 if required BAUDRATE The default baud rate is 19200 which can be over ridden using the b switch followed by a baud rate supported by the device The following are typical examples 300 1200 2400 4800 9600 19200 38400 For example b9600 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006
35. e all of the files on other sectors if they are not also affected The next step is to install the operating code This can be done either from the monitor from the PC based control software via the update menu or using the FLASH utility supplied The monitor will accept a limited set of formatted messages to allow the files to be copied into the Flash filing system It does not implement a full set of control messages The operating code is supplied in two formats binary and Intel hex The binary format is used with the PC based control software or the FLASH utility The hex version is used with the monitor in conjunction with a terminal emulator To load the file using the FLASH utility from the FLASH prompt enter PUT 1 SYSTEM COM C BRICK2 FIRMWARE SYSTEM BIN assuming the binary file is in the PC directory C BRICK2 FIRMWARE If the FLASH utility is started with BRICK FIRMWARE as the default directory the directory prefix can be omitted To load a file using the monitor enter HEX followed by the filename required in the flash filing system Example HEX 1 SYSTEM COM e Using a terminal emulator e g the TALK terminal program supplied send the HEX file In the case of TALK by pressing F9 and entering the filename to download e g C BRICK2 FIRMWARE system hex A series of dots will be displayed as the code is downloaded On completion a byte count and checksum will be displayed If the gt prompt does not appear enter the end of fil
36. e character Z e Reboot the Brick hardware without pressing the Select button on the processor front panel At this point exit the terminal emulator and use the FLASH utility to copy the remaining files Examples PUT C BRICK2 FIRMWARE TMS FNT 4 TMS FNT PUT C BRICK2 FIRMWARE HLV FNT 4 HLV FNT PUT C BRICK2 FIRMWARE MEDIAT BMP 5 MEDIAT BMP Filenames in the flash filing system are case sensitive so ensure the target filenames are in upper case Note that at this point the processor has address 0 To set an address other than 0 it is necessary to send the SETID command with the appropriate parameters It is now possible to run the BRICK2 EXE software to reconfigure the processor and reload your sequences A beta copy of TWALL EXE utility is also supplied This provides a rich set of commands and effectively combines the FLASH and TALK utilities plus some of the features of the PC control software and the SEND utility It can use COM ports other than just COM1 COM2 and so can be used with USB based serial port devices which install as COM5 for example See www mediat co uk for further documentation and updates of this utility Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 59 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 11 SPECIFICATION The following technical details are subject to change without notice Contact us for the latest specification at sales mediat co uk or www mediat co uk Enclosure Vid
37. e following function codes are available to the user Other codes not specified here are either reserved or not intended to be directly accessible by the user RESET Resets the addressed device All internal parameters are set to their power on reset state The device configuration is derived from a combination of front panel switches and configurations stored in on board Flash memory Parameters RESET Function code 00 BAUDRATE Sets the baud rate for the addressed device serial communications On power up or reset the processor baud rate is always set to 19200 This command should be sent to all devices in the system to set a new communications rate BAUDRATE Function code 01 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 19200 Default SETDEF Resets the videowall digitiser encoder and monitor alignment configuration from the saved values This occurs naturally following a reset or power up SETDEF Function code 02 CONFIG Causes the addressed device to place data in the output buffer containing the state of the card configuration switches The data is read using the POLL command There are no parameters associated with this command GETCFG Function code 03 Returned Data Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 10 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide GETCFG Function code 0 3 1 0 15 Hex switch 1 setting Split 2 0 15 Hex switch 2 setting Effects RELEASE Causes the addresse
38. e of any other character is not considered a violation The un smudging process should be applied regardless of the smudged character code provided it is not either SOM EOM or BSF USING SEND TO DECODE MESSAGE FRAMES Software shipped with Media Technologies videowall processors includes a message programme called SEND EXE Type SEND at the DOS prompt to display the command line switches available Use the following command to see what bytes are transmitted by a given videowall command sequence SEND EXAMPLE SEQ COM1 L Instead of EXAMPLE SEQ use any example sequence file assembled using the videowall programming software This creates a text file called TX LOG which contains information about the bytes sent to the serial port Use COM2 if necessary for your software installation Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 6 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 3 CONNECTING THE PROCESSOR The physical layout of the Brick 2 videowall processor is shown below Select Effect Video Input 1 Video Outputs at Rear Video Input 2 Earth Testing Host RS 232 Point Computer Loop RS 232 Slave Processor Set Default Magnification Split Figure 2 Positions of Processor Switches and Connectors The Brick 2 videowall processor is controlled via the Host RS 232 connector The connector is a standard 9 pin D connector with a one one pin mapping to the standard IBM PC COM p
39. ed blocks are not deleted Paste Copies the previously selected block to the file at the current cursor location Find Find a string in the current file Line Move the cursor to a selected line number Cancel Cancel any changes since the start of editing the current file Exit Leave the editor If the file has changed a dialogue box will appearing allowing the file to be saved before exit to exit with no changes or to return to the editor CONTROL KEYS Editor control key functions are as follows PS Se ee a wm LL Home JL Santo line i O LL Em LL Endotine i O Up arrow Cursor up Delete character Cursor left delete character TAB ___ Tab 4 spaces Cd TAB O O Tab 4 spaces ESC o S Eeer i PoE Scrollwindowup k Delete line Po elt tine O eS GE WEE Search next L 2N IL nsertnewline k EEN EEN E EEN PT Cid CGO toline number Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 39 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 MACRO BUTTONS If the button at the top right of the editor screen is clicked a column of macro buttons will appear At the top of the column is the Notepad button If this is clicked the contents of the notepad will be copied to the file The notepad holds temporary data generated from the effects windows The remaining buttons are defined in a macro file called WALLEDO MAC which can contain up to 10 macro lines The forma
40. ed with Windows or Macintosh PHYSICAL CONNECTION The wiring of the cable for connection between a PC AT Goin D serial connector and the Processor is as follows Computer Processor Pin 2 Kei Pin 2 Pin 3 gt Pin3 Pin 5 gt Pin 5 The protocol is intended to be used with RS 232 serial communications devices The default communications parameters are as follows Data bits 8 SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS FRAME STRUCTURE The Serial RS 232 communications frame structure is common to both directions of transmission Messages are delimited by start and end of message flags A single byte checksum is appended to the end of the message The message is preceded by two bytes of additional data a control and address byte as shown below lt SOM gt lt Control gt lt Address gt lt Message data gt lt Checksum gt lt EOM gt Frames are delimited by a start and end of message character The body of the frame comprises the control and address bytes the message which is optional and a checksum Frames not containing any message bytes are referred to as null frames The start and end of messages are special character values that must not occur in the data bytes between them to ensure correct message framing To achieve this a third value the byte stuff character BSF is used This is also a unique character value that also must not appear as a data byte The byte values of these three special characters are SOM
41. ence filename in the FLASH memory must be unique PROJECT The Project button at this menu level has the same effect as the Project button from the top level menu RENAME A selected sequence button can be renamed Both the legend on the button and the associated sequence file may be changed Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 40 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 CUT When selected any sequence button can be temporarily deleted and saved The Paste mode will then be automatically selected The button may then be pasted back in any position by clicking in the appropriate place The page may be changed while in paste mode Only one button may be Cut at a time If a second button is cut it will replace the earlier one PASTE If a button has previously been Cut selecting Paste will allow it to be pasted back onto the page The button may then be pasted back in any position by clicking in the appropriate place The page may be changed while in paste mode to transfer or replicate the button on another page EXIT Leaves the Sequence menu If there were any changes made to sequence buttons a prompt will be displayed requesting confirmation whether or not the changes are to be made permanent The sequence menu and all menus can also be exited by right clicking on the mouse CONFIGURE MENU The configure menu pulls down a further set of buttons as follows C
42. eowall Formats Video Inputs Video Conversion Display Resolution Video Outputs Effects Effects Control Electronics Power Environment Weight Warranty Array 19 inch 2U rack mounting or free standing detachable brackets Welded steel matt black paint with fingerprint resistant lacquer finish Size 430 mm x 250 mm x 88 mm Basic processor supports up to 16 monitors Expansion to 25 monitors using internal module Up to 256 LCD panels Plasma panels Projectors Cubes Consumer TV Monitors with A V inputs Square rectangular and pyramid monitor arrays supported Software selected 4 Composite video inputs 2 S video inputs PAL NTSC SECAM 50 60 Hz field rate 15 625 kHz line rate Software control of video input functions Brightness Contrast Saturation Hue with storage in processor flash memory 2 independent video input processors with internal synchronisation CCIR601 sampling 27 MHz 720 x 576 480 interlaced and repeat field modes Composite video RCA Phono Connector 1V p p 75 Ohm Software selectable PAL or NTSC S video Mini DIN Connector 1V p p 75 Ohm Software programmable horizontal and vertical monitor offsets Magnifications 1 to 16 with no motion artifacts 2D Pixel interpolation for ultra smooth magnified image Display text and graphics messages including your logo Freeze modes including variable rate strobe Colour washes with 64k different colours on each videowa
43. h extends the vertical range to 300 The accessible range for graphics functions is therefore 360x300 The actual displayed range depends on the frame rate and amount of over scan on the display monitors At 360x300 resolution pixels are roughly square Text messages in any colour can be displayed over the frozen image The fonts used are loaded in FLASH memory The font files are present in FLASH Sector 4 Bit mapped graphics files in two colour BMP format held in the FLASH memory can be copied into the video frame buffer This feature is useful for displaying small graphic images e g company logos INITIALISE GRAPHICS Initialises the graphics system page variables as follows Cursor X Y 0 0 Font i None Colour White INITGX Function code 80 SELECT GRAPHICS PAGE Selects the graphics page The Freeze function 44 can be used to the same effect Page 1 Page 2 SELECT FONT Selects the current font for the selected page Several fonts are provided as standard and other fonts can be downloaded to FLASH if required The font for each drawing on each page must be selected independently Code Code FONT Function code 82 code Function code 82 Page 1 Page 2 SE string First character Na Last character LN OC String termination null Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 28 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 PRINT TEXT Prints a text string at the cur
44. h is held Following a broadcast GO command all devices will execute the held command synchronously HOLD Hold a command pending a later GO command HOLD Function code 08 IMMEDIATE Force the next command to be executed immediately IMMEDIATE Function code 09 VIDEO INPUT COMMANDS These commands are used to change the video input configurations SELECT VIDEO INPUT Each input can select either a Composite Video Input via the BNC connectors or S Video via the S Video connectors VIDEOINPUT Function code 16 Video Input Channel 1 Video Input Channel 2 Composite Video Input 1 Composite Video Input 2 S Video Input BRIGHTNESS Code Code BRIGHTNESS BRIGHTNESS Function code 17 code Function code 17 17 Video Input Channel 1 Video Input Channel 2 EE 255 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 12 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide CONTRAST Code Code CONTRAST CONTRAST Function code 18 code Function code 18 Video Input Channel 1 Video Input Channel 2 Ers 255 SATURATION Code Code SATURATION Function code 19 Video Input Channel 1 Video Input Channel 2 EE 255 I m Code HUE unctionncode 200 code Function code 20 0s E Input Channel 1 AER Input Channel 2 2 255 He o S o yS COLOUR SYSTEM Code Code VIDEOSYSTEM Function code 21 Video Input Channel 1 Video Input Channel 2
45. he examples you do not want RUNNING THE PROGRAM The program will execute and select the last used project Communication with the hardware is not necessary at this stage Optional command line switches can be appended to the command line r lt filename seq gt Force execution of filename seq sequence after start up p Do not select last selected project directory SEQUENCE FILE EXECUTION If desired the program will execute a named sequence file after start up The name of the sequence file follows the r switch without any space For example to run the sequence file DEMO SEQ on start up BRICK2 rDEMO SEQ This feature is useful in situations where it is desirable for the videowall to begin execution of a sequence immediately on power up without any other manual intervention say by incorporating the above command in the AUTOEXEC BAT file Note It is possible to configure the Brick processor to perform the same function by downloading a sequence file to FLASH memory and installing it as the startup sequence DEFAULT PROJECT DIRECTORY Normally the program will select the last used directory as the default project directory This feature can be disabled by appending the p switch to the command line BRICK2 p Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 33 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 6 CONTROL SOFTWARE USER GUIDE The program is mouse oriented with pull down menus Men
46. in If the processor has been rebooted without properly upgrading the code it will fail and then it is necessary to use the boot failure recovery procedure described in a separate section HARDWARE RESET MENU This button sends a global system reset command to the hardware Before the command is sent a Yes or No confirmation dialogue box will appear The reset command will be sent if Yes is selected The hardware reset operation will take a few seconds to complete ALIGNMENT MENU This menu option presents an alignment adjustment screen This shows graphically the monitor channel numbers and their position in the wall A row or column can be selected using the letter number boxes on the Top and Left of the wall representation Once selected the Adjust slider can be used to move the row or column in relation to the other monitors This procedure should only be used after all of the videowall monitors have been aligned individually to compensate for under or over scanning of the magnified fragments displayed on the monitors Once the wall has been aligned the settings can be saved in FLASH memory to be automatically applied on start up It is also possible to save the settings in text to the notepad for subsequent inclusion in a sequence file The image on the wall is by default a magnified image If the Test Pattern button is pressed a pattern which identifies the channel and draws a line from opposing corners of each monitor is displa
47. is not used the program will automatically append SEQ to the filename The file does not have to exist before it is associated with the button A single sequence file can be invoked by any number of buttons DELETE When selected any sequence button when clicked will be deleted with optionally the associated sequence file EDIT The Editor is invoked by selecting EDIT on the toolbar menu and then clicking on a sequence button The file associated with the button will be loaded into memory and the editor window opened To leave the Editor click on EXIT If you wish to abandon changes to a file without leaving the Editor click on CANCEL Button assignments for the editor are as follows Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 38 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Pg Up Scrolls up one page Pg Dn Scrolls down one page Up Scrolls up one line Dn Scrolls down one line File File presents a menu with three options FILE Open a new file MERGE Merge an existing file at the current cursor position SAVE Update file with latest edits Cut Cut a block of text lines and save in a temporary buffer To select the lines move the cursor to the start line then press and hold the left mouse button Move the cursor to the end of the block and release the mouse button The selected block will be highlighted Select Cut to delete and save it in the buffer Copy As Cut but the select
48. ise it to the main video input source This allows correct display of two video sources which are not externally synchronised TBC ALTERNATE FIELD The TBC is selected to store alternate fields or every field Use this command to reduce interlace flicker on the second source Code Code TBCALT Function code 55 TBC WINDOW POSITION When TBC MODE see below is set to quarter size this command sets the monitor quadrant in which the window is displayed TBCWINDOW Function code 56 Top Left Top Right Bottom Left Bottom right Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 22 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 TBC ENABLE This command enables and disables display of the second source in full screen or quarter screen mode as set by the command TBC MODE TBCENABLE Function code 57 BR E O SS E Oe TBC SIZE The second source is selected to fill the screen or a quarter of the screen When quarter screen mode is selected the source will appear to have a coarse appearance due to the dropping of alternate vertical and horizontal input pixels Code Code TBCSIZE Function code 58 o code Function code 58 o Full Screen Quarter Screen TBC FREEZE The second video input source can be frozen independently of the main video input source Code Code TBCFREEZE Function code 59 OFF ON ZOOM Zooms the magnified image to a centre image position specified
49. l be displayed This contains a double row of control buttons above a field of sequence buttons that relate to the user s sequence files These sequence files contain the commands necessary to execute a timed sequence of effects on the wall Using the upper rows of control buttons it is possible to add delete and edit the sequence files and alter the position and page on which the sequence buttons appear Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 37 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 SEQUENCE COMMAND SUMMARY The command format of the sequence files is described in a separate section of this manual The following is a summary of the available commands DEFINE __ Define macro text substitution SEND Sends a single protocol command AGAIN Log construct termination S O REM __ Issue a comment to PC screen scrolled in a window SPEED Change serial port speed END End of file delimiter Cd ADD Before a sequence file itself can be created using the editor directly a button must created using the ADDSEQ option The button definition has two parts as follows LEGEND The name that will appear on the button FILENAME The sequence file associated with the button Both the legend and the filename must be defined A filename may be automatically generated by clicking on the AUTO button Sequence files have the extension type SEQ If an extension
50. ll monitor Wipe between 2 video input channels Wipe between colour wash and video Interlace and repeat field display modes Bouncing images Solarised negative dazzle pixel intensity effects Wash colour cycling 64k different colours on each videowall monitor Effects continuously under development with free upgrades via our website Control software included with processor Download your effects sequences for stand alone operation Optionally trigger downloaded sequences using simple RS 232 terminal Multiple processors controlled using RS 232 daisy chain All electronics mounted on single circuit board upgradeable to 25 channel Internal 40W auto switching 100VAC to 240VAC 0 315A 50 60 Hz Integral low noise fan Storage 40 to 158 F 40 to 70 C 10 to 80 non condensing Operating 41 to 95 F 5 to 35 C 10 to 80 non condensing Product weight 5 kg 11 pounds Shipping weight 7 kg 15 pounds Warranty 2 years parts and labour Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 60 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 For further information on our products please contact us Media Technologies 361 Mill Road Mile End Colchester Essex CO4 5GG United Kingdom Telephone 44 7885 256665 Facsimile 44 1 206 752451 Send on hearing announcement Email sales mediat co uk Web http www mediat co uk Media Technologies reserves the right to make
51. m are IBM PC AT compatible preferably 486 processor or better 640KB RAM Hard disk with at least 2 MB free One serial port VGA display Microsoft compatible mouse MS DOS 3 3 or greater The program will run under Windows 95 98 ME XP and Windows 2000 as an MS DOS application It has also been shown to run on the Macintosh with MS DOS emulation The program requires at least 540kB of main MS DOS memory to operate reliably INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE To install the software invoke Windows Explorer and double click on the file called INSTALL BAT which creates the following directories C BRICK2 EXE EXAMPLES FIRMWARE MANUAL Edit the batch file to automate installation from disks other than A and for hard disks other than C or use Windows Explorer to copy all the directories and their contents across to the target drive The current version of our control software is DOS based and has been tested to run under the following versions of Windows including 95 98 ME XP and 2000 It has also been tested on the Macintosh using MS DOS emulation Future versions will be Windows based To run the software create a link on your Windows desktop by right clicking on the desktop and selecting new shortcut The executable program is C BRICK2 EXE BRICK2 EXE The windows default settings should be Ok for running the software Choose any Windows icon After the shortcut is created you can optionally change to
52. make use of global addresses and will therefore control all units simultaneously irrespective of their IDs e g setting the overall split SERIAL PORT MENU This button selects COM1 or COM2 to be used by the software The selection will be automatically saved ready for next time the software is used FIRMWARE UPGRADE MENU New firmware can be downloaded to the Brick processor using this menu option Detailed use of this facility will be described in the documents shipped with firmware upgrades When selected a prompt appears for a file containing the binary image of the new firmware The path and filename can be entered directly or the Browse button pressed to locate the desired file Once selected download begins when OK is pressed To abandon download press cancel Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 42 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 The DOS file selected will always be renamed to SYSTEM COM in the FLASH filing system A file of this name will usually exist in which case a prompt will appear warning that this is about to be overwritten If Yes is pressed download will proceed over writing the existing SYSTEM COM file As the download progresses a thermometer style display will indicate progress Once firmware download is completed it is necessary to reset the unit to run the new code IMPORTANT If for any reason the download fails do not reboot the processor start the download aga
53. mmand sets the display mode for a given monitor DISPLAY Function code 42 2 0 Video source A magnified by split 1 Video source B not magnified x1 2 Wash 3 Colour Bars for test purposes FREEZE This command freezes or un freezes the primary frame store and affects all monitors displaying a magnified picture The frozen image can be either a single field or a full frame interlaced image Code FREEZE Function code 44 1 0 Unfreeze Full Motion Video 1 Freeze odd field 2 Freeze even field 3 Freeze both fields STROBE This command freezes or un freezes the primary frame store and affects all monitors displaying a magnified picture The frozen image can be either a single field or a full frame interlaced image The strobe effect is a fundamental attribute of the video image and does not use a background process to achieve the effect Therefore all of the other effects can be used in conjunction with a strobed image Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 19 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 STROBE Function code 45 1 Speed 0 255 Increasing number Decreasing Speed 0 strobe off TEXT MODE INTERLACE Sets the global operation to text mode This is equivalent to non interlaced Text will flicker if displayed in interlaced mode due to the strong horizontal components in the image Code Code TEXTMODE TEXTMODE 7 Functio
54. n will reverse the parameters supplied so that for example OUTPUT SWAP 200 100 Expands to OUTPUT 100 200 Macros can be nested to any depth but on expansion the line length must not exceed 132 characters Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 47 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Macro expansion is dependent to a certain extent on the command commands such as SHELL and EXEC will stop macro expansion as soon as the command word is decoded This is particularly true in the case of the DEFINE command itself For example DEFINE ONE 1 Define macro with value of 1 SHELL ONE ONE is used directly and not converted DEFINE NEWSHELL SHELL Redefine SHELL command NEWSHELL ONE Macro expansion takes place to give SHELL 1 FORGET Macros and procedures can be deleted from the symbol table at any point in the file using the FORGET command If previously defined macros depend on the macro that has been deleted they will cause errors on expansion later Command syntax is FORGET name PROCEDURES Procedures are similar to macros in many ways except that they span more than one line and may contain a number of commands Up to 9 parameters can be passed to each procedure The procedure is defined starting with the PROC keyword and terminates with the ENDPROC keyword Both keywords must be on a separate line Command syntax is PROC name p1 pn Commands ENDPROC Procedures can have u
55. n code 46 o code Function code A8 OFF Interlaced ON Oe Text mode non interlaced INTERLACE OFFSET When interlaced mode is selected it is possible to set the number of magnified lines between fields for each split factor Under some conditions it is possible to improve the visual impact by adjusting this offset WARNING if the interlace offset is set to an illegal value for a given split factor the display will flicker strongly at the field rate and will not be acceptable IOFFSET Function code 48 THE Offset N Signed offset Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 20 of 61 SELECT MONITOR Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Using this command it is possible to create an arbitrary set of monitors which will respond to global commands This reduces the number of messages necessary to achieve a given effect By default all monitors are selected It remains possible to directly access a specific monitor by its address SELECTMON Monitor 15 Function code 47 e Lag Monitor5 1 Selected 0 Deselected 8 Lag Monitor7 1 Selected 0 Deselected 9 Flag Monitor8 1 Selected 0 Deselected 1 Selected 0 EE Monitor 16 1 Selected 0 Deselected Monitor 17 1 Selected 0 Deselected Monitor 18 Selected 0 Deselected Monitor 19 Selected 0 Deselected Monitor 20
56. nd file consists of either a blank line a comment or a command Only one command may be invoked per line Most commands are followed by a variable length list of parameters dependent on the command type Numeric parameters can be in either decimal hex or binary Hex numbers may be represented in either the C format as Oxnn or the assembler format using a leading decimal digit and trailing H Binary numbers are designated by a trailing B Any number may have leading zeros Unlike C this does not designate base 8 Hex numbers may use upper or lower case letters For example Decimal 255 16 bit Decimal amp 16430 Binary 11111111B 8 bit Hexadecimal OxFF OxOff or OFFH 16 bit Hexadecimal amp 0x800F All commands and parameters should be delimited by a space comma or tab character The default base may be changed using the RADIX command to any base from 2 to 16 Macros may be defined to substitute text strings with key words Command words can be in either upper or lower case Macros are case sensitive Command lines before and after macro expansion must be less than 132 characters COMMAND DEFINITIONS The following commands are implemented PAL and NTSC When compiling sequences to be downloaded to FLASH memory in the processor for stand alone operation the compiler must adjust the number of video fields counted in WAIT commands to ensure that time delays are equivalent for both PAL 50 Hz and NTSC 60 Hz
57. nication with the low level monitor is via the host serial link using a terminal emulation program with the following settings 19200 bit s 8 data bits 1 stop bit no parity A PC terminal utility is supplied on the distribution disk to perform this function TALK COM in case the user does not already have a suitable terminal program Note that no flow control is required and other terminal emulators may need to be configured to use no flow control to work with the processor The low level monitor accepts single line commands after the gt prompt is presented Entering at the prompt will display a list of possible commands These commands allow the FLASH filing system to be manipulated via the terminal interface BOOT PROCESS If the Select switch is not pushed during power up the processor will boot as normal by searching for a file called CONFIG in Sector 1 of the FLASH memory This is a simple text file containing boot instructions in the form BOOT lt d gt filename Each BOOT statement will be tried until a specified file is found When this file is located it is copied into RAM and the processor begins execution of that code The system code has a specific signature which is checked before being loaded If this signature is not present the file will be ignored and the next file checked lf a CONFIG file is not present in Sector 1 the processor will attempt to load and execute a file named SYSTEM COM also in sec
58. ontroller Unit ID Serial Port Firmware Update Hardware Reset Alignment Program info CONTROLLER MENU Selects the System Control function from which sequences installed in the Brick s FLASH memory can be listed and executed The following functions are are available from the controller menu Keypad Run Stop List Delete Startup Show Map KEYPAD MENU Brings up a keypad to enable downloaded sequences mapped to key numbers to be run RUN MENU When selected a menu of installed sequences in FLASH memory will be displayed If a file is selected if will execute on the processor independently of the PC STOP MENU When selected stops any executing sequence running remotely on the Brick processor Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 41 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 LIST MENU Produces a list of currently installed sequences and shows the file sizes This assumes that sequences are stored in Sector 3 of the FLASH filing system This is the case for all sequences stored using the graphical interface which always assumes Sector 3 It is possible using the FLASH EXE utility to store sequence files in other sectors DELETE MENU Brings up a list of sequence files If a file is selected then it will be deleted when OK is pressed STARTUP MENU Brings up a further menu which allows a specific sequence stored on the PC to be installed as a special sequence file to be run on power up The
59. ort connectors only 3 wires are required for correct operation The Loop RS 232 connector is only required when other RS 232 devices typically stacked Brick processors need to be controlled from a single PC COM port The Loop RS 232 connector is a standard 9 pin D connector with a crossover pin mapping relative to Host RS 232 connector to enable slave units to be daisy chained Loop RS 232 lt Host RS 232 etc using an identical cable to that used for the host interface Supplied Pin assignments of all the connectors are given below S Video Input Connector 4 pin Mini DIN Pin Signal Type F 1 Y Screen GND aoe 2 UC Screen GND oke e Oo 3 Y video signal CS C video signal Front View S Video Output Connector 4 pin Mini DIN Pin _ Signali Type F f 1 Y Screen GND Ger 2 UC Screen GND ol a Oo 3 Y video signal CS C video signal Front View Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 7 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Host RS 232 Connector 9 pin Male D Pin Signal S Type IL Notused 2 Host TX Output 3 Host RX input 4 Notused 5 GND 6 9 Meel Loop RS 232 Connector 9 pin Male DI Pin Signal S Type IL Notused 2 Host RX input 3 Host TX Output 4 Notused 5 GND _ _ J gt 6 9 Notused Copyright Media Technologies 1999
60. p to 9 parameters These can be used to substitute parameters to commands within the body of the procedure or passed as further parameters to procedures calls within the procedure body For example PROC EFFECT start middle finish Procedure EFFECT with 3 parameters SEND 7 0 1 2 start Use each parameter in turn for the SEND 7 0 1 2 middle same basic command SEND 7 0 1 2 finish ENDPROC End of procedure EFFECT 1 2 3 Execute procedure EFFECT 4 5 6 Again with different arguments The dummy arguments start middle finish define the number of parameters the procedure will accept When the procedure is used the number of parameter arguments supplied is checked If the wrong number of parameters is supplied an error message is displayed and execution stops Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 48 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 REMARKS The REM command allows remarks to be displayed on the PC screen as the commands are sent to the processor All the text following the REM statement is displayed on the screen As soon as the macro expander recognises the REM command macro expansion ceases In addition a number of escape codes are provided as follows t Current system time d Current system date s File start time e Elapsed time f The current sequence file name r Read and insert current time code from time code reader if installed b Bell character Two furthe
61. plit of 1 vertically squashed image ASPLIT 4 2 ASPLIT Function code 100 Horizontal Split Vertical Spi WASHCOLOUR Set the colour wash for a given monitor or all monitors simultaneously Issue 7 The command will have no direct visual effect unless a wash is already selected on a given display monitor When a monitor display mode is set to WASH the colour set with this command will be applied If a wash is currently displayed the on screen colour will be updated WASHCOLOUR Function code 41 NORMAL This command sets the pixel intensity mode to normal and is normally used following a pixel intensity video effect command such as SOLARISE NEGATIVE Etc NORMAL Function code 96 a0 Normal Video SOLARISE This command sets the pixel intensity mode to truncate the lower 5 bits to give the video a halo appearance Remove using the NORMAL command Function 96 SOLARISE Function code 96 1 Solarised Video Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 18 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 NEGATIVE This command sets the pixel intensity mode to a negative image Remove using the NORMAL command Function 96 NEGATIVE Function code 96 2 Negative Video DAZZLE This command sets the pixel intensity mode to a highlighting effect Remove using the NORMAL command Function 96 DAZZLE Function code 96 4 Dazzle Video DISPLAY This co
62. r SLIMIT 0 350 5 287 Set blanked overscan area MINIFY 2 Display four minified images CLEARSCREEN Clears the overscan area to the colour set using the COLOUR command CLEARSCREEN Function code 94 COLOUR CYCLE Any wash colour associated with each monitor is incremented decremented by the signed R G B amounts specified approximately once per video field Repeating for each of R G B until either the maximum or minimum value is reached when the direction for that colour reverses To terminate a colour wash cycle send the KILL command Other commands can be executed while a colour cycle is in progress but will need to be preceeded by the IMMEDTATE command If not they will be queued for deferred execution and then lost when the KILL command is received Byte Parameter Comment Code CLRCYCLE Function code 105 R speed low byte Signed Red cycle rate 32 R speed high byte G speed low byte Signed Green cycle rate 32 G speed high byte B speed low byte Signed Blue cycle rate 32 B speed high byte Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 25 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 SEQUENCE EXECUTION FUNCTIONS The following commands are used to initiate sequences which have been downloaded to the processor FLASH memory using the download menu command RUN DOWNLOADED SEQUENCE This command executes a sequence which has previously been downloaded to processor and
63. r PAL or NTSC 50Hz or 60Hz operation VIDEO INPUT SOURCE Sets the video input signal type and video levels There are three possible sources for each input channel e C Video Input 1 e C Video Input 2 e S Video Each input is independent therefore it is possible to have different sources on the Composite Video and S video inputs of either channel and switch between them The sliders set the Brightness Saturation Contrast and Hue levels SAVE IN FLASH This button will write the current settings into a file in the FLASH memory system for both channels If this button is not pressed the processor will revert to the previously saved settings on power up VIDEO OUTPUT MENU This allows the output video mode to be selected The following configurations are provided S Video Composite Video Dual Composite Video Interlaced Non Interlaced Bars Filter Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 35 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 e Save in Flash DUAL COMPOSITE VIDEO MODE Selects Composite Video output mode on both signal pins of the S Video connector These Composite Video outputs will be identical except they are individually buffered to allow driving of two videowall arrays without degrading the signal levels and avoiding the expense of video distribution amplifiers INTERLACED Every incoming video field is displayed may result in flicker if a lot of text or horizontal fe
64. r escape codes may be used in REM commands to show the two innermost loop counts generated by the REPEAT command i Inner loop count j Second level loop count REPEAT Command syntax is REPEAT FOREVER lt n gt The REPEAT command marks the beginning of a program loop REPEAT commands must be matched by a corresponding AGAIN or UNTIL command An optional loop count can be supplied If a loop count is not supplied FOREVER is assumed A loop can be terminated using a parameter to the UNTIL command even if it is started with a REPEAT FOREVER command For example REPEAT 20 Commands on any number of lines AGAIN l Or REPEAT FOREVER Commands in loop UNTIL TIMECODE 00 20 00 REPEAT commands can be nested to any depth limited only by availability of PC memory For example REPEAT Start of outer loop REPEAT 20 Repeat a sequence 20 times Commands Commands comprising the sequence Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 49 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 AGAIN Loop back to nearest REPEAT UNTIL TIMECODE 0 0 10 Keep going until timecode is passed Two special macros are provided which are converted to the current loop index when used These special macros are i and j The following shows the format REPEAT 3 REPEAT 3 REM Loop j i AGAIN AGAIN This double loop will display in a window the following messages Loop 1 1 Loop 1 2 Loop 1 3 Loop 2 1
65. ransmission rate Command syntax is SPEED lt rate gt The rate parameter can be any rate supported by a PC up to 19 200 Typical rates are as follows 300 600 1200 2400 4800 9600 19200 The data format is 8 data bits 1 stop bit with no parity POLL Command syntax is POLL lt card gt lt address gt This command requests information from hardware If the POLLed device has any data ready for transmission it will be returned on receipt of this command Devices will only have data if they have been sent a command previously requesting it If no data is ready a NULL POLL message will be returned There will be no displayed information in response to NULL POLL If the device addressed does not exist then after a short time out period a message will be displayed showing that the POLL command failed Returned messages are defined in the device specific documentation RADIX Normally the SEND program uses decimal numbers by default This may changed using the RADIX command to any base from 2 to 16 The base selection parameter is always in decimal regardless of the current radix Command syntax is RADIX lt n gt For example to select HEX as the default base RADIX 16 SHELL This command executes an MS DOS command using the MS DOS command shell interpreter Control reverts back to the BRICK program on completion not the MS DOS command line SHELL expects a string which is passed to the MS DOS command shell
66. rent cursor location in the current font in the current drawing colour For example SEND 7 0 FN_PRINT Message 0 PRINT Function code 83 Character string First character Na of Last character INO String termination null DRAW LINE Draws a line in the current drawing colour to location X Y from the current cursor location See also DRAW LINE RELATIVE The current cursor location is updated to X Y If the specified location is outside the drawing area no line is drawn and the cursor remains at the current location For example SEND 7 0 FN_LINETO amp 100 amp 50 LINE Function code 84 X location 0 359 Y location 0 299 MOVE CURSOR Moves the cursor to location X Y if it is within the drawing page limits See also Function 87 CURSOR Function code 85 X location 0 359 Y location 0 299 DRAW LINE RELATIVE Draws a line from the current cursor position to a location relative to the current cursor if the new location is within the drawing limits RLINE Function code 86 X offset 359 Y offset_ 299 Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 29 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 MOVE CURSOR RELATIVE Moves the cursor to a location relative to the current cursor location See also Function 85 If the new location is outside the drawing limits the cursor location is not changed RCURSOR Function code 87 X offset_ 359 Y offset
67. rite directly into the video memory to enable on screen messages and simple graphics to be displayed without any additional hardware Bitmaps can also be downloaded and displayed to enable for example your company logo Encoder Filter Buffer Ki 4 SS S S Ba E Ba E S Ba E E g S Ei C Video 1 C Video 2 Decoder S Video A 5 gt P 3 Mux a BUSA a E a C Video 1 z4 gt Frame 5 E C Video C Video 2 Decoder S Memory S gt S Video B EE gt m BUSB BS e N X Y X Window Zoom Tables Tables trti 16 Video Outputs Host R9232 JTAG FPGA CPU Flash CPU Flash Memory and Timing Logic and Timing Logic Programming Loop aan Brick 2 Videowall Processor Architecture S Pixel Processing Communications with the processor are via a simple RS 232 interface Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 3 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 2 RS 232 LINK PROTOCOL Communications with the processor are carried out via the RS 232 interface The protocol is designed to be robust and reliable and is based on the well known HDLC technique It is byte transparent that is any 8 bit value can be sent to the processor using the framing characters A simple single character command mode is also supported to enable pre loaded effects sequences to be triggered using single keyboard characters in conjunction with a standard terminal emulator such as that provid
68. s this feature in which case a file WALL EFX in the current directory is used To select a new project enter the directory and path name after the New project prompt and press return To leave without changing the current project directory simply press return or click on the CANCEL button If you wish to browse the directory to search for an existing project file click on the BROWSE button This will pull down a window containing a list of current EFX files MS DOS sub directories and disk drives The UP and DN buttons page the directory listing in the window Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 36 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Clicking on the text in the window will select the file or sub directory drive If the selected item is a sub directory drive the directory will be re listed with the new path To use the selected file click on Ok This will place the full file path name in the text buffer and close the window If a sub directory instead of a file is specified the filename WALL EFX is assumed If the project directory selected is new a prompt will appear querying whether the current project system files should be copied to the new one The system files are WALL EFX WALLDIM INC WALLEDO MAC Note Not all of these files will necessarily exist in a given project directory SEQUENCE MENU When the SEQUENCE button is selected the sequence file control panel wil
69. sage will appear such as Video Wall command file processor Version 2 0 Aug 18 1999 c Copyright Media Technologies 1991 2004 Use the following format SEND filename typ e t v 1 1 s o com1 com2 b lt rate gt Where the parameters are e Macro expansion mode t Test expansion mode V Verbose execution mode l Interactive execution mode l Log I O to files TX LOG amp RX LOG S Suppress automatic use of STD INC 0 Reserved com1 Use serial port 1 com2 Use serial port 2 b lt rate gt Set speed of selected serial port If a filename is supplied without any switches SEND will sequentially process the file sending commands to the device No output will appear on the PC screen except for the output from REM commands This is the normal execution mode SEND can be used additionally with one of four possible switches to select further operational modes described below TEST MODE t In this mode SEND will show each stage of the macro expansion process and the final bytes in HEX that would be sent to the processor No actual data is sent and the WAIT command is ignored MACRO EXPANSION MODE e In this mode SEND will expand all macros to reduce the source file to its simplest form All comments and blank lines are removed The reduced output is sent the MS DOS console device and so may re directed to file using the gt redirection facility of the MS DOS comman
70. solute time PC Clock is greater than the time defined If any key on the keyboard is pressed the wait command will terminate WAIT TIMECODE The WAIT TIMECODE subcommand will wait until the time read from the time code reader is greater than the time parameter If any key on the keyboard is pressed the wait command will terminate If a time code reader is not installed an error message is issued and command file interpretation is aborted DEFINE Macros can be defined using the DEFINE command which will be expanded on a line by line basis when encountered Command syntax is DEFINE NAME text The macro NAME can have up to 16 characters There is no restriction on the characters of the macro name apart from delimiters space tab and comma Macros are expanded as they are encountered in the input file by the command processor except if they are parameters to a macro definition Macros must be defined before they can be used The macro text can comprise delimited parameters A simple parameter substitution mechanism is provided This allows up to 9 parameters in the text portion of the macro definition to be undefined These are designated by a question mark followed by a decimal digit in the range 1 to 9 Parameters following the macro name on expansion will be substituted in the order defined by the number following the question mark For example the macro defined like this DEFINE SWAP 2 1 On expansio
71. t for these files is Macro text buttonlegend filename buttonlegend Where Macro text is any text string and Buttonlegend is the legend to appear on the associated button If the first character of the macro text is an then the text is treated as a filename which will be merged when the macro button is pressed A WALLEDO HLP file is associated with the macro file If such a file exists with the MACRO buttons displayed the contents of the help file will be displayed when the HELP button is selected If not the normal editor help file will be displayed DOWNLOAD Sequences may be down loaded to the embedded system controller to be stored in FLASH memory and subsequently executed directly on the system Important Note The download sequence compiler does not currently support all the sequence commands available and WAIT commands are relative to the PC time clock In the current software procedures can only be used without parameters When Download is selected and a sequence button is then selected the sequence compiler will be invoked If the sequence compiles successfully it is downloaded into the FLASH memory The current contents of the FLASH memory can be displayed by selecting List in the Controller menu which is itself located in the Controls menu The name of the FLASH file is the same as the first 8 characters of the MS DOS filename but with the extension SFB Note Each sequ
72. the Media Technologies icon by right clicking on the short cut select program select change icon select browse and click on our icon file C BRICK2 EXE MT ICO Be careful not to run more than one instance of the software or the serial communications will not work Close any multiple instances of the software A selection of sample effects sequences are provided in C BRICK2 EXAMPLES which should be automatically selected when you first run the software On running the software a graphical screen will appear with menus accessed using the mouse and left clicking on the buttons as follows Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 32 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 Select SEQUENCES to see the examples we have provided If you get the message No sequences defined use the PROJECT menu to browse the directory structure You need to click on the file C BRICK2 EXAMPLES WALL EFX The software uses PC port COM1 as the default If you wish to use COM2 you will need to access the CONFIGURE SERIAL PORT menu in the software and select COM2 This selection will be automatically saved ready for next time the software is used You can use the PROJECT menu to create your own projects create another directory for example C BRICK2 MYSTUFF using Windows Explorer and copy all the files in C BRICK2 EXAMPLES across to this new directory then using the software create your own buttons deleting t
73. tor 1 Normally a CONFIG file is not required If after checking all files in CONFIG and for 1 SYSTEM COM no executable image is found the processor will run the low level monitor FLASH FILE SYSTEM RECOVERY If the FLASH file system has been corrupted it is possible to rebuild it via the low level monitor using the following procedure Power up the processor with the Select switch pressed If the processor is daisy chained with one or more other processors the chain and connect it directly to the PC The low level monitor communicates via a terminal emulator A suitable programme TALK COM is available in the EXE directory of the software supplied with the system If necessary configure TALK using the menus to communicate with the processor using the correct COM port and baud rate A gt prompt will appear if the ENTER key is pressed and text commands can be entered To recover the filing system enter PREP This will erase the sectors used for the filing system and write empty directories to each sector The low level operating code is in a protected sector and will not be affected Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 58 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 If the filing system is still functional enter DIR to list the files but the system file has been corrupted delete the system file 1 SYSTEM COM using ERASE and recover the spare memory using RESTORE This avoids the need to replac
74. us are comprised of a set of graphical button icons Active buttons are indicated by a bright central legend When the left mouse button is pressed with the mouse over a button icon the menu option is activated The right mouse button is used to exit from menus It has the same effect as the escape key The initial screen consists of 2 buttons across the top line which are always present A second line of 5 buttons comprise the initial menu The top line buttons are e Quit e Help QUIT When selected the user is presented with a yes no option If yes is selected the program terminates and control reverts to MS DOS or Windows HELP The help system for the BRICK program is context sensitive A help file is associated with each menu level When help is requested help text is displayed in a window pulled down below the help button INITIAL MENU There are 5 buttons in the second row of buttons on the initial window which form the top level menu They are Video Project Split Sequences Configure VIDEO MENU Selects the video input and output modes e Video Input e Video Output e Unit ID UNIT ID By default the software addresses processor with ID 0 If more than one processor is connected by daisy chaining units together it is necessary to change the ID used by the software in order to control one of the other units When the Unit ID button is selected an array of IDs is presented If one of these other
75. yed to assist in aligning the image Pressing the VIDEO button will cause the input video signal to be displayed You can select 2x2 3x3 or 4x4 magnification mode by pressing the appropriate buttons on this menu page PROGRAM INFORMATION This is a software maintenance facility which shows the amount of free memory and free file capacity It also displays the program version number Copyright Media Technologies 1999 2006 Page 43 of 61 Brick 2 Videowall Processor Advanced User Guide Issue 7 7 CREATING SEQUENCES The BRICK2 EXE videowall control program includes a real time sequence control language Video effects are invoked using timed sequences of commands to the hardware The language commands are held in standard ASCII text files The sequence files may be created with the integrated editor or an external text editor word processor Control commands are decoded and sent as messages to the hardware via the PC serial ports The control language uses a basic command and parameter list format A simple line based macro processor is included In the descriptions of the commands uses a simple language notation Optional parameters are contained in square brackets A parameter which must be one of a set is indicated by the set enclosed in curly brackets each parameter separated by a vertical bar Numeric parameters are contained in angle brackets Parameters are separated by commas SEQUENCE FILE FORMAT Each line of the comma

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